How to jailbreak by checkra1n on a Windows computer with bootra1n

If you have been or have ever been interested in jailbreaking your device, you must have heard of the famous checkra1n tool , but this tool requires you to have a Mac or a computer running Linux. Technically, Windows computers won't be able to install and run checkra1n, but you can use a utility called bootra1n to run the checkra1n tool on a Windows computer and jailbreak your device.

While the process will take you a little tricky compared to just running checkra1n on a Mac or Linux computer, using bootra1n is a great way to jailbreak if you don't have a Mac or Linux PC. Don't worry if it will be complicated or difficult, because in this article, I will guide you through it step by step.

What you need to know

Most of you will hear people say that checkra1n currently only supports macOS and Linux, and this is still true. In fact, the bootra1n utility will essentially use "a bit of Linux" to trick your computer into running the checkra1n tool in the Linux workspace.

For this to work, you will have to install bootra1n. In a nutshell, you will load an ISO file containing a bit of Linux with checkra1n built-in to a USB or empty drive, then boot your computer to that USB or drive. In summary, you'll need to boot Linux version from USB / disk / portable hard drive instead of Windows on the boot drive your primary (usually drive C) , but in reality, it is still running on a Windows PC and this is extremely convenient.

What you will need

There are a few things you need to get started with this tutorial. These include:

01 USB or free drive with at least 512MB of storage space
Computer running 64-bit or 32-bit Windows, using AMD or Intel chips
iPhone or iPad (chip A7 - A11) is supported by checkra1n
MFi certified USB-A to Lightning cable (USB-C to Lightning won't work)
Bootra1n utility (64-bit or 32-bit)
Rufus software , free download at https://rufus.ie/

You can download the bootra1n utility on Github (click on Assets to see the download link) and you should download it before reading this tutorial.

I cannot link to the download directly in this article because this utility is constantly being updated and I want to make sure that you always have the latest version downloaded to minimize errors during the implementation process.

How to run checkra1n on a Windows computer

If you're ready to run the jailbreak using checkra1n on a Windows PC, follow these steps:

Install bootra1n into USB / drive

1. After you have downloaded the bootra1n utility from the Github link above and the Rufus software, plug both your iPhone / iPad and USB (or a portable hard drive if you don't have a USB flash drive) into your computer.

2. Right-click on the Rufus software that you have downloaded, click Run as administrator . A message appears to confirm running the software, just click OK .

3. If your computer has never run Rufus software , it may ask you to download additional files, just click Yes .

When the Rufus window appears, it will automatically detect your USB drive. Click on the SELECT button , then select the bootra1n-xxxxx.ISO file that you downloaded earlier.

4. After selecting the file bootra1n-xxxxx.ISO , a message appears. Now choose the option Write in ISO image mode (recommended) and click OK .

5. The file bootra1n-xxxxx.ISO will appear in the Rufus software. For other things, please leave it as default, then click on the START button to continue

6. Rufus will warn you that your USB drive will be reformatted and flashed with the new .ISO file. Click OK to continue.

7. After Rufus finishes reformatting the USB and replacing the .ISO file, you have finished creating a USB containing Linux and checkra1n tool.

In the next step, you will need to boot the computer into that USB drive to run checkra1n.

Boot the computer into the USB containing bootra1n

1. Reboot your computer and enter BIOS mode (if you don't know how to enter BIOS, search Google for the model you are using) . You can usually enter BIOS mode on a Windows computer by repeatedly pressing the F2 or Delete key while the machine is booting.

Note: The following boot order setting process will vary depending on the motherboard manufacturer your computer uses, so I cannot give out the exact steps for your computer. If you don't know how to change the boot order, you need to search Google a bit to know how.

2. Once in BIOS mode, look for the Boot option and make sure your newly formatted USB was first in the boot order.

3. Save your changes and restart the computer. When the computer is restarted, you will see the interface shown below instead of Windows. Just press the Enter key on your keyboard to continue.

4. In the next interface, you will find it a bit strange because it's all command line, just wait until it finishes running and ask for login credentials. Enter the following:

login: anon
password: voidlinux

Note: When entering a password, you will not see the password appear, because this is the security mechanism of Linux in general, similar to macOS. You just enter the correct letter one by one and press Enter.

5. After successful login, you will see a "$" icon appear in the command line. Enter the following:

sudo checkra1n

6. Now the checkra1n tool will appear and look like the image below.

How to jailbreak by checkra1n

1. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to scroll right and select the Start option , then press the Enter key .

2. Interface checkra1n next let you know that your iPhone or iPad should be booted into DFU mode. Select the Next option , then press the Enter key .

3. Now you will follow the on-screen instructions to enter DFU mode, if you don't understand what this step says, I will translate for you as follows:

Select Start
Hold down the power button and the volume down button at the same time for 4 seconds
Release the power button off but still hold down the volume down in 10 seconds

Depending on the device you use, this guide will differ slightly, but the instructions on this screen are quite intuitive so I think you will do it, if not, then do it again.

Move to the Start button , then press Enter and follow the instructions on the screen exactly.

4. After you have successfully put your device into DFU mode, bootra1n will start running and jailbreaking your device.

5. Your iPhone or iPad will now display the boot screen according to the checkra1n interface. Do not disconnect it until the jailbreak is complete.

6. After the jailbreak process is finished, you can reboot your computer and re-enter BIOS mode to reconfigure the boot order from your hard drive.

7. Back to your iPhone or iPad, you should now see the checkra1n app on the main screen. Open it up.

8. Click Cydia, then select Install Cydia .

9. checkra1n will start to download the base system package and install Cydia.

10. Open up Cydia, go to the tab Sources (Sources) and click Refresh (Refresh) in the upper left corner to refresh all your sources, then install any updates that Cydia asked.

Once done, congratulations, you have successfully jailbroken your device without needing a Mac or Linux PC.

Epilogue

The process of jailbreaking with checkra1n on a Windows machine is a bit more complicated than on a Mac or Linux, but the great thing is that you can use this method if you don't have any other options for you. Official support for Windows is said to be coming to the next checkra1n soon, but there is no specific timeline at this time.

However, do not get too excited but forget to reset the boot drive for Windows via the BIOS. If you don't do this, your computer will constantly boot into the USB, or if you remove the USB drive, it may show an error.

Are you jailbreaking your device using bootra1n on a Windows computer? Or are you stuck at any step in the above tutorial? Leave a comment below for me to help.