How to Root the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0
Rooting is the process of gaining administrative rights on your Android device. Once we root our Android device, we can then make changes to it to customize it well beyond what it normally can do.
Once you have root access on your Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0, you’ll be able to:
- Remove apps that were preinstalled by your carrier/manufacturer from your device.
- Free up storage space (because of the above benefit).
- Increase battery life (apps that might have been running constantly can be removed).
- Increase performance (after removing apps that are always running, the device will be less bogged down and run smoother).
- Update to a new version of Android (by flashing a custom recovery/ROM, see the end of this procedure for more info on that).
- Tons of other customizations when you use your new found administrative rights to flash a custom ROM (again, see the end of this procedure for more info on that).
Interested? Here’s how to root your Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0:
I. Before You Begin
1. This will void the warranty of your device. However, you can reinstate the warranty by unrooting your device if there’s any unrooting procedure available.
2. This only works on Windows based PCs.
II. Downloading Required Files
1. Download Odin and save it to your Desktop.
2. Download CWM Recovery and save it to your Deskop.
T210.CWM.6.0.4.5.recovery.tar.zip (It’s attached in the first post)
3. Download Universal Root and save it to your Desktop.
Universal Root (It’s attached in the first post)
III. Flashing a Custom Recovery on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0
1. Extract files from Odin and CWM Recovery archives by right-clicking on each of them and selecting Extract here.
2. Double-click on Odin executable and it should launch.
3. Click on PDA and choose the recovery file you just extracted from the archive.
4. Make sure only Auto Reboot option is checked in the Odin.
5. Turn OFF your device.
6. Turn it back on by holding down Volume DOWN+Home+Power buttons together.
7. When a warning message appears on your screen, hit Volume UP button and you’ll enter Download mode.
8. Plug in your device to your PC via USB cable.
9. Hit Start in the Odin and it’ll start flashing the CWM Recovery on your device.
10. Once the recovery’s been flashed, your device should automatically reboot.
11. You’re done!
IV. Rooting the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0
1. Ensure your device is connected to your PC.
2. Copy the Universal Root from your Desktop over to the root of your SD card.
3. Once it’s been copied, disconnect your device from your PC.
4. Turn OFF your device.
5. Turn it back on by holding down Volume UP+Home+Power buttons together.
6. Your device should reboot into CWM Recovery mode.
7. Once in Recovery, select install zip from sdcard followed by choose zip from sdcard.
8. Choose the Universal Root zip to be flashed on your device.
9. Once the zip has been flashed, reboot your device.
10. You’re now rooted!
All set! Now, you can head to our How to Flash a Custom ROM procedure for the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0Â to open up a whole new world of customizations for your Android device!
By the way, don’t be scared, you can always put your device back to stock by heading to our Rooting How To’s section, finding your device, and doing the How to Unroot listed for it there.
Will this work for the SM-T100 Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 Lite?
i cant seem to find the universal root
any help?
Hello,
Section II clearly tells where and how you can download the required files.
Thanks!
Once you click on the link, it will take you to the Xda page, and on the post, scroll down to the attached files(thats the file)
Thanks!
the universal root is not supported when i flash it. tnx. can you give other link for the universal root. :)))
Mine goes to android recovery when its not
Will this only work with an sdcard? I just bought my tab and dont have on yet so I cant complete step 2 in section 4
mine too
You both shouldn’t have any issues doing the procedure without an SD card. Simply copy the file to your internal storage and flash it from the CWM Recovery when the procedure tells you to.
Hope that helps!
the problem is that there is no option to select “install zip from Internal Storage”
Does this remove all my apps?
“Copy the Universal Root from your Desktop over to the root of your SD card.” I dont understand.. Help?
It just says to copy the mentioned file to the main (root) folder on your SD card. There’s no rocket-science in that buddy!
Thanks!
bricked my device smh
If you really think your device’s bricked, please head over to the Unrooting procedure for your device and flash back the stock ROM. Your device should be fine then.
Thanks!
thank you
You’re welcome!
Using the T211.CWM.6.0.4.7.flashable.zip did not work on my T211.
