Enabling Developer Mode and SSH Access

Unlike earlier reMarkable tablets that exposed SSH credentials directly, the Paper Pro (along with the Paper Pro Move and Paper Pure) gates all shell access behind an official, first-party Developer Mode toggle built into the settings UI. No exploit or jailbreak is required. Enabling it grants SSH access, an interactive root shell, and full read/write access to the device's filesystem, including the ability to make the normally read-only root partition writable. This section covers what that unlocks, the non-trivial cost of enabling it, and how to connect once it is on.

Warning: Enabling Developer Mode performs a full factory reset — every notebook, document, and setting stored locally is erased ("THIS WILL DELETE ALL FILES"). It also breaks the secure-boot chain of trust, so the device no longer cryptographically verifies the software it boots, and it displays a warning on every boot that cannot be removed or modified. Defects caused by developer-mode modifications are not covered under warranty, and reMarkable may decline to support modified software. Sync all data to your reMarkable cloud account before proceeding — cloud-stored notebooks return after you sign back in, but anything not synced is lost permanently.

What Developer Mode unlocks

• SSH access as the root user, over USB out of the box and over Wi-Fi once enabled.
• An interactive shell on the device's Linux system.
• Full filesystem access. You can freely modify files under /home, and with additional commands remount the root partition as writable for OS-level modifications.

Because it bypasses secure boot and grants root, Developer Mode fundamentally weakens the security of the device and any data on it. reMarkable explicitly advises against enabling it if privacy and data protection are your highest priorities.

Enabling Developer Mode

The official documented path is Settings → General → Paper Tablet → Software → Advanced → Developer Mode. In the current on-device UI the sequence is:

1. Sync all local content to the reMarkable cloud and confirm nothing important is unsynced.
2. Tap the hamburger menu (top-left), then Settings.
3. Open General, then tap the software version number to reveal advanced options.
4. Tap the button next to Advanced, then select Developer Mode.
5. Read every on-screen warning and press Accept, then confirm the data-deletion prompt.
6. Press the power button twice to initiate the factory reset.

The device wipes, reboots, and enables Developer Mode on next boot. You must then re-run initial setup: reconnect Wi-Fi, apply any pending software update, and sign back into your account. Cloud notebooks reappear once the device re-syncs.

Figure 7.1: Developer Mode lifecycle — from stock device through factory wipe to a dev-enabled device, and back only via Recovery

Finding the SSH password and connecting

After Developer Mode is enabled, the SSH credentials appear on-device under the GPLv3 compliance screen: Settings → General → Help → About → Copyrights and Licenses. Underneath the GPLv3 Compliance header you will find the host IP addresses, the username, and a per-device password.

• The username is root.
• The password is randomly generated per device and is shown on that screen. It changes whenever the device is reset, so re-check it after any recovery or reset.

Connect your computer to the tablet with the USB cable. The device sets up a local network over USB and is reachable at 10.11.99.1. SSH to it as root and enter the password from the GPLv3 Compliance screen:

ssh [email protected]

Figure 7.2: SSH connection paths from your computer to the device as the root user

USB-based SSH works out of the box once Developer Mode is on. To avoid typing the password on every connection, install an SSH public key on the device rather than relying on password authentication. Generate a key pair with ssh-keygen, then append the public key to the device's authorized keys file:

# on your computer, then copy the public key to the device
ssh-keygen -t ed25519
# on the device, the public key belongs in:
/home/root/.ssh/authorized_keys

Note that a key generated without a passphrase has no password protecting it — a minor local security consideration worth weighing.

SSH over Wi-Fi is disabled by default for security. To enable it, connect over USB first and run:

rm-ssh-over-wlan on

This sets a configuration flag on the home partition. On the Paper Pro it persists across OS updates and does not need to be re-run after an update.

OTA updates versus a modified device

OS updates on the reMarkable replace the entire root partition with the new image. Any customization written to the root partition is wiped by an update; only changes kept under /home survive. Keep modifications in /home wherever possible.

Because Developer Mode lets you make the root partition writable and edit system files, an incompatible modification, third-party package manager on an unsupported OS version, or an interrupted update can leave the device unbootable (soft-bricked). The safety net is the Recovery application, which restores a device to a clean, bootable state.

Recovery is also the only way to leave Developer Mode. There is no simple toggle-off — disabling Developer Mode requires the reMarkable Paper Pro / Paper Pro Move / Paper Pure Recovery application, and that process re-wipes the device back to a clean state.