How to Install TWRP on Xiaomi Redmi 3s

Android smartphones become more fun if you chose to go beyond manufacturer restrictions. To explore the full potential of your device, you should first unlock the bootloader and flash a custom recovery. Then you can explore the world of custom ROMs and mods. TWRP is one of the most popular custom recoveries available for Android. It is a touch-based custom recovery with a plethora of features. The “TeamWin” team is extending support to most of the Android devices, especially if they’re from top brands. In this tutorial, we will show you how to install TWRP on Xiaomi Redmi 3s.

The Redmi 3s is a budget smartphone from Xiaomi that came with Android Marshmallow out-of-the-box. Today, you can even find Android Pie based custom ROMs for the Redmi 3s. The device runs on Snapdragon 430 coupled with 2 GB RAM and Adreno 505 GPU. This configuration is enough to run the latest custom ROMs on the device smoothly. Also, the humongous 4100 mAh battery for such a small device is a great advantage. You can get more than a day from the battery. Depending on the stability of the ROM and your usage, it can last more.

TWRP for Xiaomi Redmi 3s

TeamWin project officially supports Xiaomi Redmi 3s on their website. So, you can download the latest TWRP form the official website itself. The stock recovery provided by Xiaomi is pretty useless just as the stock recovery of any manufacturer. TWRP recovery comes with a lot of necessary features for any Android user. You can take a complete backup of your device’s operating system in minutes. This is called as Nandroid backup which includes all important partitions of your device. However, it doesn’t include the internal storage, so you should manually backup the photos and data on the internal storage to PC. If your device runs into any problem, you can simply restore the nandroid backup.

You can also perform many advanced operations from TWRP like bypassing locked smartphones, running custom scripts to remove bloatware etc… However, the most fun part is to flash custom ROMs. Follow the below tutorial carefully to install TWRP on Xiaomi Redmi 3s.

Prerequisites

1. This guide is only for the Xiaomi Redmi 3S/Prime/3X. Do not try this on any other phone.
2. Charge your phone good enough so that it doesn’t go dead during the installation process.
3. Backup your call logs, contacts and SMS messages. Also backup your media content. This is important since unlocking the bootloader will completely wipe your phone.
4. Enable OEM Unlocking and USB Debugging mode on your device.
5. Use the OEM data cable to connect your phone to your PC.
6. Unlock your bootloader

Downloads

1. Download and install Minimal ADB and Fastboot drivers on your computer.
2. Install Xiaomi USB drivers on your computer and install them.
3. Download the latest TWRP image file from here. Rename this file to recovery.img and copy it to the ADB and Fastboot folder.

How to Install TWRP on Xiaomi Redmi 3s

1. Navigate to the folder where you have installed ADB and fastboot files on your computer.
2. Connect your device to the PC using a USB cable.
3. Open a command prompt window from the ADB and Fastboot folder [Press shift key + right-click on any blank space of the folder] and then select “Open command window here” from the context menu.
4. Execute the below command to reboot to bootloader.

   adb reboot bootloader

5. Make sure the “recovery.img” file is in the fastboot folder and execute the below command to flash it on your device.

   fastboot flash recovery recovery.img

6. It will take a couple of seconds for the TWRP recovery image to flash.
7. Once the flashing process is complete, reboot the device.

That’s all. You can now try to enter TWRP mode on your Redmi 3s by holding Volume Up + Power button.