After Verifying update package it returned:
E:signature verification failed
Appreciate any help
In Section IV – Step-7, after selecting install zip from sdcard, select “toggle signature veritifcation” and make sure it is set to OFF.
It should work fine now.
Thanks!
Step 7, instead of ‘select install zip from sdcard’, on my device it is ‘ápply update from external storage’.
After selecting that it just displays the contents of the sdcard. There are no options. Where can I find the option to toggle signature verification?
I have downloaded the ver 6.0.4.8 files and tried those but I still get the ‘signature verification failed’ message. There is still no option to toggle verification.
Thanks
Weird. Please try looking for the option in the CWM, it should be there somewhere.
Thanks!
Here is solution, when you are in Odin , uncheck reboot, and then whe you upload the recovery ,reboot Tab by pressing up volume+home+power, then you will see diffrent screen in recovery mode then before, instal zip file and all that ….., if you let the odin reboot ,it will boot up the stock recovery again…that is the catch..
Hello,
Thank you for your excellent tip!
Hope it helps our other readers too.
Thanks!
Thank You! It worked like a charm!
Hello Stefano,
Wonderful! Glad it worked for you!
my tab doesnt go into cwm ewcovery mode
Make sure you’re pressing the correct key-combination to get into the recovery mode.
If you still have any issues getting into recovery, try issuing “adb reboot recovery” and it’ll throw your device right into the recovery mode.
Hope that helps!
please tell me how to issue “adb reboot recovery” because my device never ever succeed to go into recovery mode…
Follow all steps, but I can power system, reboot in CWM, any help please
Hello Rimers,
What issue are you facing exactly?
after following the steps reboot and CWM does not leave the system unbootable normal
You mean you’re not able to reboot normal after flashing the recovery? am I right?
Yes that is my problem, sorry my English is bad.
Advanced option, select Power Off but reboot on CWM again.
It shouldn’t cause bootloop issues. To get your device working again, flash the stock firmware back on your device. Please use our site’s search feature to find the unroot procedure for your device.
Thanks!
Hi Rimers,
Are you sure the device you’re doing the procedure above on is Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 (SM-T210)?
To find out what model you have, head to Menu > Settings > About tablet. Your model number should be listed under Model number.
Does It Work for Samsung T215 LTE?
ok, if i do this will I lose all my apps?
Hey there, when I hit start on Odin, My tab wouldn’t reboot I’ve been waiting for so long.
Hello Christian,
Did you checkmark the option that says Auto Reboot in the Odin?
HI I want to ask a question…I go to download mode (T211) and click on start in odin while I select CWM (T211.CWM.v6.0.4.8.tar.md5) but when odin say completed operation,it write “succeed 0 / failed 0” and device don’t reboot!!
please help.
Hi Kianusch,
Did you install the Samsung USB Drivers before proceeding with the procedure? If not, please head over to the official Samsung website and get the drivers installed on your PC.
Then do the procedure, it should work fine then.
Thanks!
odin does not detect my device help!
Hello,
If Odin doesn’t detect your device, please get the Samsung USB Drivers installed on your PC by going to the following link – http://developer.samsung.com/android/tools-sdks/Samsung-Andorid-USB-Driver-for-Windows
Thanks!
signature verification failed !? What now? thx
Hello,
There should be an option in the recovery to turn the signature verification OFF. You can see the option by going to “install zip from sdcard”, it’s there.
Thanks!
there is no option “install zip”, ..apply update from ADB, apply update from ext storage, wipe data.., wipe cache partition, apply update from cache
Hello,
Are you sure device is in ClockworkMod (CWM) Recovery? Make sure it isn’t the stock recovery that the device comes preloaded with.
my smt210 doesnt have it in boot menu..any suggestions?
When I press volume UP+home button+power buttons, it flashes the samsung logo and turns back off
When you press this key combo, your device’s supposed to go into the Recovery mode. Did you keep the buttons pressed until you got into the recovery mode?
i am having the same problem. i just held the buttons down for over a minute. i started with the device off. i pressed & held volume up+home+power. almost immediately i get a samsung logo, then a few seconds later i see it again. the device is basically powering off within a few seconds of booting.
