Frequently Asked Rooting Questions

Frequently Asked Rooting Questions

People have a lot of questions about rooting, and we hear them all the time. Here are some of the most frequently asked, laid out so you don't have to ask someone else.

Can I unroot my phone? Yes. If you decide you
don't like being rooted, you can often find instructions on unrooting your phone as well.

Is rooting illegal? No. Technically, it once was, but exceptions to the DCMA have made it legal for most phones (but not necessarily tablets). Either way, it's hard to imagine anyone actually enforcing this rule (much like ripping DVDs for your own personal use).

Will rooting void my warranty? Yes. Unlocking your bootloader will void the warranty on your phone, even if your manufacturer provides a way for you to do it. That said, if you need warranty service for a hardware issue, you can sometimes unroot your phone and take it in for service with no one the wiser. However, some phones have a digital "switch" that flips when you unlock your phone that is very difficult or impossible to revert, so do your research before unlocking if you want to preserve your warranty.

Could rooting brick my phone? It's possible, but pretty unlikely. As long as you follow instructions well, you probably won't brick anything (but we're not responsible yadda yadda yadda). Flashing custom kernels and radios is a little riskier than just rooting or flashing ROMs, but again, if you follow directions you should be okay. Keep in mind that bricking means your phone means it won't turn on or function at all—if you're stuck in a boot loop or boot straight to recovery, your phone is not bricked, and it can be fixed.

Are any phones unrootable? This is a tough question. In the past, many manufacturers have tried to make "unrootable" phones with harsher protections (like the Droid X), but they're usually still rootable in some way, shape, or form. The more likely scenario is that, if you get a new phone or a phone that had a recent update, that a root exploit isn't available yet. In that case, you may have to wait a few months before you're able to root it.

Will I still get over-the-air (OTA) updates? Will downloading them break my root? If you root your phone without flashing a custom ROM, then you will likely still get OTA updates from your carrier, and they will break your root. We highly recommend against downloading these updates, since you may not be able to re-root your phone for awhile after updating. Alternatively, you can use an app like OTA Rootkeeper that will help you keep your root access (though it doesn't work with every version of Android).

 Will rooting speed up my phone? Not on its own—all rooting does is give you root access. However, it does open up the possibility for other tweaks that can speed up an old phone