Modern smartphones are marvels of technology. With more processing power than the desktop PCs of yesteryear, you can find any piece of information in the world, watch the latest episode of Ted Lasso, and snap photos that are worthy of framing. Gaining root access on Android is akin to running Windows as an administrator. You have full access to the system directory and can make changes to the way the OS operates. As part of rooting, you install a management client like Magisk — SuperSU used to be the top option but has fallen into disrepair.
These tools are basically the gatekeeper of root access on your phone. When an app requests root, you have to approve it using the root manager.
In the case of Magisk, you can also use the client to make other changes to the phone via numerous community-developed modules. With root, you can change that. You can also manually back up app data so you never lose it again. That means the changes are stored in the boot partition rather than modifying the system.
Rooting your phone or tablet gives you complete control over the system, but honestly, the advantages are much less than they used to be. To help enforce the contract terms, phones may be configured by the carrier so they can only be used on certain networks.
People root smartphones for many reasons. In the early years of Android smartphones, rooting was popular among tech enthusiasts as a way to strip back user interface customizations made by manufacturers to the Android platform. In other instances, the motivation has been to remove preloaded applications. The presence of a Kinguser or Superuser application on the device is an obvious sign the device has been rooted.
These applications are typically installed as part of the rooting process to allow access to superuser privileges. Users can also download a root checker app or a terminal client to determine if superuser access is configured. Any irregularities in the software will be noted. Rooting disables some of the built-in security features of the operating system, and those security features are part of what keeps the operating system safe and your data secure from exposure or corruption.
Quantifying that increased level of risk is hard, because it depends on how the phone was rooted and what happens next. Get our comprehensive guide and template for developing a BYOD policy tailored to your organization.
Download Now. On the other hand, IT managers know that many users root their phones and then engage in unsafe behaviors, such as installing pirated applications or malware — even unintentionally. In that case, the security risk rises quickly. Once the developer options menu has been enabled, press back to go to the parent settings menu. Connect your device to the computer with a USB cable. As long as you have the correct drivers installed, a popup should display on the device with the option to allow USB debugging on the attached computer.
Head back to your PC. Once your phone has rebooted into its bootloader, run the following command, which should only take a few seconds to finish:. You can do that with this command:. If you plan on selling or otherwise getting rid of the device, you can do a factory reset now.
The good news is that the entire process can be done directly on the device, without the need to use a computer. The SuperUser app installed on your device should prompt you to grant access to the file manager at that point. Start by checking the former. If you only want to temporarily unroot in order to pull an OTA update, then just cut the file from this location by long-pressing it and selecting the scissors.
Paste it here by selecting the paste icon. At this point, you can double-check the root status of the device by using an app like Root Checker. This will house the bootloader image, radio if applicable , and various scripts to flash the full Android build. All we need is the recovery. Unzip that package. This will re-flash the stock recovery. Unfortunately, the process is pretty different for every manufacturer, and can even vary from device to device.
But with a bit of digging, you should be able to unroot just about any phone out there, and get it back to a good working state. Browse All iPhone Articles Browse All Mac Articles Do I need one? Browse All Android Articles Browse All Smart Home Articles Customize the Taskbar in Windows Browse All Microsoft Office Articles What Is svchost. Browse All Privacy and Security Articles Browse All Linux Articles Browse All Buying Guides.
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