One of the most popular ways to root an Android device is with Magisk. SuperSU was formerly the go-to exploit for rooting Android devices, stock firmware, and customized ROMS.
Magisk, on the other hand, is a much more sophisticated and experienced rooting tool now than it was in the past. Along with enabling systemless root access on Android, some of the features include compatibility for third-party modules, Google’s SafetyNet bypass, and MagiskHide for avoiding root detection.
There are modules for theming, ad blocking, activating Camera2API, and many other system-level changes you can’t make otherwise. Try out this tool if you’re a power user who wants to increase the usefulness of your phone and push it to its limits. If all of this sounds like fun to you, we’ll explain how to install on your Android device so you can personalize it and perform tasks you never imagined you could perform on your phone.
Following are the direct download links right from the Github repository of the project.
Full downloads repository:
Use either the stable or beta and flash it via TWRP recovery to root Android devices.
If you already have it installed, it is strongly recommended to upgrade directly via the app using its “Direct Install” method. The following tutorial is only for the initial installation.
Before you start:
adb and fastbootDownload and install the latest Magisk app. In the home screen, you should see:
The result of Ramdisk determines whether your device has ramdisk in the boot partition. If your device does not have boot ramdisk, read the Magisk in Recovery section before continuing.
(Unfortunately, there are exceptions as some devices’ bootloader accepts ramdisk even if it shouldn’t. In this case, you will have to follow the instructions as if your device’s boot partition does include ramdisk. There is no way to detect this, so the only way to know for sure is to actually try. Fortunately, as far as we know, only some Xiaomi devices are known to have this property, so most people can simply ignore this piece of information.)
If you are using a Samsung device that is launched with Android 9.0 or higher, you can now jump to its own section.
If your device has boot ramdisk, get a copy of the boot.img.
If your device does NOT have boot ramdisk, get a copy of the recovery.img.
You should be able to extract the file you need from official firmware packages or your custom ROM zip.
Next, we need to know whether your device has a separate vbmeta partition.
vbmeta.img, then yes, your device has a separate vbmeta partitionadb shell ls -l /dev/block/by-namevbmeta, vbmeta_a, or vbmeta_b, then yes, your device has a separate vbmeta partitionvbmeta partition.Quick recap, at this point, you should have known and prepared:
vbmeta partitionboot.img or recovery.img based on (1)Let’s continue to Patching Images.
vbmeta partition, check the “Patch vbmeta in boot image” optionadb pull /sdcard/Download/magisk_patched_[random_strings].imgfastboot flash boot /path/to/magisk_patched.img orfastboot flash recovery /path/to/magisk_patched.imgvbmeta partition, you can patch the vbmeta partition with command:fastboot flash vbmeta --disable-verity --disable-verification vbmeta.imgThe easiest way to uninstall it is directly through the app. If you insist on using custom recoveries, rename the Magisk APK to uninstall.zip and flash it like any other ordinary flashable zip.
In the case when your device does not have ramdisk in boot images, it has no choice but to hijack the recovery partition. For these devices, you will have to reboot to recovery every time you want root enabled.
When it hijacks the recovery, there is a special mechanism to allow you to actually boot into recovery mode. Each device model has its own key combo to boot into recovery, as an example for Galaxy S10 it is (Power + Bixby + Volume Up). A quick search online should easily get you this info. As soon as you press the key combo and the device vibrates with a splash screen, release all buttons to boot into recovery. If you decide to boot into the actual recovery mode, long press volume up until you see the recovery screen.
As a summary, after installing it in recovery (starting from power off):
(Note: You CANNOT use custom recoveries to install or upgrade in this case!!)
If your Samsung device is NOT launched with Android 9.0 or higher, you are reading the wrong section.
Unlocking the bootloader on modern Samsung devices have some caveats. The newly introduced VaultKeeper service will make the bootloader reject any unofficial partitions in some circumstances.
VaultKeeper service has unleashed the bootloader.AP tar file to your device. It is normally named as AP_[device_model_sw_ver].tar.md5AP tar fileadb pull /sdcard/Download/magisk_patched_[random_strings].tarmagisk_patched.tar as AP, together with BL, CP, and CSC (NOT HOME_CSC because we want to wipe data) from the original firmware.Once you have rooted your Samsung device, you can no longer upgrade your Android OS through OTA. To upgrade your device’s OS, you have to manually download the new firmware zip file and go through the same AP patching process written in the previous section. The only difference here is in the Odin flashing step: do NOT use the CSC tar, but instead use the HOME_CSC tar as we are performing an upgrade, not the initial install.
boot, recovery, or vbmeta partitions back to stock! You can brick your device by doing so, and the only way to recover from this is to do a full Odin restore with data wipe.AP tar file with reasons mentioned above. Always patch AP in the app and use that instead.AP, or else Odin may shrink your /data filesystem size. Flash AP + BL + CP + HOME_CSC when upgrading.This installation method is deprecated and is maintained with minimum effort. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Installing using custom recoveries is only possible if your device has boot ramdisk. Installing through custom recoveries on modern devices is no longer recommended. If you face any issues, please use the proper Patch Image method.
.apk file extension to .zip, for example: Magisk-v24.0.apk → Magisk-v24.0.zip. If you have trouble renaming the file extension (like on Windows), use a file manager on Android or the one included in TWRP to rename the file.Warning: the
sepolicy.rulefile of modules may be stored in thecachepartition. DO NOT WIPE THECACHEPARTITION.
[MagiskInit] Fix a potential issue when stub cpio is used[MagiskInit] Fix reboot to recovery when stub cpio is used[MagiskInit] Fix sepolicy.rules symlink for rootfs devices[General] Better data encryption detection[General] Move the whole logging infrastructure into Rust[MagiskBoot] Fix ramdisk backup being incorrectly skipped[MagiskBoot] Add new feature to detect unsupported dtb and abort during installation[Zygisk] Change binary hijack paths[App] Fix incorrect recovery mode detection and installation[MagiskInit] Fix config not properly exported in legacy SAR devices[General] Enforce the Magisk app to always match or be newer than magiskd
Google Pixel Watch 5 (45mm)
Cristian Penisoara is a Guides Writer and Android specialist at Droid Tools. An Android user since version 2 and a professional event photographer, he combines technical curiosity with a detail-oriented approach - every guide he publishes is tested step-by-step on a real device before it goes live.
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