rooting - How do I root my Android device?

This is a common question asked by those who want to root their phones. How exactly do I root my Android device? Are there risks involved?

Answer

DISCLAIMER: ROOTING YOUR DEVICE WILL PROBABLY VOID YOUR WARRANTY FROM BOTH THE CARRIER AND THE MANUFACTURER. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO ACCEPT FAULT FOR ANY ADVERSE EFFECTS OF ROOTING, THEN DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER. HERE BE DRAGONS.

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Before rooting, you might have some questions about it. Fortunately, they've already been answered! Refer to the handy list below:

Note there is no known method that will root all devices, nor is there any guarantee that any mentioned program or method will actually work. This is because there are many variables at play and device OEMs have no incentive to make the process easy.

A final caution: Your warranties may be voided, you may screw up your device, and there may also be other adverse effects. If you do not want to risk it, stop now. If you are not confident in what you are doing, please do not deviate from the guides and read carefully.

The easiest way to root your device is via "one click" methods, most of which are developed for more popular devices. Examples include applications (.apk files) you can run on your device, or software you have to run on a PC while connecting the device with USB. Other methods may involve many steps or manual editing of files.

Methods typically vary between models and even between firmware versions of the same model. Check your rooting method is compatible with:

• Your device model/brand (e.g. Samsung Note)


• Your Android version (e.g. 4.4 KitKat vs 5.1 Lollipop)


• Your firmware version (e.g. European vs. USA vs. Verizon telecom provider)


• Your hardware version (e.g. 32GB model with antenna vs. 16GB without one)

These are links to questions on this site that have been asked for specific devices. If the question for your device hasn't been answered, don't post a duplicate — you can attract attention to the question by offering a bounty on it, sharing the link, posting in our chatroom, etc.

Acer

Amazon

Archos

Asus

HTC

Huawei

Karbonn

Lenovo

LG

Micromax

Motorola

Nook

OnePlus

Prestigio

Samsung

Sony

SpreadTrum

Xolo

ZTE

Other

• Chainfire's CF-Autoroot (follow link for a list of supported devices). Supports plenty of Samsung devices, plus some Motorolas and the Nexus line


• Droid X Recovery Bootstrap (Motorola Droid/Droid2/Droid X, probably Android 2.x only)


• Framaroot - One-click rooting and unrooting; supports a number of devices using Qualcomm, MTK, Exynos, Omap and other SOCs (Android 2.x to 4.x)


• Gingerbread exploit app - Works on 2.1 and 2.2, as well as early 2.3 releases (hence the name).


• Gnex Toolkit - Software for rooting and handling your Galaxy Nexus phone.


• Google Nexus 7 Toolkit - Software for rooting and handling your Nexus 7 tablet.


• iRoot a One Click Root (see here for supported devices


• Kingoapp Root: Pratically roots most androids in 1-click and supports Android 4.1 to 6.0. Even unlocks some bootloaders. Also see Wikipedia.


• KingoRoot: Android 6



• Kingroot: Easy to use and fast rooting. Works on almost every Android phone.


• Magisk: requires custom ROM to be installed. Also see this guide at AndroidPolice.


• Ready2root collected a lot of available rooting methods


• Root Many Android (ICS/JB devices)


• ROOTx supports a selection of devices produced prior to 10/2014


• SRSRoot One Click Root for Android (SuperUser) lists supported devices on their page. Download is an .exe file, so it probably requires Windows. Android 4.1 to 6.0 (?)


• SuperOneClick


• Towelroot should support all phones with a kernel built before June 3, 2014


• Universal Androot - Read the page to see what devices are supported. Mostly pre-2.2.1 versions of Android


• Universal One Click - Make sure your device is support by reading the whole first post (probably not, last release was 10/2010 – so most likely 2.x devices only)



• Unrevoked: some older HTC devices only


• vRoot: Android 2.2 to 4.2


• XDA Developers: The biggest resource for rooting, mods, etc.


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  Also check out the CyanogenMod wiki for other ways to root your device.

  
  
  

• We have another question about that!


• If you have another method or know how to root a device that's not listed, feel free to add it to the list! Just follow the same format.