In this guide, we will show you the steps to update your OnePlus device from Android 11 to Android 12 on an unlocked bootloader. Some of you might be wondering why there was a need all of a sudden to cover this topic, and your question is completely justified. Well, it is owing to recent changes taking place in the OnePlus ecosystem, especially if we talk about the 7 series.
At the time of writing, you could no longer unlock the bootloader on your OnePlus 7 series device if it is running OxygenOS 12 Android 12 [it might hold true for other OnePlus devices as well, but I haven’t personally tested it]. So you will first have to downgrade to Android 11, unlock the bootloader, and then update your device to Android 12. In this regard, we have already covered this in the past as to how you could perform this downgrade.
But once the downgrade is complete and you are on OxygenOS 11, how could you upgrade to OxygenOS 12? The major grey area of concern is the fact that wouldn’t the software update fail on an unlocked bootloader. To stay on the safer side, you could have opted to relock the bootloader, install the OTA update normally, and then unlock the bootloader.
However, all this wouldn’t work in the current scenario as you wouldn’t be able to unlock the bootloader on OxygenOS 12. Another query that some of you might ask is why we need to update to the bloated OxygenOS 12 when Android 11 offers the purest form of OxygenOS. Well, the reason why we want to update to the latest OS is due to the Android 13 custom ROMs requirement that you need to be on the Android 12 build.
So if you want to welcome Pixel Experience and LineageOS based on Android 13 onto your device, then you have no choice but to update to Android 12. Owing to all these reasons, this guide will show you the steps to update your OnePlus device from Android 11 to Android 12 on an unlocked bootloader. Follow along.
How to Update OnePlus Android 11 to Android 12 on Unlocked Bootloader
First and foremost, let’s address the elephant in the room- you could easily update your OnePlus from Android 11 OxygenOS 11 to Android 12 OxygenOS 12 on an unlocked bootloader [granted you are on stock OxygenOS without any custom modification such as root].
Moroever, while there was no data loss during the process but we would still recommend you take a complete device backup beforehand. Droidwin and its members wouldn’t be held responsible in case of a thermonuclear war, your alarm doesn’t wake you up, or if anything happens to your device and data by performing the below steps.
- Download the OxygenOS 12 firmware for your device from the official site, XDA, or the Oxygen Updater app.
- As for this guide, let’s proceed ahead with the app method. So download and install Oxygen Updater from Play Store.
- Then launch it and select your device. After that, go to the Settings menu and select Update Method as Stable (full).
- Now scroll down and enable Advanced Mode. Then go back to its home page and you should get the Android 12 update.
- Tap on it to download it. Once done, go to Settings > System Update and tap on the settings icon situated at the top right.
- Then tap on Local Upgrade, select the firmware ZIP file, and tap on Install Now. The installation process will now begin.
- Once done, hit Reboot. Your device will now restart to the OxygenOS 12 update based on Android 12.
That’s it. These were the steps to update your OnePlus device from Android 11 to Android 12 on an unlocked bootloader. If you have any queries concerning the aforementioned steps, do let us know in the comments. We will get back to you with a solution at the earliest.
