Ed. Note: The story originally was published on Feb. 14, 2010. We've updated it with new information and present it again for those of you new to Android.



What, exactly, is rooting?




su at the command prompt in Windows

OK, so why would I want to root my phone?


So it's like jailbreaking?











OTA updates

Will I still get application updates?


the Android Market





Reader comments

Rooting - is it for me? Some Q&A


Rooting is the best thing I could have done.. However as stated you should do your homework first. I personally go back and forth between different ROMs and I hack into everything. However I do have a background with computer progamming. There are enough sites and forums out there that anyone can do it, but the key is. Follow the instructions to a T. People don't put instructions out there to just pick out what you like. If you like what someone has posted make sure you copy exactly. If you do then you will enjoy root. If you don't you may run into problems. Me personally.. Love smoke glass v4.1 and simply stunning 2.1. For those that don't know what that means they are 2 different ROMs. Listen to the advise in this post and if you dive into rooting.. Have fun with it... :)


excellent article!
im familiar with ubuntu and this all sounds familiar to me.
however the issue with security was my concern.
sounds as if its community driven, so does that REALLY mean we need to do what u suggest an ask around?
should be up front i would think...

All rooting does is open up the window for access. You will need to load up a custom MOD like what CyanogenMod.com offers to really reap the benefits.

The restrictions imposed on the iPhone caused the concept of rooting to become much more widely known. With the right, readily-available software, anybody could to it. Therein lies the problem - anybody did; too many people were given the keys to the car without first learning how to drive.

This article is a great summary of the pros and cons of rooting, without handing over the keys to the car.


Despite the increases awareness of rooting caused by the iPhone, there remains a fourth group of people you didn't mention - those blissfully unaware that there is even a question to ponder. But they're no likely to be reading the article in the first place.

Thanks for writing that, helped me to decide if I really want to root my phone or not .. Thanks Android Central you rock!!!

you obviously have absolutely not a clue what you're talking about. i can tell you never have rooted a phone because, if you have you would not be saying what you just said. do you homework before you try and tell people the cons of rooting when you're COMPLETELY OFF! i rooted my phone the day i got my droid and my phone RUNS BETTER THEN IT DID WHEN I GOT IT! nuff said

Screw rooting, NO WAY would I trust doing something like this to my Droid! It's just asking for trouble in my opinion. You can do something similar to Blackberries I believe. I used to have one and never did it to my BB. This kind of hacking has got to render the phone "abused". And I can't see how it will run normal ever again. Just my cautious opinion.

You're a bit harsh there. You've never done it, wouldn't consider doing it, but condemn it?

I've rooted all four of my iPhones, numerous iPhones for friends, and I've also rooted and installed custom ROMs on my shiny new Nexus One.

No issues worth noting on any of those devices.

On the other hand, each device was opened up to a world of better apps, more functionality, and often faster performance.

My rooted Nexus One has more memory available to it, runs faster, and actually more stable than the stock ROM.

I would never consider NOT rooting my smartphone/app-phone, and consider it anything but abusing the phone. Caution's fine, but so is informed consent.

Way above my head! Having switched to Android from Blackberry just 2 weeks ago... this is something I would not even attempt. It took me a long time to get up the courage to start using Beta OS's on my Blackberrys. No way I am going to attempt to get into the codes with my new CLIQ. From my perspective... I am going to leave well enough alone. That said, I always appreciate articles like this because it gives me an idea of how far one can take the devise in terms of customization.

Is there an easy to use Windows program for dummies that will root/unroot your droid? I have no Linux knowledge, I'm not a programmer, but I might try this if there was a Windows program that made rooting and unrooting easy.

I was a little worried about rooting my Sprint Hero but it was much easier than I expected and the rewards of rooting are great from free WiFi tethering to overclocking and new kernels to new themes and ROMs. This was the best thing I have done since I bought my Hero the speed increase is awesome it makes the keyboard actually useable and took away any lag that the phone previously had, but do your research and make sure you follow the instructions to the T, the rewards are great and very enjoyable and I would definitely recommend rooting to anyone who can follow the instructions and figure it out

