Google has officially announced that the next iteration of its popular Android operating system (so far only known as ‘Android M’) will be called Android 6.0 Marshmallow. At the same time, Google released the final Android M Developer Preview (preview 3) available for Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9 and Nexus Player devices.

If you are one of the lucky ones who own a compatible Nexus device, you may want to install the Android M Developer Preview to check out some of the great new features coming in Android 6.0 Marshmallow, including the native fingerprint sensor, granular app permissions, the new “Doze” power saving mode and Android Pay.

If you have previously installed either the developer preview 1 or 2 on your Nexus device, you will get an over-the-air (OTA) update for preview 3. If not, you can install preview 3 directly onto your Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9 or Nexus Player following the instructions below:

Important Note: Android Developer Previews are intended for use by developers and should not be installed on a device intended for daily use. Pre-release software may be buggy and prone to malfunction; proceed at your own risk.

Install ADB and Fastboot on your Windows computer

To flash the latest Android M Developer Preview to your Nexus device, you’ll need Android Debug Bridge (ADB) and Fastboot installed on your computer. ADB lets you send commands to your Android device when it’s connected via USB and Fastboot lets you flash system images to your Android device.

For non-developers on Windows, installing Minimal ADB and Fastboot will be sufficient.

Download the Android M Developer Preview system image for your Nexus device

The next step is to download the Android M Developer Preview for your Nexus device from Google’s Android Developers site. It’s important to download the version specific to your device.

Scroll down to the ‘Hardware System Images’ section, find your Nexus device, click on the download link, accept the Terms and Conditions and click the download button.

Extract the system image files

Before going further, extract the contents of the .tgz file that downloaded using something like 7 Zip following the below steps:

1. Open the 7 Zip File Manager and select the folder containing the .tgz file.
2. Double click on the .tgz file. Find the file with a .tar extension and double click it (it may take a moment or two to open).
3. Once it’s open you’ll see a folder containing the codename for your device in the title (“hammerhead” for the Nexus 5, “shamu” for the Nexus 6 and so on).
4. Select all the files in this folder and click on Extract. For the destination directory, select the same directory you installed ADB and Fastboot in.

Enable USB debugging and connect your Nexus device to your computer via USB

Before connecting your Nexus device to your computer and flashing the Android M Developer Preview to the device, you have to turn on USB debugging on the device. Go to Settings > Developer Options > check the USB Debugging option.

If you do not see Developer Options under Settings, go to About Phone > Build Number. Tap Build Number seven times and Developer Options will show in Settings.

While you’re in Settings, also check OEM Unlocking if you do not already have an unlocked bootloader.

Once done, you can connect your Nexus device to your computer via a USB cable. If this is the first time you are connecting your device to a computer, you’ll see a pop-up on the device showing your computer’s RSA key. Check the Always Allow From This Computer option and hit OK.

Your computer may not recognize your nexus device. Simply open the notification panel, select USB For Charging Only and change the mode to Transfer Photos (PTP).

Flash the Android M Developer Preview to your Nexus device

Now it is finally time to flash the Android M Developer Preview you downloaded earlier to your Nexus device.

You must start your Nexus device in fastboot mode. Activate fastboot mode following the below steps:

1. Long press the power button and the volume down button at the same time (key combinations may vary between devices; check your device’s key combination here).
2. Once your device is in fastboot mode, double click on the “flash-all.bat” file that runs a batch process.
3. Your Nexus device will reboot automatically.
4. You will now see a welcome page telling you that preview 3 of Android 6.0 Marshmallow successfully installed on your Nexus device.

As mentioned before, flashing a new system image onto your Nexus device will delete all user data and files. Make a backup of all your personal stuff, such as photos, before starting this process.

Also, make sure your Nexus device has at least 50 percent battery charge before starting.

If everything went according to plan, you can now test all the new features available in Android 6.0 Marshmallow before Google releases it to the general public later this year.

Sources: GottaBeMobile; Google Developers

Image credit: John Morgan via Flickr