Earlier today, the OnePlus team released the first Android 7.0 Nougat based OxygenOS build for the OnePlus 3. The open beta brings all the goodness of Nougat like the new notification design, Multi-window multitasking, custom DPI scaling, notification Direct Reply, and more to the handset.

Since this is a beta update, OnePlus is not rolling it out via an OTA update. Instead, OnePlus 3 owners are required to manually sideload the update on their handset. If you cannot wait for the final Nougat update to land on your OnePlus 3, check out the steps below on how to sideload the Nougat OxygenOS beta update on your device.

Before you proceed further, do note that while installing the Nougat update will not wipe your OnePlus 3 clean, it is still recommended that you create a backup of all your data. Also note that you cannot roll back to Marshmallow build of OxygenOS. You will have to use a special build of the OS that can be acquired by contacting OnePlus’ support.

Some of the features that currently don’t work on the Nougat build of OxygenOS are as follows:

• Android Pay may not work correctly
• Some stability/performance issues

How to sideload Nougat OxygenOS build on OnePlus 3

If coming from a stable OxygenOS build:

Step 1: Download the Oxygen OS Nougat beta zip file from here. Transfer it to your desktop and rename it to “oxygenos.zip”. If adb/fastboot are not already set up on your PC, follow the instruction here (Mac users, follow this guide). If you are on Windows, make sure to install the necessary drivers for the handset as well.

Step 2: On your OnePlus 3, head over to Settings -> About Phone and tap on Build Number 7 times to enable the hidden Developer Options. Once the toast notification pops up, head over to Settings -> Developer Options and enable the ‘Advanced Reboot’ option.

Step 3: Long press the Power button to bring up the power menu. Tap on Reboot followed by Recovery. 

Once your phone boots into recovery, select English as your language followed by Install from ADB. Tap on OK when prompted.

Step 4: On your PC, fire up a new command prompt or Terminal window, and then type in the following command:

adb sideload oxygenos.zip

In case you get a file not found error, simply type in “adb sideload” and then drag ‘n’ drop the Oxygen OS Nougat zip file inside command prompt or terminal. You can also simply copy-paste the location of the file inside the window. Press enter and wait for the file to be sideloaded. Once the transfer is complete, the update will automatically be installed on your OnePlus 3. At the end, you will be prompted to restart your handset.

If coming from an existing OxygenOS beta build:

Step 1: If you are already running OxygenOS community build on your OnePlus 3, download the Nougat beta zip file from here and transfer it to the internal storage of the handset.

Step 2: Head over to Settings -> System Update. Tap the Settings button located at the top-right and select the ‘Local upgrade’ option.

Step 3: The update process will then automatically start and your device will reboot multiple times during it.

If you are facing any issues while installing the official OxygenOS Open beta 8 Nougat update on your OnePlus 3, drop a comment and we will help you out.