How to Load a Custom ROM on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus

Before you begin, it's essential to complete the "How to Root the Samsung Galaxy Nexus" procedure if you haven't already done so. Clicking on that link will take you through the process completely, and then you can come back to this one to continue.

First Things First: Flash a Custom Recovery Image

The first step in loading a custom ROM on your Samsung Galaxy Nexus is to flash a custom recovery image. To do this, we need to go to the market and search for "ROM Manager." Clicking on the free version and then clicking install will allow us to download it. After installing and accepting the terms of service, we can click open and proceed with flashing ClockworkMod Recovery. At the top of the screen, select your phone as the Galaxy Nexus, and the device should say "successfully flashed" once the process is complete.

Finding a ROM to Download and Install

The next step in loading a custom ROM on your Samsung Galaxy Nexus is to find a ROM that you want to download and install. You can click on the "ROM section" and scroll down to your manufacturer and ultimately your device. Clicking on that will take you to a list of available ROMs, and then choose whichever one you want to download. Save the ROM file to your computer, making sure it's in a .zip format.

Plugging in Your Device and Waiting for Download

While the ROM is downloading, we need to plug in our device via USB and connect it as a media device. Then, open your device's internal storage on your computer and find where you saved the ROM file. Make sure to leave it as a .zip file, and copy it over to the root of your internal storage (not inside any folders). Wait for the transfer to complete, and then unplug your device once the ROM is saved.

Turning Off Your Phone and Entering Recovery Mode

To proceed with loading the custom ROM, we need to turn off our phone completely. Give it a few seconds, and then hold down both volume buttons at the same time while pressing the power button until you reach the "Recovery Mode" screen. Use the volume buttons to select recovery mode and power, and wait for it to boot into recovery mode.

Backing Up Your System Software (Optional)

In recovery mode, use the volume buttons to scroll down to "Backup and Storage" and press power to select. Then, select "Backup Lighting Power" again and wait for it to backup your current system software just in case you want to revert back to it or in case something goes wrong.

Wiping Data/Factory Reset

Once the backup is complete, we need to go to "Wipe data/factory reset" and press yes quickly. This will delete all of your data on the device, so make sure you have backed up any important files before proceeding.

Installing Zip from SD Card

After wiping data/factory reset, we can select "Install zip from sdcard" and choose it from sdcard. Now, we need to select our ROM file that we saved earlier, and press yes when prompted to install it.

Rebooting Your Device and Setting Up Custom ROM

Once the installation is complete, go down to "reboot system now" and wait for your device to reboot. After it reboots, you should be at the setup screen for your new custom ROM. To load a different ROM, simply repeat this procedure with downloading a different ROM starting from where it asks you to download a ROM.

Additional Resources

We also have other how-to videos available for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, including one on "How to Load Google Wallet."

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey guys it's David from the unlocker comm and today we're gonna show you how to load a custom ROM on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus okay so before you begin you must have done on how to route the Samsung Galaxy Nexus procedure if you haven't click on that link there to be taken that they'll finish that procedure completely and then you can come back to this one to continue is enough first thing you do is we need to flash a custom recovery image so to do that on this device we're going to go to the market search for ROM manager click on the free one and then click install accept and download and we can click open like okay I'm going to do flash clockworkmod recovery at the very top select your phone we have the Galaxy Nexus it allow should say successfully flashed click ok ok so now the next step is to find a ROM that we want to download and install you're gonna click on our rom section there link and scroll down to your manufacturer and ultimately your device then click on that and then choose whichever rom you want and then save that rom to your computer ok and while the rom is downloading you're gonna plug in your device a USB pull down the top here and just make sure it is connected as a media device and then we then we're going to open our devices internal storage on our computer and we're also gonna find where we saved our rom file make sure you leave it as a dot zip file whatever the rom is and we're just gonna copy it over to the root of our internal storage which means not inside any of these folders just on the internal storage itself and we're gonna wait for that to transfer and then we can unplug our device once the rom that zip file is saved to our phone then we're going to turn off our phone and once it's off completely give it a few seconds we're gonna hold down both volume buttons at the same time and hold down power till we get to our ode here then we're gonna use these volume buttons here to select recovery mode and it power and wait for it to boot into recovery mode and in recovery mode we're gonna use the volume buttons to scroll down to backup and storage and it power to select then select backup lighting power again and wait for it to backup your current system software just in case you want to revert back to it or in case something goes wrong once it says backup complete we can then go to wipe data/factory reset' yes do that really quick and then install zip from sdcard choose it from sdcard and now we're gonna select our rom file so I have this one here that and then hit yes and wait for it to install that and now once it says install from sdcard complete go down to go back and then reboot system now and wait for the device okay and then once it reboots you should be at the setup screen for your new custom ROM if you want to load a different rom simply just repeat this procedure with downloading a different rom starting at the point where it asks you to download a rom in the procedure other than that you can also check out some of our other how-to videos for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus we do also have a how to load Google Wallet on the device amongst other procedures at the time of writing this Google Wallet is not available for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus this is the only way to get it on is to kind of root your device and loaded a different way so feel free to check that one out and some of the other ones we have and enjoyhey guys it's David from the unlocker comm and today we're gonna show you how to load a custom ROM on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus okay so before you begin you must have done on how to route the Samsung Galaxy Nexus procedure if you haven't click on that link there to be taken that they'll finish that procedure completely and then you can come back to this one to continue is enough first thing you do is we need to flash a custom recovery image so to do that on this device we're going to go to the market search for ROM manager click on the free one and then click install accept and download and we can click open like okay I'm going to do flash clockworkmod recovery at the very top select your phone we have the Galaxy Nexus it allow should say successfully flashed click ok ok so now the next step is to find a ROM that we want to download and install you're gonna click on our rom section there link and scroll down to your manufacturer and ultimately your device then click on that and then choose whichever rom you want and then save that rom to your computer ok and while the rom is downloading you're gonna plug in your device a USB pull down the top here and just make sure it is connected as a media device and then we then we're going to open our devices internal storage on our computer and we're also gonna find where we saved our rom file make sure you leave it as a dot zip file whatever the rom is and we're just gonna copy it over to the root of our internal storage which means not inside any of these folders just on the internal storage itself and we're gonna wait for that to transfer and then we can unplug our device once the rom that zip file is saved to our phone then we're going to turn off our phone and once it's off completely give it a few seconds we're gonna hold down both volume buttons at the same time and hold down power till we get to our ode here then we're gonna use these volume buttons here to select recovery mode and it power and wait for it to boot into recovery mode and in recovery mode we're gonna use the volume buttons to scroll down to backup and storage and it power to select then select backup lighting power again and wait for it to backup your current system software just in case you want to revert back to it or in case something goes wrong once it says backup complete we can then go to wipe data/factory reset' yes do that really quick and then install zip from sdcard choose it from sdcard and now we're gonna select our rom file so I have this one here that and then hit yes and wait for it to install that and now once it says install from sdcard complete go down to go back and then reboot system now and wait for the device okay and then once it reboots you should be at the setup screen for your new custom ROM if you want to load a different rom simply just repeat this procedure with downloading a different rom starting at the point where it asks you to download a rom in the procedure other than that you can also check out some of our other how-to videos for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus we do also have a how to load Google Wallet on the device amongst other procedures at the time of writing this Google Wallet is not available for the Samsung Galaxy Nexus this is the only way to get it on is to kind of root your device and loaded a different way so feel free to check that one out and some of the other ones we have and enjoy\n"