About the Pre-historic Period and until 1100 B.C. we have only few and uncertain facts. As example of that period, we only have specific items, one ceramic pot of the Copper Period (3rd millennium B.C.) in the collection of the British School of Athens and three smaller vessels in the Archeological Museum of Andros, estimated to be of the Mycenaean era (13th and the 12th century B.C.).
Other references to the pre-historic period we have only from mythology, for example from Pavsania's mentions seeing in Delphi the General Andros statue from Crete. General Andros was the first settler on the island, thus the name, during the Minoan period, but he was deported after a great revolution of the people. After that, the island was deserted. Later, first came the Pelasgians and then, just like in Tinos and the other neighbor islands, was colonized by the Ionians. All these evidences are the result of studying the work of the contemporary writers and poets of that period.
We have more substantial evidence about the Geometric - Archaic and Classic Period (1100 - 323 B.C.), due to the excavations done close to Zagoriani (900-700 B.C.) in the geometrical area of Zagora, on the southwest part of the island. The first excavations in 1960 showed that the activities in the area were suddenly stopped. During the 10 years of the works, starting in 1967 by Alex.Kabitoglou, Professor of the University of Sidney Australia, significant evidences proved the importance of this town. The old town of Zagora had one main temple of the 6th century B.C., which means that the temple existed before the formation of the town. The temple was standing alone and far from the other buildings, which states its sacredness and importance in the lives of the citizens. In 650 B.C. the town was deserted. In the years that followed, Andros must had a thriving period, because we have evidence that, in those years, Andrians colonized  areas like Halkidiki, Thrace and other places in Greece. Colonization was not a common practice for the inhabitants of the Cycladic Islands.

Other references to Andros are its dependence on Naxos and the fact that Kerkolas, the famous Lesbian poetess Sapfo's husband, was a native Andrian.

Herodotus in his work mentions that Darius, the Persian Emperor, had received "land and water" by the inhabitants, which proves that Andros, as most of the Cycladic Islands while under the Persian domination, had also allied to them against the Athenians in the Sea Battle of Salamina in 480 B.C. After the defeat of the Persians, Themistocles, Athenian General and politician, tried in vain to lay siege to the ancient town of Andros, where today is Palaeopoli (Old town). Finally, in 478 - 477 B.C. Andros became a member of the Athenian Alliance who laid two punishments upon the people. Firstly Andrians had to pay the so called "alliance tax" of 21 talents, a substantial amount in 451 B.C. and secondly Andros had to endure and accept 250 Athenians (klirouhos= lottery winner) who were entitled to land after winning in a lottery (Naxos accepted 500 Athenians).

During the Peloponnesian War, we know that Andros was by the Athenian side, but not in which battles it participated. After the defeat of Athens, Pisandros, an Athenian tribune, managed to establish oligarchy on the island of Andros, but in 411 B.C. Andros walked out of the Athenian Alliance and joined Sparta. On the island arrived then a Spartan guard and, during almost all the 4th century, Andros was under the power of Sparta, since it was the Spartan fleet that controlled the Aegean Sea. In 378 B.C. the island joined the B' Athenian Alliance, in 357 B.C. arrived the Athenian Guard and, during the years 355-335 B.C., Andros was under the command of the "island governor" Timarchos.