Some additional info on what root means, what it does:
The term "su" has morphed to ... include .. superuser. But it actually stands for "switch user" as the command allows one to change to any other user on the system for which one has the password (or any user that has no password).
In the /etc/password file in most unixes, the root id will have a uid of zero. Any other id that has uid of 0 (it is possible on most unix/linux systems to create more than one id name with the same uid number) ALSO is root. That is, the uid of 0 denote the root superuser. It is almost always left in place with the name root, but does not have to be.
Other hi power id's usually are given low userid numbers, where general users (on a system with many end users) will normally start with uid's of 100 or more, often 200 and higher.
EVERYTHING in unix/linux is based on what an id has access to, most specifically what kind of access a given id has to files and directories and the associated permissions of those files/directories. The root id has access to all files. All files have attributes of read (viewable, write(change contents/create), execute (can run the file/program/app, and are owned by a userid. The root id can change ANY of this, ownership, and read/write/execute permissions on any file; hence, it is all powerful. Other id's can and often have similar powers over certain directories/files. It is much better system management to create userids for all major applications and have THAT id with all the authority to manage that application with all that apps files in directories owned by that ID. In this way, all the files for an app, and everything it needs to do or have access to, stays much more structured. Alas, many developers don't know how to manage this, so to simplify things, they do everything as root. This makes it harder to really know what apps affect what file, or to segregate patching, but on personal workstations or phones/pda's, this isn't as important since you don't have multiple people administering both the system and the apps, so the problem of these administrators with powerful id's "tripping" over each other isn't an issue on a single user system.
So this is just a bit more on the how and why root is all-powerful. Hope this helps some.

Personally I see no reason to root my Nexus One . phone does everything I want it to and I see no gain it possibly bricking my phone for very minimal gains if anything , just my opinion

To the person that asked about a windows program to root there is something better for droids. In the market its called sholes and it will root your phone for you and has only positive comments from users.

One touch rooting that comes with a basic ROM is tempting...but i'll pass for now...Perhaps when I grow bored of ads and 2.1 and all the apps available. . .

I really really badly wanna root my Nexus One. However I have dust under my screen and I plan to get a replacement N1. The moment a relocker comes out I'll run home to my laptop and root.

I just updated my Hero late Last night . I think the update stops me from rooting is there any way around this so i can root my phone ?

Which update? If you mean the new OTA from yesterday, doubtful. If you mean the 2.1 update, they found a way to root it. Hit Beezy or Rufflez in the forums

It was the OTA . I have 2.1 ... so I can't root my Hero ? what if i reinstall the 2.1 will that get rid of my last update ? and i can root my hero

i just want 2.1 to come out already so i can experience it, and from there decide if i want to root. i dont want to go through the trouble of rooting and customizing my droid just so i can load 2.1 onto it and erase it all. i want 2.1 to come out, experience it, give you pc peeps a few days to figure out how to root 2.1, then make my decision at that time as to whether or not i want to root :)

I wish this article had been written when i first rooted my phone, it would have given me a better idea of what i was getting into. never the less i rooted, and it's been the best thing i've done for my G1. I love it because I get to run 2.1 where as if I was using a stock firmware I'd still be stuck on 1.6 which I believe its the last firmware my phone will ever get. the G1 is getting old and rooting it help you keep it a bit up to date with all the new firmwares

You have NO IDEA how important, informative, and well written this article is. Got my Evo yesterday and I'm new to android outside of my 2.1 port I had running on my TP2 which worked amazingly well. But as they say, "Ain't nothin like the real thing baaaabaay" LOL But seriously even as a "hacker/modder" This imformation was immensly helpful. You guys are like my ppcgeeks for android witch is a REALLY REALLY GOOD THING! Lastly if anyone is reading this I think it'd be a great idea to have a top 5-10 apps list in multiple catagories. Maybe voted on by the community or even didctated by AC. But my thoughts for catagories are...Backup, Security, Games, Google specific apps, (Apps made by Google) and Crossover Apps (Apps compatible with different platforms ie Bump witch works with android and iphone OS). If someone can point me in the direction of a similar list that would be "DOUG" But I think AC would make a great one. What do you guys think?

Ok..question because I'm extremely new to Android and I'm suppose to be recieving my Incredible on Tuesday. I'm familiar with Blackberry after several years with them and dealing with beta OS and stuff but when it comes to rooting/jailbreaking, I know nothing! If I take my Incredible, root the device and do nothing else to it...what are the affects to the phone? Not changing any ROMs or firmware...just root, reboot and leave it be..does that overclock the phone? Does it free up memory?

The incredible hasn;t been rooted yet, but when it is -- rooting only gives you access to the system files. Unless you change any of them, all will remain the same as it was before

Actually...I believe the Incredible did get a root the other day. I may be mistaken but I thought I saw that on here the other day or two but in any case, you answered my question and thank you for that!

I've flashed several WinMo phones with custom roms, but never rooted an Android, though I have manually updated my Nexus One twice. Should I expect the same process as a Windows phone?

"Let's go back to my place."
"What?! We just met! What type of girl do you think I--"
"SUDO let's go back to my place."
"Got a condom?"


I rooted my hero and I love it. Allows me to try different things with my phone. Plus love it better than stock version of sense on hero.

Thanks for the very informative explanation about rooting Android. The process sounds way more complicated than doing so on a Pre, the phone I'll be coming from which was somewhat crap in its stock incarnation, but I look forward to giving stock 2.1 a whirl for a few weeks. I'm a tweaker/customizer at heart so I have no doubt I'll be revisiting the rooting instructions eventually.

