Android devices have historically been easy to root. With rooting, users get root access to the device’s file system. This allows users to have customization capabilities outside of what is usually possible with an unmodified version of Android. Here, we show you how to root your Android phone with the SuperSU tool.
Prerequisites
Before we get started, there are a few things you will need to have in place:
- You will need to unlock your boot loader.
- A custom recovery must be installed on your device.
- You will need to download the latest SuperSU file. Be sure to download the flashable ZIP file.
Unlocking your phone’s bootloader varies between devices. We won’t cover those things here. For custom recovery, we have a tutorial on installing TWRP on your Android phone.
Rooting Your Android Phone
To get started, you need to place the SuperSU file that you downloaded in the root directory of your phone’s storage. You can do this by either downloading the file directly from your mobile browser or by connecting your Android phone to a computer and transfering it over.
Next, boot your phone into recovery mode using the key combination to do so with your phone. Now, from the installation menu of your custom recovery, you will need to select the SuperSU file from earlier.
After selecting the SuperSU flashable ZIP file, you need to confirm that you want to flash this file to your device.
After some time, you will be notified that the the file was successfully flashed to your device. You can then reboot your device by going to the main menu of the TWRP recovery and selecting Reboot.
Your device should now be rooted. Hopefully everything went smoothly. To ensure that this is the case, you’ll need to do a quick check to see if your device has indeed been rooted. You should now be able to see the SuperSU app in your phone’s menu.
To verify that the rooting process was successful, download the Root Checker app.
When you run the app, you should see a SuperSU prompt asking you if you wish to grant the app Superuser permissions.
Grant the app Superuser permissions. You should see that your device is rooted on the main screen of the app.
If none of these things happens, and there is no indication that your device has been granted Superuser permissions, then you may have to go back and retry the rooting process.
If it does indicate that you have root access, then you’re golden! You can now download root apps to your heart’s desire. When running a root app for the first time, you’ll usually be greeted with a prompt asking if you want to grant the app in question Superuser access.
Simply grant the app Superuser access, and you will be able to make use of all of its features.
Some Notes About the SuperSU App
If you don’t respond to the prompt in time, then you won’t be able to make full use of the app’s features. If this was unintended, simply go to the SuperSU app, select the app want to grant superSU access to, and under the “Access” section of the resulting pop-up, select Grant.
You have the option of doing this with any root app that you have run on your device. The options for access are Prompt, Grant, and Deny.
Wrapping Up
Rooting is useful, since it gives you full access to your file system, thus allowing you to customize your device and install apps in a way that isn’t possible with an unrooted device. If you just want to uninstall bloatware from your phone, you can do it without having to root your phone.
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William has been fiddling with tech for as long as he remembers. This naturally transitioned into helping friends with their tech problems and then into tech blogging.