From that period until the years of the Macedonian Dominance, nothing important has been reported about the island, except an attack with 100 ships by the Persian satrap Farnavazos in 333 B.C. During the Macedonian Dominance, the ancient city of Palaeopoli was extended more then 1km. The excavations done in the area in 1953, brought to light a part from the main market area and a lot of findings not older then the 4th century, like columns, marble pieces etc. that were just left there laying aside. These findings along with the two pale Christian basilicas prove life in Palaeopoli till the 5th century B.C. The most valuable findings are the sculpture of Hermes of Andros (copy of Hermes by Praxitelis), now part of the collection of the Archaeological Museum of Andros, and the metric hymn of Isis, probably from the late Christian Period of Andros. Dionysus, the favour God of Andros, is carved on the currency of Andros from the 4th till the beginning of the 3rd century B.C. 
Andros confronted difficulties during the Hellenistic and Roman Period. After the Alexander's  the Great death and until 315 B.C., Andros, and all the Cycladic Islands in the Aegean Sea, were under Macedonia's direct control. Later, they were conquered by Antigonos who founded the "Common of the Islanders". A period of turbulence followed, which caused Antigonos at first to lose the island, but later he re-conquered it from the Ptolemaists. Until 285 B.C. his son, Demetrius the Conqueror, ruled the island, but he lost it by the Ptolemaists who managed to keep their power for 40 years. In 246 B.C., they lost the battle against Antigonos Gonatas. During the 2nd Macedonian War, Andros suffered a lot. Cause for starting the war, was the fact that the Rhodes and Pergamus (ancient town on NW part of Asia Minor) asked the Romans to ally with them against Philip V of Macedonia. On May 199 B.C. at the port of Piraeus the fleet of Pergamus joined the roman one and united the two fleets headed towards Andros. The Macedonian guard of Andros had kept the island well organised and protected. Andrians had to surrender after 2 days of strong resistance. The Romans applied very cruel punishment and forced the people to abandon their houses and leave only with the clothes they were wearing on, while they were burning and destroying the island. The Andrian people stayed in Delion (today's Dilesi area) in Viotia. After the Romans had taken what they wanted, they gave the island as a benedictive present to Pergamus who had helped them during the battle. Andros remained until 133 B.C. under the power of Attalos III (King of Pergamus 171-133 B.C.). When Attalos III died, left the island of Andros to the Romans, who finally decided to allow Andrians to return to their island. The following years, Andros had maintained stability and became part of the "Asian Province" and not of the "Province of Achaia" like all the other Cycladic islands. The cruelest and hardest ruler of all that passed from Andros through the years, were the Rhodians from 42-31 B.C., when Octavius (Roman Imperator) took over.
In the beginning of the Macedonian Period, Andros belonged to the Asiatic Administration in the province of the islands with Rhodes as their capital. This information was found in a Hierocletus's script of the early 6th century. The constant attacks by the Arabs made it necessary to be developed a sea power in the area of Cyclades in order to protect the interests of the Empire. So, a very strong sea force was created that was used in the following years against the pirate attacks and during the Icons War in 717-741 B.C. for the revolution against the iconoclast emperor Leon III.
During the 8th and 9th centuries, all the Cycladic Islands, including Andros, became members of the Dukedom of Aegean Sea and acquired a nautical base with a general and a commodore. Andros had its own customs department which helped the development of the island by forming financial and commercial deals with Byzantium and also other areas from the mainland of Greece, especially towards the North. Thanks to this financial development, the people of Andros had the opportunity to acquire better education and therefore quality of life. Additionally, in the beginning of the 9th century, Andros became part of the Athens Metropolis and belonged to Athens Cathedral, which was also a way of expanding its commerce and financial bonds. The significance of the educational progress of Andros was shown from the fact that intellectual people were taught or studied  rhetorical art, philosophy and mathematics in the libraries of Andros, as the known Leon the Mathematician.

Although we know that in 826 B.C. the Aegean Sea suffered again attacks by the Arabs, there are no specific reports about Andros.
In the years that followed, the Andrians developed the cultivation of silkworms and some say that they kept the production on the upper floors of their houses where they created unique luxurious fabrics and other handworks that rapidly became very popular in Greece and in other countries. The Arab geographer Al Indisi mentioned the prosperity of Andros in his work and also how island's population increased.
In 1124 A.D. Andros was attacked by the Venetians, in 1147 by the Normans and in 1203 by the Generals of the 4th Crusade who were on their way to Constantinople. The latter demanded the taxes Andrians were paying to the legal King of Constantinople and not to Alexis Angelo.
The Venetian Domination. After the Fall of Constantinople in 1204, Andros was the only island that belonged to Venice and not to the Dukedom of Aegean Sea that was established in 1207 by Marcus Sanoudus. Initially, Andros belonged to Marino Dandolo, who left it to a forty-niner before he died in 1240 after he was forced to abandon his island. In 1282 Andros belonged to the Naxian Sanoudus and later to the family of Zeno. From 1437 - 1440 Venice controlled the island directly by appointing governors. Through the years, Venetians had constructed quite a lot of castles, fortresses and watchtowers on the island in order to protect it from the Turks who were pressuring a lot. In 1471 the Turks took over, inflicted taxes and in 1537 Hairedin Barbarossa, the known Turk Admiral and pirate of the Aegean Sea, arrived with his fleet, forced out the governor Yianni Francisco Somaripa and imposed on the island a 1.000 ducats tax. The French Ambassador of Constantinople managed to set an agreement for a yearly fee paid to the Turks so that the governor could maintain his power until 1566. Then, the Turks decided to eradicate anything roman from the Aegean Sea and to totally rule the area. The people of Andros, who wanted to free themselves from the Venetian domination, allied to the Turks against them. So, there were two results for them, on the one hand they were considered as betrayers by the rest of the Greeks, but on the other gave them the opportunity to ask for more privileges by the Turks, who of course were pleased by the alliance.
In general, during the Venetian Dominance the Cycladic Islands provided no evidence of development or progress and, although nothing important happened for Andros during that period, it was in better position in comparison to the neighbor islands. The population at that time was about 2000 people with most of them coming from Andros. History shows that the island was not a popular place for west families to live and the majority of the immigrants were Albanian's, who firstly appeared on the north part of the island during the 15th century.
the Ottoman Dominance started after the final expulsion of the Romans from Cyclades. From 1566 until 1579, ruler of Andros was the Sultan's protege, a Jewish banker from Constantinople, Joseph Naxis, who was called "the Duke of Naxos and Master of Andros". He himself had never visited his state, but he had appointed as his representative in Naxos, Francisco Coronello also of Jewish origin. The years that followed, Andros was ruled by a bay or "flamburiari" (political rank for the Turks) who could be either Muslims or Christians. Later, the Turkish domination became more stable and the seigniorial customs were lessened. In the 17th century Andros's administration was in the hands of clerks, Aga (high administrative rank in Turkey) and Kadis, who were changed in turns with the Voevodas (commander of a county appointed as observer for the commander officer responsible of the county). All these changes between in administration didn't really affect Andros, because it was the Sultan's Sach favorite island, who owned it from 1778 - 1803. In general, thanks to the privileges Andros had also a favored treatment and it managed to be developed in areas that other islands had never had the chance. For example, the Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in 1539 abrogated the fees, protected the island from the Turkish interferences, gave the Andrians the right to object to arbitrariness and respected the concept of inheritance concerning the properties of the people. The Turks in general wanted to form a more open minded profile for them, therefore allowed Greek schools where people, except from the monasteries, could learn the Greek language.

