How to Restore a Nandroid Backup on the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T

Yesterday, I showed you how to create your first Nandroid backup on the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T and today I want to show you how to restore from one.

Nandroid backups are absolutely my favorite feature when it comes to custom ROMs on Android. I have no idea why Google or any other OEM will not let people create full backups like this by default. Whatever the reason is, I’m just glad the option is there for those who want to tinker with their smartphone and reap the benefits of having more control over the hardware they purchased.

If you followed my tutorial yesterday, then you have already created your first Nandroid backup on the OnePlus 3.

If you didn’t, then definitely check out that guide and be sure to always have a recent Nandroid backup of your device (even if you don’t actively install root modifications). Now, if you ever come to the point where you need to restore from said backup, all you have to do is follow the steps that I’m about to outline below.

Naturally, to restore from a Nandroid backup you had to have previously created one. In order to do that, you will need to unlock the bootloader of the OnePlus 3 and you have to install TWRP on the OnePlus 3. Once all of this is done, then you can start with the tutorial below.

Note – If you forgot to disable your PIN/Pattern/Password security layer before creating the Nandroid backup, you’ll need to boot into TWRP, mount system and delete the /data/system/locksettings.db file. If you’re unclear with how to do this, follow along with this tutorial here.

OnePlus 3 Restore Nandroid Backup

1. Boot the OnePlus 3 into Recovery Mode
2. Tap on the ‘Restore’ Button
3. Tap on the Nandroid Backup You Want to Restore From
4. Tap on the MD5 Check Option (not required)
5. Swipe the White Arrows to the Right to Start the Restore Process
6. Wait for the OnePlus 3 Backup to be Restored
7. Then Tap on the ‘Reboot System’ Button

Explanation

As a reminder, if you forgot to disable your PIN/Pattern/Password security layer before creating your Nandroid backup, restoring from it and trying to boot into Android will show that it does not recognize your PIN/Pattern/Password. If you come across this issue, be sure to boot back into TWRP, mount system and delete the /data/system/locksettings.db file. For those that find this confusing, I will be doing a video tutorial of it in the future.

If you did remember, and now you’re ready to restore from your Nandroid backup, let’s go ahead and boot the OnePlus 3 into Recovery Mode. From here, tap on the Restore button and then you’ll be presented a list of all your previously created Nandroid backups. Simply tap on the backup you want to restore from and then make sure all of the available partitions have a check mark before it (so that TWRP will restore these partitions).

You then have the option to verify the MD5 hash before the restore process begins. This is something I recommend, but isn’t required and as you can tell from the video above, it only adds another 10-15 seconds onto the restore process. When you’re ready, all you have to do is swipe the white arrows at the bottom of the screen and that will begin the restore process. The amount of time it takes to restore your partitions from the Nandroid backup will depend on how big the backup is.

My Nandroid backup for the OnePlus 3 was 4.3GB and it only took a few minutes to complete the restore process. Once your Nandroid backup has been restored, you’ll see two buttons at the bottom. Now, if you need to delete that file because you forgot to disable your PIN/Pattern/Password, then you can tap the Back button and then do that now. If you remembered, then you can tap on the Reboot System button and boot back into Android.

Just remember that after you boot back into Android, go ahead and setup your PIN/Pattern/Password and fingerprint again. If you forgot to remove that security later though, remember that you can follow this guide to get around the TWRP bug.