Mi Unlock Tool 1004 Error May 2026

Frustrated, Alex searched forums. Some called it the "gatekeeper error." Here’s what he learned.

In Alex’s case, the previous owner had forgotten to remove their account. For others, it happens when buying “new” phones from third-party sellers who pre-logged into dummy accounts. mi unlock tool 1004 error

Alex reset the phone, logged in with his MI account, and waited 72 hours (a required cooling period for his model). This time, when he ran MI Unlock Tool, no 1004 error appeared. The progress bar moved—slowly, surely. Frustrated, Alex searched forums

Alex contacted the seller, who thankfully agreed to help. The previous owner logged into their MI account on a browser, went to the Xiaomi Cloud, and removed the device from their trusted list. Then, on the phone itself, they remotely signed out via “Find Device” > “Erase & Remove Account.” For others, it happens when buying “new” phones

He tried the usual tips—rebooting, reinstalling drivers, using a different USB port. Nothing worked. So he dug deeper.

Alex had just bought a used Xiaomi phone. It was a great deal—perfect hardware, a vibrant screen, but it was tied to the previous owner’s MI account. To truly make it his own, Alex needed to unlock the bootloader, the first step to installing a custom ROM or simply freeing the device.

Error 1004 is Xiaomi’s security mechanism preventing an unauthorized MI account from unlocking a device. Unlike simple password errors, 1004 means: “This phone is locked to a different Mi account, and you haven’t proven ownership.”