How to Install the Stock Recovery on the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T

If you’re done with TWRP and want to revert things back, then you can follow these steps to install the stock recovery on the OnePlus 3 and OnePlus 3T.

I recently showed you how to install TWRP on the OnePlus 3 as it allows you to do a number of things on the OnePlus 3 that isn’t possible with the stock recovery. Sadly, you can’t install an OTA update directly from OnePlus if you have modified the /system partition. This means installing SuperSU (the non-systemless version), installing TWRP as the custom recovery, installing Xposed Framework, etc.

Some people like to do these things to their OnePlus 3 because that’s how they enjoy the Android experience.

However, some people just want to tinker and experiment with their smartphones and they want to know how to change things back to how they were. So today I’m going to show you how to go from TWRP, as your custom recovery, back to the stock recovery that came with the OnePlus 3 by default.

OnePlus 3 Stock Recovery

1. Enable Developer Mode on the OnePlus 3
2. Enable USB Debugging Mode on the OnePlus 3
3. Install the Minimal ADB & Fastboot Tools to the PC
4. Launch the Minimal ADB & Fastboot Tools Shortcut After Installation
5. Type the Following Command in the Command Prompt. . .
6. adb devices
7. . . .and Press Enter on the Keyboard
8. Once the ADB Service has Started, Connect the USB Cable to the OnePlus 3
9. Grant USB Debugging Access to the OnePlus 3 when Prompted
10. Download the stock Recovery IMG file that matches your version of OxygenOS (OnePlus 3 – OnePlus 3T)
11. Copy or Move the Stock Recovery IMG File to the Minimal ADB & Fastboot Tools Install Folder
12. For Me, This is ‘C:\Program Files (x86)\Minimal ADB and Fastboot’
13. Boot the OnePlus 3 into Fastboot Mode
14. Type the Following Command into the Command Prompt. . .
15. fastboot flash recovery recovery.img
16. . . .Then Press Enter on the Keyboard
17. Wait Until the Installation is Completed
18. Then Press the Volume Down Button Two Times Until ‘Recovery’ is Highlighted
19. Press the Power Button to Boot From Fastboot Mode and into Recovery Mode
20. And You Should See the OnePlus 3 Stock Recovery Instead of TWRP

Explanation

If you ever need to return back to the stock recovery image then this tutorial is going to help you out. As demonstrated in the video above, I went from having TWRP installed to going back to the OnePlus 3 stock recovery image in only a few minutes time. If you have things already setup (like doing USB Debugging, installing ADB/Fastboot, etc), then the process will go by that much quicker. If you followed along with the tutorial I did on installing TWRP on the OnePlus 3, then this process will be very familiar to you.

You’ll need to start the ADB service as explained in the steps above, and then we can connect the OnePlus 3 to the PC with the USB cable. Unless you’ve allowed USB Debugging access from the PC to the OnePlus 3 in the past, then you’ll be prompted to allow access right after it’s connected. Now, we can download the OnePlus 3 stock recovery IMG File from the link above the link above, and then you’ll want to move or copy it into the same directory that your ADB/Fastboot tools are in.

With that done, the next step is to boot the OnePlus 3 into Fastboot Mode (which is also called Bootloader Mode) before turning our attention back to the command prompt. We need to execute the command fastboot flash recovery recovery.img as that will manually copy the OnePlus 3 stock recovery image from the PC and onto the OnePlus 3. After it has been copied, it will then write it to the Recovery partition and then the process is completed.

From here, I recommend pressing the Volume Down button twice. This should rotate the selector at the top until the Recovery Mode option is highlighted. Once highlighted, press the Power button and it will reboot the OnePlus 3 from Fastboot Mode and into Recovery Mode. I recommend doing this just so you can check to make sure the OnePlus 3 stock recovery image file has been installed properly and that you’re not still on the TWRP custom recovery.