How to Enable Developer Options on Android

Developer options is a hidden settings menu on every Android phone. It holds advanced tools meant for app developers, such as USB debugging, animation controls and background process limits. Google keeps it hidden so that casual tapping cannot change anything important. Revealing it is deliberately simple but a little obscure: you tap your phone’s Build number seven times. The catch is that Build number sits in a different place depending on your manufacturer.

Before you start, one honest warning: enabling the menu is completely safe, but the settings inside it are powerful. Only change options you understand, and leave the rest alone. Most people enable Developer options for a single purpose, flip one switch, and never touch the rest.

How to enable Developer options on Google Pixel (stock Android)

1. Open Settings.
2. Scroll down and tap About phone.
3. Find Build number at the bottom and tap it seven times.
4. Enter your PIN, pattern or password if asked. You will see “You are now a developer!”
5. Go back to Settings > System > Developer options to open the menu.

How to enable Developer options on Samsung Galaxy (One UI)

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap About phone.
3. Tap Software information.
4. Tap Build number seven times and enter your screen lock.
5. Developer options now appears at the bottom of the main Settings list. On some models it sits under Settings > General.

How to enable Developer options on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO (HyperOS / MIUI)

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap About phone.
3. Tap the OS version (on older MIUI phones, tap MIUI version) seven times.
4. Enter your lock screen credentials if prompted.
5. Find the menu under Settings > Additional settings > Developer options.

A safety note on USB debugging

The most common reason people enable Developer options is to turn on USB debugging, which lets a connected computer send commands to the phone. It is genuinely useful for app development, screen recording tools and some repair utilities. It is also a security risk: a computer with debugging access can read data and install software. Follow these rules:

1. Only turn on USB debugging when a tool you trust actually requires it.
2. Never approve the “Allow USB debugging?” prompt on a computer you do not own or trust.
3. Turn it back off when you have finished.

On Xiaomi phones you may also see Install via USB and a separate USB debugging (Security settings) toggle; enabling these can require signing in to a Xiaomi account and having a SIM inserted. Leave them off unless you specifically need them.

Which Developer options are safe to explore

A few toggles are low-risk and genuinely handy. Reducing the three Animation scale settings (Window, Transition and Animator) to 0.5x makes an older phone feel snappier. Stay awake keeps the screen on while charging, useful at a desk. These do no harm and are easy to reverse.

Others can cause instability if you misjudge them, such as Don’t keep activities or aggressive background process limits, which can make apps behave oddly. If you ever change something and regret it, you can tap Reset to default inside the menu, or simply switch Developer options off at the top.

How to hide Developer options again

If you want the menu gone, open Developer options and switch the toggle at the top to Off. That hides the menu immediately. On some phones you can also clear the Settings app’s storage to reset the developer flag, though the simple toggle is enough for most people. Nothing you do here deletes personal data, and turning the menu off does not undo a change you already saved, so reset any specific setting before hiding it.

Keeping your phone secure afterward

Because Developer options exposes advanced controls, treat your screen lock and app permissions seriously once it is on. If privacy matters to you, our guide to how to lock apps on Android pairs well with it, and clearing out clutter with how to clear cache on Android can resolve many of the glitches people originally open Developer options to debug. Should you ever hand the phone on or sell it, follow how to factory reset Android to wipe every setting cleanly.

Common reasons people enable Developer options

It helps to know why the menu exists, so you can judge whether you actually need a given setting. The most frequent reasons are:

1. USB debugging for connecting the phone to a computer for development, screen recording or backup tools.
2. Speeding up animations by lowering the three animation-scale values, which makes older phones feel faster.
3. Checking a refresh rate or forcing a display setting on gaming phones.
4. Mock locations for testing apps that use GPS.
5. Generating a bug report to send to a developer when an app misbehaves.

If your reason is not on a list like this, it is worth pausing before flipping an unfamiliar switch.

Settings to treat with extra care

A few entries in Developer options can cause real problems if changed without understanding them. OEM unlocking allows the bootloader to be unlocked, a step tied to custom software that can wipe the device and may affect your warranty; leave it off unless you are following a specific, trusted guide and have backed everything up. Running services and background process limits can starve apps of memory and cause missed notifications. USB configuration defaults are best left alone. None of these are dangerous to look at, but changing them blindly can lead to confusing behaviour that is hard to trace later.

What Developer options does not do

Enabling the menu does not root your phone, does not unlock the bootloader on its own, and does not install anything. It simply reveals settings that were always present but hidden. That is why it is safe to turn on out of curiosity. The only meaningful risks come from deliberately changing specific toggles, which is why every reputable guide, including this one, stresses restraint over exploration.

Reversing a change you regret

If the phone starts behaving oddly after you have been in the menu, you have two easy escapes. First, open Developer options and tap Reset to default values if your phone offers it, which returns every toggle to its original state. Second, switch the Developer options master toggle off, which hides the menu and disables its overrides. Between these two, almost any accidental change can be undone without a full reset, so there is no need to panic if something looks different.

Developer options is one of the clearer examples of how open the platform is compared with rivals; if that interests you, our comparison of Android vs iOS key differences digs into it. For more step-by-step help, browse our full Android guides. Remember the golden rule: enable the menu, change only what you came for, and leave the unfamiliar switches alone.