I've considered rooting my MyTouch G3 (and I can certainly see the point of rooting a G1) but I really can't understand why one would get a brand new N1 and root it out of the box. That just doesn't make any sense to me. (damn, I want an N1...)

So, I'm new to Android with my evo. I have however jailbroken multiple ipods and iphones so I'm not terribly lost with rooting. I would like to point out that rooting android seems a lot more difficult then any jailbreak for an Apple product. Anyway, I want to root to increase the terrible battery life on my evo. Is it worth the risk of rookie mistakes to try to uninstall a few preloaded apps and turn down the processor? Also I've heard that froyo might make a legitimate appearance on the evo, should I hold my breath and crappy battery life till then, or give it a shot? Any help would be appreciated, thank you!

i am new to android and only wish to root to remove the bloatware. is rooting the only way to remove pre-installed apps?

I thought it was common courtesy when lifting materials such as comic strips to include at least a passing reference to their source. Anyways, xkcd it is.

I have a moto droid that I just loaded a leaked basic 2.2 onto it. I have now downloaded a rooted 2.2 called FRG01B-release from android world that says it will over write the basic stock 2.2. Has anyone had experience with this. I also downloaded ROM manager and Titanium backup but I can;t use them until I am rooted. Does anyone have suggestions are am I ready to go.

I have a samsung moment with 2.1. I would like to root the basic stock 2.2. The most important feature of the 2.2 I want is the upgraded Bluetooth voice dialing. Not sure if I will get and am new to the rooting process. any comments will help. thanks.

Very helpful article. I just got a samsung intercept and am conidering rooting mostly to move apps to sd card. Has anyone rooted an intercept? I have never rooted a phone, but I have a lot of experience with linux systems. Also if anyone is considering buying an intercept please take my advice and don't.

Im thinking about rooting my captivate, but b4 I do I wanted to know if rooting it would help the gps issues and if thete are custom ROM's available to download that takes all the guesswork out of trying to "peak and tune" my phone. And do they have a froyo update for root users?

"SU" actually stands for "Substitute User", not "SuperUser." When you use su without specifying a username, it defaults to root.

This is a really great article. I just got a Motorola Bravo and I know I want to root it but it's not the most popular android phone so I'm on the fence. Hopefully I can find a good ROM for it, but I still have a lot more research to do before I attempt to root. Anyone know a good place to figure out how to root a Motorola Bravo? Thanks for the info.

rootyourdroid.info took me to a generic "Is this your webste?" page. Also, sholes.info returned "internal server error 500."

I recently rooted my phone, and am at a loss of understanding setCPU. Does anyone know that setCPU is even effective in over and underclocking? And what are optimal settings for setCPU for Evo4G (I really don't know what to set it to run faster and preserve battery while sleeping)?

I saw a question higher up that did not seem to get an answer. "What is ROM"? I thought ROM was hardware - Read Only Memory.
Am I right in thinking that when you talk of different ROMs you are not opening the case and putting new hardware in but are 'Flashing' the ROM with new code? If this is true how often can you do this, there is something nagging at the back of my mind that 'writing' to something that is really 'read only' can only be done a limited number of times. Am I thinking of CREAM and SCREAM chips?

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to the step by step rooting tutorial for the Verizon Fascinate. I was petrified to take the leap to froyo, but after doing all the reading and trusting in all of forum leaders and helpers, I DID IT!!! Everything went smoothly and I could not have done it without your thoroughness and expertise!!! Keg of beer for U all!!!

Can you post on how you rooted your fascinate.. I've read so much and seems the more I read I get confused as to what is the best way to root and upgrade my fascinate to 2.2? I really appreciate everyone in this forum and all the help and knowledge they provide, but I am not a techie and kind of scared of doing the root by myself...

does anyone or has anyone rooted a huawei ascend m860? and if so, could u point me in the right direction im really looking forward to having more control and a higher os than 2.1 if it is possable. i am new to the android universe and am really liking it i just want more out of my phone than what is there as i have maxed it out with just a few apps and only a little ram or rom(whatever it's called). and from what i have read on here it seams like it's the way 2 go i like to tinker with things of this nature and am always looking to get mor out of what i got from stock. so if there is anyway to help me in my indevor that would b awesome. thx in advance


I'm no computer wizz...but here's what I want. I have just purchased the Samsung Epic over the HTC EVO, HOWEVER, I want my Samsung Epic to run Android 2.2 Froyo as the O.S. and HTC Sense as the UI instead of its current Android 2.1 Eclair w/ Samsungs TouchWhizz as its UI. The reason for this is mostly because I absolutely love the HTC Sense UI and I am already used to it. That was the ONLY thing (in my opinion) that the HTC EVO had over the Samsung Epic. My 3 main questions are:

