How to manually install OxygenOS OTA updates on your OnePlus phone

Sometimes, you need to manually install a system software update on your phone. Whether it’s because the new device hasn’t rolled out in your region yet, introduced a new feature on a different update channel, or just because you’ve rooted your device and can’t use the normal OTA, there are plenty of reasons to choose the manual update path. Fortunately, on OnePlus phones, installing OxygenOS OTA updates manually is a very simple process, and we’ll guide you through it here.

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OxygenOS Update Channels

OnePlus smartphones generally have three streams of software updates: Closed Beta, Open Beta, and Stable. Closed Beta versions of OxygenOS are available to a limited number of testers, while Open Betas are posted on the company’s forums for anyone to install. Both of these builds are used for testing to remove bugs and other issues, along with introducing new features. Finally, the stable releases are the culmination of all the features and bug fixes after the closed and open betas run their course.

Over the past few years, Google has continued to work closely with OEMs in an effort to get major release updates to devices as quickly as possible. OnePlus is one of the smartphone manufacturers that regularly collaborates with Google to get early versions of Android running on some of its recent devices. Pre-release builds are usually provided through a special ‘Developer Preview’ program, which is separate from the regular OxygenOS update channels.

The manual OTA installation process is mostly identical for different update streams. However, it may differ slightly across regional and carrier variants of OnePlus smartphones.

Can I manually install OxygenOS updates on carrier variants of OnePlus phones?

OnePlus tends to use the Google OTA framework (often referred to as “GOTA”) instead of the OxygenOS/ColorOS OTA backend on the carrier and some global hardware variants. While updates can still be downloaded to these unlocked/unlocked regional devices, carrier models (such as phones sold through T-Mobile and Verizon) make it difficult to install any OTA update packages by the end user via intentionally.

Keep in mind that you may be able to cross-flash unlocked OxygenOS depending on the carrier variant and then forcibly download software updates. However, due to incompatibility issues related to internal differences within modems and many other low-level firmware sections, this is not recommended.

Where can I download the OxygenOS OTA update?

As mentioned earlier, when it comes to developer previews and Open Beta builds, OnePlus usually lists the raw builds on its forums. In case successive updates require manual installation for compatibility reasons, the company offers OTA download options from update announcement threads. However, it is not a general rule.

For every stable OxygenOS update, you should be able to find two types of OTA versions: full, and incremental. It is recommended to use full update packages for sideloading, as they upgrade the phone regardless of the previous version installed. It’s also useful when you’re rooted, as you can extract the stock boot image from it, patch it, and then flash it afterwards to maintain root access. An incremental update package is relatively smaller than the corresponding full OTA package, but can only be applied to a healthy base.

As with all OTAs from various Android device manufacturers, OxygenOS updates for OnePlus phones are being rolled out in a phased manner. The initial phase of the rollout will only reach a few users and once the company confirms that there are no major issues with the update, it will be rolled out to the rest of the devices.

oneplus Maintains a download portal for software updatesThe company periodically uploads full update images for its phones. However, it often lags behind the actual update stage. The portal does not offer additional update packages, and you cannot find Open Beta builds there. This is the place Oxygen refresher Enter.

Oxygen updater is a file open source app It uses the power of crowdsourcing and intelligent OTA querying to bypass the rollout queue and download OxygenOS updates at your convenience. The app can download official update packages directly from OnePlus/Google servers, and even check the integrity of a downloaded ZIP file using an MD5 checksum.

Thanks to the close collaboration between the maintainers of Oxygen Updater and XDA, we also include full and incremental OTA packages in our OxygenOS update articles whenever possible. Thus, our readers can download the updates directly to their PC/Mac and then transfer it to their phone for manual update.

How to sideload OxygenOS update manually

Assuming you are not trying to view a different regional version or a mismatched update channel version, follow the steps below to perform a manual update. While it is possible to switch the firmware region or jump between update streams on OnePlus devices, only try these procedures if you know exactly what you’re doing.

