fastboot waiting for any device: How to Fix It

You run a fastboot command and it just sits there:

< waiting for any device >

Or fastboot devices prints nothing. The fastboot tool cannot find a phone in fastboot mode. ADB and fastboot are separate, so a phone that works with adb devices can still be invisible to fastboot. Check these in order.

1. Is the phone really in fastboot mode?

The phone must show the bootloader or fastboot screen, not Android, not recovery. The easiest way in is:

adb reboot bootloader

Or use the button combination for your brand, usually Power + Volume Down with the phone off. Brand-by-brand keys are in the fastboot mode guide, and Xiaomi has its own guide.

Two traps:

• Recovery is not fastboot. If you see a recovery menu, choose Reboot to bootloader if it is offered.
• Fastbootd vs bootloader. adb reboot fastboot opens fastbootd on Android 10+ phones. Some commands, such as unlocking, only work in the bootloader. Use fastboot reboot bootloader to switch.

2. Windows: the fastboot driver

This is the cause in most Windows cases. ADB and fastboot use different USB interfaces, so having a working ADB driver is not enough.

1. With the phone in fastboot mode, open Device Manager.
2. Look for Android Device › Android Bootloader Interface. If you see an unknown device or a yellow warning sign instead, the driver is missing.
3. Install the Google USB Driver (works for most phones in fastboot mode) or your maker's driver, then right-click the device, Update driver, Browse my computer, Let me pick, and choose Android Bootloader Interface.

3. Cable and port

• Use a data cable, ideally the original one.
• Plug into a port directly on the computer, not a hub or front panel.
• On some computers, especially with AMD chipsets, fastboot is unreliable on USB 3 ports. A USB 2.0 port, or a cheap USB 2.0 hub, often fixes it.

4. Update platform-tools

Old fastboot builds may not talk to newer phones. Download the current Android SDK platform-tools from Google and check you are running that copy:

fastboot --version

5. Linux: permissions

If sudo fastboot devices works but plain fastboot devices does not, install your distribution's udev rules for Android (android-sdk-platform-tools-common or android-udev-rules) and add yourself to the plugdev group.

6. macOS

No driver is needed. If nothing shows, try another cable or port and make sure no other tool (for example a phone manager app) is holding the device.

7. Restart everything

Exit fastboot mode, restart the phone into fastboot again, and restart the computer if Windows driver changes were made.

What ADBKit can and cannot do here

ADBKit can send your phone into fastboot mode from the browser: open the power menu next to the screen, choose Boot modes › Bootloader / fastboot. Once the phone is in the bootloader, Android and ADB are no longer running, so ADBKit's connection ends. ADBKit does not run fastboot commands, so continue with the fastboot tool from platform-tools.

To leave fastboot mode, run fastboot reboot or hold the power button for about 10 to 15 seconds.