Thanks Scott for the tip! We appreciate it!
once you see the logo let off the home button but keep holding vol up and home
Hello, I am having a bit of trouble with section IV.
My device refuses to recognize the Universal Root.
I get it to go into CMW Recovery but every time i have it ‘apply update from external storage’ I get a
E: failed to verify whole-file signature
E: failed to verify whole-file signature
E: signature verification failed
Did I over look anything? It was all working quite fine till I got to step 4 haha~
Have you read all coments? Someone had similar problem.
Hello,
What I can suggest you is do the following:
Uncheck the “Auto Reboot” option in the Odin and flash the recovery. When it is flashed, don’t turn ON your device. Just pull the battery out of your device and put it back in after a couple of seconds. Then, hold down the Recovery Mode Key combination (Volume UP+Home+Power) and you should get into the recovery mode.
Inside the recovery mode, head to “install zip from sdcard”. There should be an option saying “toggle signature verification”. Make sure it’s set to OFF.
You’re all set!
I’ve done everything like you said, but I don’t seem to be able to run my device in the CWM Recovery Mode. All I get everytime I press Home, Power and Vol-Up is black screen and no reaction from the device whatsoever… I restart it, try again – and the black screen thing happens again. And again. And again…
and again :3 I have T210.
Hello Michal,
I think the recovery wasn’t successfully flashed on your device. Are you sure the recovery process went well? Did it say it successfully flashed the recovery?
Let me know.
Thanks!
you’re absolutely right, I re-flashed the recovery and everything’s fine now :3
Awesome!
odin does not open
Hello 101,
What does it say when you launch the Odin? I haven’t heard anybody facing this issue, probably your Odin download was corrupted and it’s causing this issue. Try redownloading the file and you should be good to go.
Thanks!
it still did not work all it says is Odin3.ini i press ok and odin shows up real fast then closes
Then please try downloading the Odin tool from any other site, such as Samsung-updates.com.
Thanks!
hi, this doesn’t work at all for me… Even though CWM appears to be installed correctly (I went for version 6.0.4.7) then the stock android recovery appears, no matter what I try. In addition, even though my wifi connects, it doesn’t really work anymore. Any suggestions?
just an update, I managed to root the device with TWRP, but WiFi still doesn’t work… Is this a known issue?
Just another update, I just fixed it. During the process the date and time on the device were reset… This somehow was leading to authentication errors. I’m leaving all this in here for future users that may stumble upon this bug…
Hello K Del,
The developers often update their root scripts and the stuff, so that may cause errors like you mentioned in your comment. For the most part, the procedures simply work great and you shouldn’t have any issues.
Thanks!
I did everything right i go into cwm mode i try to install a package from external device and all i get is E:failed to mount /sdcard (No such file or directory)
Hello,
I think you’ll have to mount the SD card before you can use it. To do that, select mount and storage from the recovery mode and make sure your SD card appears under the mounted folders list.
It should work fine then. Thanks!
Hello.
i wanna ask something..
if i did this (III. Flashing a Custom Recovery on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0) step, did my phone will formatted???
if my phone will be formatted, i want to move all my file firstly before root.
i need answer. tq
Hello shahrul,
No, flashing a custom recovery does NOT format your device. What it does is write data to your recovery partition, and that’s it.
However, if you’ve some important files stored on your device, it’s recommended to back them up first, just in case.
Thanks!
greetings i to did everything step by step and odin did not recognize my tab 3 in the uper left corner box why what did i miss?
It could be the drivers issue. Please download and install the latest drivers on your PC from the following link – http://developer.samsung.com/android/tools-sdks/Samsung-Android-USB-Driver-for-Windows;jsessionid=BzyJTJRY5mVLyl5p0wmPW85f3ZnXbF9Rh1DtLwShJvTxnvvJhhGw!557608256
I’ve been trying for 2 hours to do this and have read every post and tried everything I can understand. It simply will not go to cwm recovery, only Android recovery. Downloaded drivers from Samsung website. Odin flash was successful. Used CWM.6.0.4.7. I used the correct button combination. I copied Universal root to sdcard and external sdcard, zipped and unzipped. Still won’t work. Tab 3 7.0.