For OxygenOS 11

Here’s how to manually install an update on your OnePlus phone running OxygenOS 11 based on Android 11:

1. Select a regional alternative for your phone. Unfortunately, selecting it based only on the internal model number or firmware region props is a hit or miss, because both vendors and users can view different regional firmwares on OnePlus devices.
   • You can use Oxygen Updater to find out the variable, it checks the internal database which greatly reduces the possibility of false selection.
2. Download the update package that you want to install on your phone using Oxygen Updater. You can also find direct links in our articles, which are easy to use on PC/Mac along with download manager app.
   • As mentioned earlier, try to choose the full ZIP file whenever possible. Applying incremental update requires delta correction, which is only possible when the corresponding base version has not been tampered with at all.
3. Move the update package to the root of your phone’s internal storage.
   
4. Go to SettingsDetermine Systemand choose File System updates Selection.
5. Click on the gear icon in the upper right corner and select local upgrade.
6. The file you saved in the root directory should appear here. Select the file to start the local upgrade.
   
7. Choose INSTALL NOW To manually install the OxygenOS update on your OnePlus phone.
   
8. Once the installation is finished, go to File about the phone Build number check page.

If you have the generic alternative to any OnePlus smartphone, the local upgrade option may not be visible by default. In this case, you need to Install its APK First then use the activity launcher app (Example) to start the activity called com.oneplus.localupdate.ui.home.HomeActivity to be able to start the Local Upgrade Wizard. To find out more, take a look This is another forum.

For OxygenOS 12 and above

If you have a non-carrier OnePlus phone running OxygenOS 12 running Android 12 or later and want to manually download an update, do the following:

1. Select a regional alternative for your phone. Again, use Oxygen Updater to do this, as it checks an internal database which greatly reduces the possibility of false selection.
   
2. Download the update package that you want to install on your phone using Oxygen Updater. You can also find direct links in our articles, which are easy to use on PC/Mac along with download manager app.
   • As mentioned earlier, try to choose the full ZIP file whenever possible. Applying incremental update requires delta correction, which is only possible when the corresponding base version has not been tampered with at all.
3. Move the update package to the root of your phone’s internal storage.
4. To unlock the local install feature, you need to enable the developer options built into Android. To do this, go to Settings > About the device > Issuance and press complete the number Section 7 times.
5. Return to the About device page, and tap Until nowthen click on the three vertical dots menu in the upper right corner, and select local installation.
6. The file you saved in the root directory should appear here. Select the file to start the local upgrade.
7. Choose INSTALL NOW To manually install the OxygenOS update on your OnePlus phone.
   
8. Once the installation is finished, go to File about the phone Build number check page.

In some cases, you will need to install a separate app to force the feature to be enabled. OnePlus offers quite a few variations of a standalone System Update app via its forums, but the app linked below should be compatible with most of its devices.

Download OPLocalUpdate APK

After installing the APK, all you have to do is open the system update app from the app drawer. It will automatically detect a valid update package if it is rooted in your phone’s internal storage. Next, click on the file name to start the update procedure.

Special Case: Downgrade

Usually, you can only upgrade to a higher build version. OxygenOS’ local install feature prevents you from downloading an older version for security reasons. However, OnePlus already offers a special type of firmware build (commonly referred to as “rollback packages”) that is intended to downgrade to an older version of the currently installed operating system.

Undo packages included in OnePlus forum thread

During the major transition period (eg from OxygenOS 12 to OxygenOS 13), the company provides official downgrade ZIP files that can be used to go back from the beta/developer preview to the stable channel. Although the manual sideloading process for those packages is not much different from regular updates, They forcibly scan the target device during the installation phase. Hence, it is best to backup all your data before trying to downgrade.

conclusion

And that’s all there is to it. You should be upgraded to whatever version of OxygenOS you need without waiting for OnePlus to push the update to your phone. Moreover, you can now easily go back to the previous version of OxygenOS using the manual installation process as well.

Thanks to a great member of XDA Some_Random_Username for help.

If you have any queries regarding the installation process, let us know in the comments section below!