How to unlock bootloader and root OnePlus Nord

OnePlus Nord, despite having some display issues is indeed one of the best upper mid-range devices money can buy in 2020. We reckon, there ought to be a lot of users using the OnePlus Nord as the daily driver. Apart from being a good value-performer, OnePlus devices are developer-friendly and this is a deal on for many.

Must See: OnePlus Nord N10 5G and affordable N100 smartphone launches for Europe and North America

The OnePlus Nord, like all the OnePlus devices, is easily bootloader unlockable. Here, we’ll be looking at how to root the OnePlus Nord. First starting with the bootloader unlocking tutorial.

Downloads

• Minimal ADB and Fastboot: Download
• Magisk and Magisk Manager: Download
• OnePlus Nord Stock Firmware: 1. Global/EU, 2. India

Unlock Bootloader of OnePlus Nord

Disclaimer: Bootloader unlock may erase your data. So backup all the necessary data before proceeding. Also, it’s advised to have the latest software installed on your device.

• In order to take a backup. Go to OnePlus Switch > Backup & Restore > New Backup. 
• Copy that backup folder to your computer later on you can transfer it to the device once you’re done with the bootloader unlocking. Skip if you don’t care losing existing data.

1. First and foremost, go to Settings > About phone and tap the Build number section 5-7 times repeatedly. Developer options should appear in your device’s system settings, where you can then enable OEM unlocking.
2. Once the OEM Unlock is enabled from the Developer Option, enable the USB Debugging option from the same Developer Options settings.
3. Now, turn on your PC and make sure Minimal ADB and Fastboot is installed on your system.
4. Connect your smartphone to the PC via USB and set-up ADB terminal. Once the device is all set to receive ADB commands, input the below code in the command prompt to make your device boot to bootloader/fastboot mode.

   adb reboot bootloader

5. Alternatively, you can use key combinations to get your device into fastboot mode. For that, press and hold Volume Up + Volume Down + Power button for a few seconds while your device is in off-state.
6. Once your device has been booted into fastboot mode, it’s time to throw the commands which will really unlock your bootloader. Input the below commands via command prompt (make sure your device is successfully connected to PC in fastboot)

   fastboot oem unlock

7. Give the consent to unlock the device once the code has been entered.
8. Within 1-3 seconds, the bootloader of the device should be unlocked. Now, you can restart your smartphone or proceed with other daring activities such as rooting or installing the custom ROMs. Good Luck!

Let’s see how can we proceed further and root the OnePlus Nord.

Root OnePlus Nord Using Magisk

OnePlus Nord features A/B partition, so you need to flash the patched boot image to the currently active slot which we have described below.

1. Reboot your phone and complete the OxygenOS setup process after unlocking the bootloader.
2. If not done, download Magisk Manager from the link given above.
3. Download and patch the boot image for your variant using Magisk. Follow the steps below to do so…
4. Download the extracted boot.img for your device build (Global) or (India). (Download links in the section above.)
5. Open Magisk Manager and choose the “Select and patch a file” option to patch the boot.img file you downloaded in the previous step.
6. Once Magisk Manager has finished patching the boot.img file you downloaded, the patched file will be output in your phone’s Downloads folder.
7. Replace your phone’s active boot image with the one you have downloaded and patched with Magisk Manager.
8. Copy that patched boot.img (which should be named magisk_patched.img) to your PC.
9. Now on your PC’s command window and type:

   adb reboot bootloader

   This will return your phone to fastboot mode.

10. Type the below command and press Enter.

    fastboot getvar current-slot

    • If the output is a, type fastboot flash boot_a magisk_patched.img and press Enter.
    • If the output is b, type fastboot flash boot_b magisk_patched.img and press Enter.
11. Wait for the process to complete.
12. Once finished, reboot your device and open Magisk Manager to check the status of root. It should show something like below.

In case if it’s showing unrooted, then try to repeat the steps once again.

Also Read: How to Unlock Bootloader, Install TWRP and Root OnePlus 8 Pro