How to Unlock the Bootloader on OnePlus Nord

Sadique Hassan•Updated Apr 6, 2024

UPDATE 3: YOU COULD NOW ROOT YOUR ONEPLUS NORD VIA TWRP RECOVERY
UPDATE 2: YOU COULD NOW INSTALL TWRP RECOVERY ON ONEPLUS NORD
UPDATE 1: YOU COULD NOW ROOT YOUR ONEPLUS NORD WITHOUT TWRP (USING PATCHED BOOT.IMG FILE)

In this tutorial, we will show you how to unlock the bootloader on your OnePlus Nord device. With its latest offering, the OEM seems to be right back on track for which it was initially known for. While its latest flagships were slightly bit on the higher side, with Nord things are a little bit different. The device has managed to incorporate some nifty features at an affordable price. To begin with, the 6.44 inches screen has a 1080 x 2400 pixel resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate.

Under the hood, you get an octa-core Qualcomm SDM765 Snapdragon 765G chipset with Adreno 620 as the GPU. Out of the box you get OnePlus’ own customized skin dubbed as OxygenOS10, based on Android 10. The quad rear camera setup (48+8+5+2) manages to take some pretty decent clicks and the dual front camera (32+8) also does complete justice to this device. To support all these, you get a 4115 mAh battery that will be sufficient to make the device last an entire day, if not the 30W fast charging will come in handy.

Although the features no doubt are pretty impressive considering the price to which it belongs, yet this is just the tip of the iceberg. You could get more out of your device if you unlock its bootloader. And in this guide, we are here to help you achieve just that. Today, we will show you how to unlock the bootloader on your OnePlus Nord device. But before that, there are a few important points that need your attention.

MAGISK GUIDES

Table of Contents

What is Bootloader?

According to Google “A bootloader is a vendor-proprietary image responsible for bringing up the kernel on a device. It guards the device state and is responsible for initializing the Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) and binding its root of trust”. Confused? So am I! let us leave all this aside. In simpler terms, a Bootloader is a software that runs every time your phone boots (start). It contains a set of instructions that tells the device which program to load at what instance.

It also decides whether to boot your device to ‘Android OS’ or the ‘recovery mode’. By default, most of the OEMs ships their devices with a locked bootloader. The reason for their part is quite simple: they only want you to run the OS that they ship on their device. The reason for the same is due to security concerns. But they still leave a window of opportunity for the tech geeks those who wish to tweak their device’s system. And if you are one of them, then this guide is all that you will require.

Perks of OnePlus Nord’s Bootloader Unlock

Unlocking your device’s bootloader is like opening the gate to a plethora of opportunities. To begin with, you could try an altogether new customized version of Android OS, known as Custom ROMs. Apart from that, you could even replace the device’s stock recovery with a custom one like TWRP. Along the same lines, you could also get administrative rights over your device.

This will then allow you to try out tons of Magisk Modules, Xposed Framework, or even modify the device’s system partition. All this is made possible by rooting your device via Magisk. What is even more interesting is the fact that just by using a single line of code, the bootloader could be unlocked. So what are you waiting for, go ahead and give it a try, or should you? Before beginning with the process, make sure to read the downsides of unlocking it. All this is mentioned in the below article.

Downsides of Unlocking Bootloader on OnePlus Nord

The biggest downside of unlocking the bootloader is that the warranty of your device would be void. But why do the manufacturers do this? The answer is simple. All the OEMs ship their devices with a locked bootloader so that the users could only use the stock OS that comes pre-installed.

The device vendors do not want the users to try out the customized version of the OS as they are launched by third-party sources such as LineageOS or Resurrection Remix. The manufacturers are in no way related to these creators, and hence they distance themselves from all this. The biggest disadvantage to come out of all this is that your device’s warranty will be null and void.

Apart from that, you will also lose all the data stored on your device. Moreover, some apps like Google Pay or Pokemon Go might not function as expected. Furthermore, the L1 Widevine Certificate will also get degraded to L3. This means you wouldn’t be able to stream Netflix content in HD quality. Last but not the least, there’s always some chances of your devices getting bootloop or ending in a bricked state.

TWRP GUIDES

How to Unlock Bootloader on OnePlus Nord

Before we list out the steps to do so, there are a few requirements that your device needs to be met. So please go through the below-mentioned points before you proceed with the steps:

Prerequisites

First of all, make sure to take a backup of all the data on your device. This is because the process will wipe off all the stored data.
Next up, download and install the Android SDK Platform Tools onto your PC. This will be required so as to execute ADB and Fastboot Commands. The ADB commands will be needed to boot your device to Fastboot Mode. The latter will be needed to execute the required fastboot commands for unlocking the bootloader.
Enable USB Debugging onto your device. This is needed so that your PC successfully recognizes your device in ADB Mode.
Also, make sure that your device is sufficiently charged so that it doesn’t turn off mid-way during the unlock process.

You may now proceed with the steps to unlock the bootloader on your OnePlus Nord device. Follow along.

Instruction Steps

Connect your device to PC via USB cable. Make sure USB Debugging is enabled.
Head over to the platform-tools folder, type in CMD in the address bar, and hit Enter. This will launch the Command Prompt window.
Now execute the below command to boot your device to Fastboot/Bootloader mode:
```
adb reboot bootloader
```
Next up, type in the following command to unlock the device’s bootloader
```
fastboot oem unlock
```
You will now get a confirmation message on your screen. Use the Volume keys to select the “Unlock the Bootloader” option and hit the Power key to confirm your decision.
The process will take a few seconds to complete. Once that is done, you may reboot your device to System using the below command:
```
fastboot reboot
```

So this was all from this guide on how to unlock the bootloader on OnePlus Nord. Do keep in mind that the first boot might take up some time, which is completely normal. Furthermore, you will have to set up your device from scratch, considering a device reset has taken place. Apart from that, if you have any other concerns, do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with the solution as soon as possible.

ANDROID TIPS AND TRICKS

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