You can now flash the TWRP custom recovery on your OnePlus Nord which can be used to flash ROMs, Magisk, and other Mods. Thanks to the developer and all credit to mauronofrio. The Recovery is still in the testing phase (As of August 2020) but some users have reported that they have successfully flashed Magisk Zip and rooted their smartphone without any problems.

In our case, we will be booting Custom Recovery which will temporarily boot the TWRP recovery without actually flashing it. You need an unlocked bootloader to flash or boot the Custom TWRP and the bootloader is locked by default. The installation section below covers the steps to unlock the bootloader.

You will find all the Download links and Installation Guide in this post. Make sure to take a backup of all of your files as unlocking the bootloader will erase the data for privacy reasons. so let’s get started

Download Section

TWRP for OnePlus Nord

ADB and Fastboot

USB Drivers

How to flash TWRP Recovery on OnePlus Nord

Unlock the Bootloader of OnePlus Nord

Step 1: Unlock the Bootloader, Enable OEM Unlock, and USB Debugging

• Enable USB Debugging and OEM Unlock in developers options ( Tap a few times on Build no. to unlock Developers options)
• Enable Advance Reboot in the Developer option and then Reboot the Device into Bootloader mode
• Connect the device to PC and Open Powershell or Command Window by Shift + Right Click
• Type this Command to Confirm if the device is connected and Fastboot is working

fastboot devices

• Type this Command to Unlock the Bootloader

For Windows

fastboot oem unlock

For macOS

./fastboot oem unlock

On your OnePlus Nord, there will be two new options, select the Unlock Bootloader option using Volume keys and press Power Button to Confirm it

And that its, the device is now unlocked, that means you can give the command to it via fastboot, that can be used to flash TWRP, Boot images, and other img files

Complete some pre-requirements

1. This part is just to make sure that you are 100% ready to install TWRP.
2. First of all, Install the ADB and Fastboot on your PC. You can find it on the Download Section.
3. Download OnePlus USB drivers and install them on the PC.
4. Charge your device so it won’t turn off during the flashing of TWRP.
5. Download the TWRP, rename it to twrp(.img) and move it to the adb folder (default location is C:\adb)

Connect the Device to PC and Boot TWRP

• Boot the device to Fastboot mode by using Advance reboot menu (Can be enabled in Developer options)
• Connect the OnePlus Nord to your PC, Make sure all drivers are Installed, including ADB and Fastboot
• Shift + Right-click and open PowerShell window or command window
• Type this command to make sure the device is connected

fastboot devices

• If the device is connected, then it will return the Fastboot ID
• Type the command below to Boot the TWRP recovery on the Nord. You shouldn’t use the “flash” command here as developers himself recommend Booting the TWRP for now. You can flash it once it becomes stable. Keep an eye on the XDA thread of the Recovery to know its status.

fastboot boot twrp.img

That’s it, the device will boot to the TWRP recovery. This will be a temporary boot and TWRP will not be flashed by this command. You can boot the TWRP again to use it.

Wrapping it Up

So, that’s how you flash the TWRP Custom Recovery on OnePlus Nord. If you are not sure what to do after it, you can Root the OnePlus Nord by flashing Magisk and flash some Custom ROMs like Pixel Experience and LineageOS 17.1.