Unlocking the bootloader of the Motorola Moto X Play is the first step to take if you want to be able to get root access in the future. Without an unlocked bootloader it’s often impossible to root an Android device. These are the steps to unlock Motorola Moto X Play bootloader.

REQUIREMENTS

• The guide is strictly for the Motorola Moto X Play device. Do not follow this guide on a different Motorola device or it won’t work.

BEFORE WE BEGIN

• You don’t need a Windows PC to follow this guide. You can do it on any operating system. However, the steps would change depending on your OS. The steps in our guide are for Windows only. They won’t make sense if you attempt to follow them on a different computer.
• You must backup your Motorola Moto X Play if you don’t want to lose data during the guide. You must wipe data and factory reset the device to unlock the bootloader and therefore you lose any data that isn’t backed up. You can backup the device any way you wish; with apps from the Google Play Store or the build-in backup options your device might have.
• Download and install Motorola USB Drivers on the computer.

HOW TO UNLOCK THE MOTOROLA MOTO X PLAY BOOTLOADER

1. Download the Mfastboot.zip file you need for unlocking the bootloader.
2. Long-press the Power key and switch off the Motorola Moto X smartphone.
3. Boot the Motorola Moto X to bootloader mode by holding the Volume Down + Power.
4. Release the buttons and you will see the bootloader mode on the display.
5. Connect the smartphone into the computer now.
6. Open the ‘Mfastboot’ folder that you extracted earlier.
7. Hold down the Shift key on the keyboard and right-click on an empty space.
8. You should see a new menu on the computer display when don’e correctly.
9. Choose to open the command window here from that menu.
10. Type the first command: ‘fastboot oem get_unlock_data’.
11. Press Enter / Return.
12. You should see several lines of code on screen.
13. Copy and Paste all of that code.
14. Open Notepad by heading to Start > Accessories > Notepad.
15. Paste the code in Notepad and delete all the spaces so you just have the code in a single string.
16. Sign in to your Motorola account or create one if you don’t have one yet. You can use your Google+ or Gmail accounts.
17. You will see a location on the Motorola page where you can paste some code. That’s the code you want to paste that you prepared earlier.
18. Click the ‘can my device be unlocked’ button after pasting the code in the box.
19. Click the ‘Request Unlock key’ button when it comes up on the bottom of the page.
    Check your email for the unlock key code.
20. Open the command prompt windows again and type this command:  ‘fastboot oem unlock YOUR KEY CODE’ — replacing where it says ‘YOUR KEY CODE’ with the key code you received in the email.

Job done. You should now have unlocked the Motorola Moto X Play Bootloader. Now you can think about doing some customizing on your smartphone. You might want to check back in a few weeks for a rooting method and a custom recovery guide. Neither of them are available just yet, but I’m sure it won’t be long before you can root and install either TWRP recovery or CWM recovery on your device and flash some new ROMs.