In this guide, I’m going to explain to you how to install Magisk on any Android device and root it for doing various modifications. Android has a large userbase because of the scope of customization it provides. Users try to explore the potential of various Android-based applications and services on various Android smartphones. So, they try to root their Android devices. Rooting allows them superuser access to their Android phones.
Often there are various third-party apps that the OEM won’t allow to run on the smartphone. This is where rooting comes in handy. With Magisk installed on your Android device, you can install any third-party apps and services as per your choice. Let us understand in brief regarding Magisk and how to install it on any Android device for rooting.
What is Magisk?
Magisk is a useful application that modifies your Android device in a systemless manner. It is hugely popular among Android enthusiasts who are always looking for various ways to customize or root their devices. It was developed and is maintained by XDA member topjohnwu.
You may now ask what do I mean by modifying the Android smartphone in a systemless manner.? In simple words, rooting means modifying the system software. When a device is rooted systemless with Magisk, the system partition is not tampered with.
Magisk is a great option for rooting because it has this feature called Magisk Hide. This allows the device to use apps that strictly do not run on a rooted device. Normally, when you root, you lose the warranty of your Android device. So, banking apps or payment apps don’t run on your device. However, things are different when you root with Magisk.
With Magisk Hide enabled you can run banking apps and payment apps. Even the device will easily pass Google SafetyNet checks. You can even install OTA updates without having to undo the rooting each time you need to flash a system update.
Some Features of Magisk
Here are some of the most important features of the Magisk tool.
- Rooting without modifying the system partition
- Easily use banking and payment apps with root access
- Easily add various modifications through Magisk Manager
- Removal of DM Verity and Force encryption [DM Verity is responsible for disabling rebooting upon sensing that system software has been modified. Magisk takes care of that as well.]
- Install OTA Updates without having to alter the root status of the Android device.
Two Ways to Install Magisk on any Android Interface
There are two ways by which you can install Magisk and root your Android smartphone.
First, you can either have any custom recovery such as TWRP installed on your device. Through that, you can flash the latest version of Magisk. TWRP also comes in handy because it has the mechanism to save your device data as a backup in case the rooting process goes wrong and you lose data. So, the backup will come in handy to restore the data.
In the second method, you have to install ADB and Fastboot on your PC. Then you have to connect your Android device with the computer.
Following which you have to flash the patched(with Magisk) boot image specific to the device you are trying to root. This stock boot image you have to grab separately may be from XDA forums or other sites such as firmware. mobi. Alternatively, you can also extract the paylod.bin file from the full OTA update package. This file consists of the stock boot image.
Then patch it with Magisk and then the modified boot image is flashed on the Android device.
Things You Must Do Before Installing Magisk on Your Android Device
Here are a few things you must accomplish before making your Android device ready for installing the Magisk.
- Begin by manually backing up your device data to another platform such as a cloud storage or USB drive or a PC.
- If you are installing Magisk through TWRP then it has an option to create backup. You can use that as well.
- Most importantly, you have to unlock the bootloader of your Android device which will void the warranty of your smartphone. So, be prepared for that if you are curious to root your Android device.
- Download the latest USB Drivers of your Android device that are available
- If you want to install magisk through TWRP then you must first install TWRP on your Android.
- Additionally, you need to have USB Debugging enabled on your device
1. Install Magisk Using TWRP Recovery
Here are the steps in case you want to flash the Magisk tool through TWRP.
- Start by downloading the latest Magisk installer from GitHub. [It is the official source which is safe to download.]
- Grab a USB cable and connect your Android device with the PC. Switch to the File Transfer Mode.
- Once you download the Magisk Installer zip file, move it to the device storage of your Android phone.
- Now, you have to boot your Android device into recovery. Most devices use Power button + Volume Up key combination. Some other devices may use Volume down button instead of Volume Up.
- Upon pressing Volume up + Power button you should see the OEM logo on your Android phone screen. Keep the volume button pressed until you see bootloading options.
- If you don’t wish to use the above method you can also use the command adb reboot recovery through PowerShell command and reboot to recovery.
- You will see the TWRP home screen with various options. Tap on Install.
- Now you have to browse through the internal storage and look for the Magisk installer which you downloaded earlier and transferred to the phone storage.
- Select the Magisk Installer zip.
- Swipe once and swipe once again to confirm the installation of Magisk
- After installing TWRP, now you will be back to the home screen of TWRP.
- There will be an option Reboot. Tap on it and your device will reboot with Magisk successfully installed on it.
- When the device reboots check that Magisk Manager is also installed on it. It is through the Magisk Manager you will install the various mods.
2. Install Magisk on Android Device by Flashing Patched Boot Image
Now, to the second method of installing Magisk on any Android device.
- First, download the stock boot image of your particular Android device. From the internet sources such as firmware.mobi.
- Then transfer this file to the internal storage of your Android device
- Now, download the Magisk Manager APK from Github and install it. [Make sure to allow installation of 3rd party apps from unknown sources on your Android devices]
- Open the Magisk Manager app on your phone.
- Tap on Install and confirm by again tapping on Install.
- Next tap on Select and Patch a File. Here we have to patch the stock boot image file that we downloaded earlier in this section.
- Select the stock boot image file and it will now be patched.
- Then the newly modified stock boot image file will move to the Download folder of your device storage.
- Search for this file and move it to your PC in to the same folder where the ADB fastboot has been installed.
- Connect your Android device to the PC and boot the device through Fastboot mode.
- Open the folder where ADB and fastboot are installed on your PC.
- In the white space press Shift + Right click. From the menu, click on Open PowerShell Window.
- To detect that your Android device is correctly connected with the PC give the following command.
fastboot devices - Now, enter the following command to flash the patched boot image.
fastboot flash boot patched_img - As your Android device is connected to your PC, the patched boot image is now flashed into the device as well hence installing Magisk on it.
- Now, reboot your Android device by giving the following command.
fastboot reboot
So, these are the two methods by which you can install Magisk on your Android device. Now, with Magisk installed, check the XDA forums and download your choice of Magisk modules that offer various utilities for your Android device.
Related articles:
How to Root Android Phones – Simple Step-By-Step Guide
30 Best Root Apps for Android Smartphone