Since 1779 and for 4 years, Andros as all the Cycladic Islands, was under the Russian Dominance. The Russian fleet had set its base at the port of Naousa in Paros and basically left things as they were. After their departure, the governors, called Kotsabasides, were elected by the people of Andros and Turkey simply confirmed the decision. Kotsabasides were the rulers in Kato Kastro and in Korthi and were they who actually were ruling the area since slowly Agas didn't cared about the island. Around 1700 there were no more Turks on the island. Kotsabasides were elected by the people for 1 year, very rarely were re-elected and they were always in co-operation with the district clerks of the island and with the commissars of Arna and Ammoloxos.  
During the years of the Venetian Dominance, an aristocratic elite society started on Andros, but through the years it disappeared. The majority of the people lived by cultivating the land and it was the members of old families, rich land owners, along with the clerks, that had the power and the influence on the island to be elected as Kotsabasides. Exception to that was the class of "Gemitzides" from Kato Kastro, composed by ship owners who, just before the Revolution, had gained power and raised their demands. During those years, financially the island of Andros depended on the silk production and only by the end of the 18th century started the development of shipping. Until the Revolution shipping had expanded a lot and in 1813 Andros had 40 ships and 400 sailors.
Education was a very important factor in the Adrian people's lives. The first school was established by the Capuchins monks in 1640 and, although their basic aim was the conversion, it was still a good opportunity for the locals but also for Athenians to study various subjects, including rhetoric or mathematics and to use their library. Later, around 1780, the archbishop Dionysus Kairis II, founded the "School of Greek Literature" that operated normally until the end of the Revolution. A lot of known scholars were coming from Andros, but most of them had worked abroad. The most famous was Theophilos Kairis who had raised the flag of Revolution at the church of Ag. Georgios in Chora on the 10th of March 1821. He and his sister Evanthia lived in Smyrna and Kydonies and had a significant literature and spiritual work to present.  
People of Andros, after meeting in the center of Chora, capital of Andros, decided to use their ships and boats to protect the Kafirea area from a possible attack by the Turks of Karystos in Evia. By this way, they made official their participation in the common Battle of Independence against the Turks. Andrians had fought in Evia, Peloponnesus, Hydra and Psara. The financial help of the monasteries to the Battle was very important, especially the one from the Monastery of Agias.
At the narrow channel between Evia and Andros took place the known Andrian Sea Battle (1789 - 1792) where the Lambros Katsonis's small fleet consisted by 9 ships and 800 men, gave a brave fight at first against the Turkish fleet whom he forced in retreat by using surprise moves, and secondly against the Algerian fleet of 27 ships. During the latter, Lambros Katsonis and the captain Androutsos, the famous revolutionary Odysseys Androutsos's father, lost 4 ships and about 565 men but still managed to delay the enemy and cause them serious casualties (the enemy lost almost 3.000 men).
During the 19th century the movement of Ballis was active on Andros and in 1822 caused significant trouble that lasted for months. This movement had as its target the rulers of the island who were causing a general discontentment to the people of Andros mostly for financial reasons. So, since the beginning of 1826 and till the years of Kapodistrias, the Andrian people had to deal with attacks by unorganised troops with Vasos and Krietzotis as leaders. The troops had the name "liapides" because they were attacking houses, stealing and terrorizing the people up to the point they were considering to abandon their own houses. Finally, a very violent and bloody battle took place in 1827 between those troops and the Andrian people in the area of Korthi and brought an end to all those attacks.

During the second half of the 19th century, the old captains and then ship owners, had formed a new social class on the island of Andros. They used to name their boats after the island which helped Andros to become known to the world. During the two World Wars, Andros had lost almost all its fleet by torpedoes and the casualties in human force were extreme. After 1945, shipping developed again. In the beginning of the 20th century, the Andrian Moraitis Dimitrios had started first the line Greece - USA. The island of Andros till nowadays remains the land of the ship owners.