OnePlus has launched two flagship devices in the last few months including the OnePlus 13 and the OnePlus 13R. Both the phones are quite popular for their great performance. To fully unlock the potential of these devices, you can unlock the bootloader, which will grant access to more customization options.
Like any other Android smartphone, the OnePlus 13 and OnePlus 13R also come with locked bootloader by default. This protects the device from modifications attempted by anyone other than the owner. Hence unlocking the bootloader is not recommended for general users.
Unlocking the bootloader of the OnePlus 13 and 13R may void the device warranty. It will also delete all data from the device. So make sure you take a full backup of your phone before proceeding with the bootloader unlocking process.
How to Unlock Bootloader of OnePlus 13 and 13R
There could be various reasons why you might want to unlock the bootloader, such as rooting the phone, flashing custom ROMs, custom recoveries, custom libraries, patch files, and more. The extent of the advantages depends on the user’s knowledge. Now, let’s begin the process.
- First take a backup of your data as unlocking the bootloader will reset your phone.
- Open Settings on your phone and go to About Phone.
- Spot Build Number and tap 7 times on it to enable developer options.
- Go back to Settings, and then navigate to System > Developer options.
- In Developer Options, make sure to enable OEM unlocking and ADB debugging.
With these steps completed, you’ll need a PC with the adb and fastboot drivers for further process. If these drivers are not installed on your PC, you can download the platform tools to enter required commands.
Note: For Mac and Linux, make sure to add ./ before every command (without space), example, ./fastboot flashing unlock.
- Extract the platform tools on your PC. Then open CMD or terminal from the folder location. On Windows type CMD in folder address bar and enter. On Mac, right click on platform tools folder and new terminal at folder.
- Now connect your phone with PC using USB cable, and enter the below command to check connectivity. The command should return some device id.
- adb devices
- The above command may ask for debugging permission, so make sure to grant the permission, and enter the same command again.
- Now enter the command to reboot your phone into the bootloader mode.
- adb reboot bootloader
- Your OnePlus 13/13R will now boot in bootloader/fastboot mode. Then enter the unlock bootloader command as mentioned below.
- fastboot flashing unlock
- Confirm it on your phone using Power button to select and Volume buttons to navigate.
- Now wait for the bootloader unlock process, which can take some time.
- Your device will reboot automatically, if not, you can enter the mentioned command to restart your phone
- fastboot reboot
Now, you can set up your device like a brand-new phone, but with the bootloader unlocked. The bootloader unlocking process might seem difficult at first, but if you’re familiar with it, it becomes quite easy.
With the bootloader unlocked, you can use specific commands to flash any files you want. You can even flash a custom recovery to avoid entering commands every time you want to flash files. If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the comments.
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