How can it be done?
Is this a good move?
Do I need to change the O.S. in order to fully utilize the HTC Sense U.I.?


rooting isnt as hard as new users may think follow directions to the t and your good to go!!! i took me about an hour to figure out and download everything i needed when i got my first android

This just makes me wish I knew someone in PERSON who had my device (or something close enough to it) and HAS successfully rooted. People can say all kinds of things like "best thing I ever did for my phone" but that may only be true for THEIR phone and THEIR user experience. I have an HTC Inspire. I would want to talk to someone who has one that can say to me, "Ok, you know how the Inspire does this or can't do that? Well if you root it you will be able to....".

My first smartphone was an Edge Network Blackberry Curve 8900 and then I switched to the Inspire. Like moving from a Civic to an Acura if you ask me. My mobile device user experience is already so much improved, I'm thinking I should be happy with what I have. I'm not at the tech level of a programmer (not yet). Maybe when I am, I'll think differently on this, but until someone can sell this to me using a non-geek pitch, I think unrooted is how my phone will stay.

I rooted my Bonic but mainly to run the apps that require it, like Titanium backup, plus a bunch more. I installed Root Call Blocker because the other call blockers ring the phone once before it blocks the call. RCB never rings the phone when there is a blocked call.
However, on my Bionic, it knocked out 3g/4g and the only way to get it back was to uninstall RCB. I was stuck with WIFI until I did a factory reset and started installing apps a few at a time so I could determine which one was causing the problem.
I emailed the dev but he has not responded. Google should take it off the market until it is fixed.

I have no idea about how to write codes but have read a lot of these posts and want to root my EVO 3D so I can get free wi-fi. The app I got to do the wi-fi says I need root. Can anyone that knows what there doing please tell me how to root my 3D? Also how do I do that free wi-fi tethering. That would be great to have. Please help.

It took me 6 months of reading up on Rooting before I finally said what the heck and Rooted my Inspire 4G. Most likely the only way the inspire will ever see ICS. I am running CM 7.1 and I love it I have been able to fix he low volume problem and I love all the different ways to customize my phone now. And I get better battery life as well. It's a win win.

If my biggest problem with my phone is not enough space, and there are crappy apps that came with it that are taking up my space that I want is it worth looking into rooting my phone? Every site I read about rooting has such mixed reviews I want to know if its going be worth it?

Could I root my Epic 4G Touch, remove the bloatware like Media Hub, then revert my phone back to being unrooted without having my warranty swiped away by Sprint?

"... All major carriers and manufacturers plainly state that altering or using unapproved software voids your warranty, and rooting falls into that category. ..."

I appreciate your effort and expertise for sharing this article. I myself is quite techie when it comes to maximizing performance and utilization of my phone. However, i always read a lot of information first before doing so. The reason why i want to root my phone is to increase the performance and memory. I am interested to root my Huawei U8661 but can't find a trusted site who will provide some instructions. I trust your site and I hope you will include this one in your list. I'll be forever grateful for this. Cheers! Hope to buy some beer for you guys!

Ok im pretty decent with computers and ive jailbroken a fee ipods. I have a huawei ascend 2 with straight talk. How do i root this device, And after rooting how can i over clock it?

I would sooooo love to root mu Galaxy S3. I've only had it since March and the thought of being able to open it up to being able to do so much more sounds awesome. But I am so technologically challenged that trying to do anything in this articles scares me. I just know I would screw something up. And as far as ROM's and all that stuff......forget it. I'd have to hab e someone do it for me or something. This is my very first smartphone and I don't wanna mess it up.

I'm in the same boat. I'd say I'm more technologically inclined, but I haven't found any real need to root my S3. The only reason I have to root my phone would be to be able to install country restricted apps but that's not worth voiding the warranty. The S3 I have is also my first smartphone and I'd rather not mess it up as well.

Hello I have a Droid x which I'm very fond of, but I was looking to enhance my phone by downloading the new Next launcher 3D I read somwhere that it's possible to get it for free by rooting my phone.. Can you give me some information on how I can get cool stuff like that and like Power Amp etc. W/Out having to pay for it? :-)

Can someone please help me with rooting my samsung galaxy s4 tmobile..i bought the phone from someone and put my att sim in it and it worked for a little bit but then it was blocked so i called att and they told me my phone was on the blacklist and it would continue to block my sim until it was took off that list...so i have been downloading any and all apps to help but so far i have got nowhere...can someone please pkease help me

Thanks for this information. I used to hear about rooting from my friends but i never dared to do it. but after reading this content all my doubts got cleared and i wanna root my phone.plz help me by suggesting a software. thank you!