Use this article if…
- You plugged in a USB drive with the update on it and nothing happened.
- The update link or your computer says the format isn't supported.
- You copied the update to the drive but the headunit doesn't recognise it.
Check the drive is FAT32
New USB sticks often ship as exFAT, and the headunit can't read exFAT. That's why no prompt appears at all.
- Plug the drive into your computer.
- Format it as FAT32.
- Copy the update onto it again.
Capacity doesn't matter. There's no 16GB limit, so a 32GB or larger drive is fine.
Copy the files to the root of the drive
The headunit looks for the update at the top level of the drive.
- Extract the download first if it came as an archive.
- Open the extracted folder.
- Copy the contents of the folder to the root of the drive.
- Don't copy the folder itself.
Download the file again
A damaged or incomplete download won't start. Download the update again and check the file size before you copy it across.
Plug in and let it run
Keep the car on until the update finishes. On an MK4, USB1, USB2 and the unlabelled loom connector all work for an update, so you don't need to hunt for a particular port.
The update does a factory reset. Your apps reinstall and you'll add your Google account again afterwards.
Match the update to your headunit
MK4 software won't load on an MK3. A 2026 build such as 20260416 G6_A13 is MK4 firmware, so don't use it on an MK3.
If it still shows no prompt
Still stuck? Tell us what's happening and we'll suggest the next step. Include a photo of the screen and the headunit size.