What am I missing?
Hello,
I apologize for the inconvenience!
What I can suggest you to do is: uncheck the option that says “Auto Reboot” while flashing recovery. So when the recovery’s flashed, do NOT turn on your device. Just pull the battery out of your device and then put it back in after a couple of seconds, and then directly reboot your device into recovery mode. See if that works for you.
Hope it helps!
It is a Tablet, so I’m not sure how to pull out the battery.
I figured it out. I didn’t open Odin as Administrator. It finally worked, but my Tab still doesn’t allow me to change the OS to Russian, so on to my next challenge! Thanks for showing how to root. I think maybe others have had the same oversight as I did about running Odin as Administrator.
That’s great! If you have a limited user’s account on your PC, then you might face issues like above.
We’re glad your issue is sorted out. Thanks!
This is what I see when I power/vol up/home boot. I do not get a “warning screen” to which I would then apply ‘up vol’ command. I’ve gottn so far away from what I should be seeing according to your writeup that I should contact you about it. Where do I go from here?
Android system recovery
KOT49H.T217SVPUBNE7
Volume up/down to move highlight;
power button to select
reboot system now
apply update from ADB
apply update from external storage
wipe data/factory reset
wipe cache partition
apply update from cache
Does this works on the LTE edition(SM-T215) ????
Nop, it doesn’t.
Hello.
i wanna ask something..
if i did this (III. Flashing a Custom Recovery on the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0) step, did my phone will formatted???
if my phone will be formatted, i want to move all my file firstly before root.
i need answer. tq
cc: Mahesh Makvana
Hello shahrul,
No, flashing a custom recovery does NOT format your device.
However, if you’ve some important files stored on your device, it’s recommended to back them up first, just in case.
Thanks!
cwm recovery wont flash. odin says pass, tab reboots, but when i start recovery is just stock android recovery and i cant flash universal root.
Hi Cameron,
Do one thing: don’t let your device reboot after flashing the recovery. When the recovery’s flashed, pull the battery out of your device and then put it back in, then turn ON your device and see if you boot into the custom recovery mode.
Let me know how it goes for you. Thanks!
I got it thanks. My device is a tablet so I don’t really know how to put the battery. I did however press vol up home and power from the download screen and it booted into CWM recovery. The only problem in having now is flashing custom ROMs. I get a status 7 error every time no matter what ROM.
after clicking pda , i cant find the recovery file
i can’t find this “T210.CWM.6.0.4.5.recovery.tar.zip” on the list. i have no idea what to download. am i at the right page?
Hi there,
On these steps 5 and 6 below, my device just does not want to enter into CWM recovery mode, after flash the device using odin.
5. Turn it back on by holding down Volume UP+Home+Power buttons together.
6. Your device should reboot into CWM Recovery mode.
It’s also a tablet, there is no way to unplug the battery…
what should I do?
please help..?
When I try to go into revcovery, it just shows the loading screen with ‘RECOVERY REBOOTING’ then I turns up a black screen then I shuts down again.
Hi David,
Was the recovery successfully flashed on your device? If it did, it should work fine.
Flash it again and let us know if it works for you. Thanks!
If i follow all these steps and root, will my tablet be reset or will everything be where it was
flashing the custom rom did not succeded
How can i add mirroring to my t217s. I would like to use hdmi cable.
If i dont want to recover my device first, can i skip step 3 ?
hey i am having tab 3 t211 with kitkat. will this method work on kitkat?
hey from where to download universal root? i cant find that
it sucks ppl dont use it ! JK:) P.S.jk means just kidding
This article is great but, somewhat outdated. I have a galaxy 3 and I
was able to get the first step done successfully. However, finding and
applying the correct universal root file has been difficult at best. I
did attempt to try with the file on the linked forum without success.
I’m sure I’m not the only user out there that would like an update to this great article. 😉
i rooted my device but after completion and restart i get nothing but a black screen… when the device restarted i got the android character and it installed then i got the samsung galaxy tab 3 logo… then when the samsung logo should be up it isnt i get the startup sound but nothing else just a black screen. help please