How to Root the Sony Xperia Z3

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Got a shiny new Sony Xperia Z3 and wish to root it to enjoy it at its fullest? No worries, here’s how you can do that. Rooting the Xperia Z3 isn’t a daunting task, and you should be able to root your device within a couple of minutes. Once rooted, you’ll be able to go beyond what your device can offer now. Here’s how:

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 Sony Xperia Z3, 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 Sony Xperia Z3:

I. Before You Begin

1. This will void the warranty of your device. We won’t be held responsible for the consequences of this procedure. Do it at your own risk.

2. This should work for the D66XX variants of the device.

3. You must have unlocked your bootloader before doing this procedure. You can do so by following the unlocking instructions given on this site.

4. You must be running on stock Android 4.4.4 firmware for this to work.

5. This should flash a custom recovery as well.

II. Downloading Required Files

1. Download Fastboot and save it to your desktop.

Fastboot

2. Download Advanced Stock Kernel and save it to your desktop.

Advanced Stock Kernel (Download link’s given in the first post)

3. Download SuperSU .zip and save it to your desktop.

SuperSU (Download link’s available in the second post)

III. Flashing a Custom Recovery on the Sony Xperia Z3

1. Extract files from Fastboot to your desktop by right-clicking on it and selecting Extract here.

2. Enable USB debugging on your device by heading to Menu > Settings > Developer options > USB debugging.

3. Plug in your device to your PC using the USB cable.

4. Launch a Command Prompt Window on your desktop. To do that, hold down Shift and right-click on any blank area on your screen and select Open command window here.

5. Type in following command into the Command Prompt Window:

adb reboot fastboot

6. Your device should reboot into fastboot mode.

7. Once there, issue the following command:

fastboot flash boot boot.img

8. It should flash the boot image on your device.

9. When it’s done, issue the following command:

fastboot reboot

10. Your device should reboot.

Congrats! You’ve successfully flashed a custom recovery on your Sony Xperia Z3. It’s time to root your device, here’s how:

IV. Rooting the Sony Xperia Z3

1. Plug in your device to your PC using the USB cable.

2. Copy SuperSU .zip from your desktop over to the root of your SD card.

3. When it’s copied, unplug your device from your PC.

4. Turn OFF your device.

5. Turn it back on by holding down Volume UP and Power buttons together.

6. Your device should reboot into CWM Recovery mode.

7. Select install zip from sdcard followed by choose zip from sdcard.

8. Choose SuperSU .zip to be flashed on your device.

9. Hit Yes when prompted and it should begin flashing the selected file on your device.

10. When the flashing’s done, reboot your device by selecting reboot system now.

11. You’re all set!

Wonderful! Your Sony Xperia Z3 now has a custom recovery and root-access. These should allow you to install root-only apps and flash a custom ROM that you may have been waiting to do on your device. Enjoy!

You can click here to find all of the Sony Xperia Z3 How To’s.

You can also find all of the Sony Xperia Z3 ROMs we have here.

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  • MrEjonzzon

    Hello, this is my first time trying to root a phone so excuse my noobness :p Anyway I am unable to get past lll. 5, when i type in adb reboot fastboot I just get “device offline”. I have done some research on this but cannot find a solution. And so I have come here, please help 🙂

    • Hello,

      Try issuing the following command – adb devices

      If it lists your device, it means your device’s been recognized by your PC and you can go ahead and do the procedure. But it if doesn’t show your device in the list, then you don’t have the required drivers installed on your PC.

      Head to your manufacturer’s website, download and install the latest drivers on your PC, and you’ll be all set.

      Hope this helps!

      • MrEjonzzon

        Hello thanks for the answer, much appreciated! However I am still unsuccessful. I will try to explain my problem a bit more detailed: I have the files from the fastboot folder on my desktop as well as the advanced kernel img file. When I open a command window and type in “adb reboot fastboot” I just get “error: device offline” I tried your other solution and typed “adb devices”, my phone is recognized but it says it’s offline. To clarify this is step lll. 5. It seems and can’t really go ahead with the procedure although it is recognized.

        • Try this command – adb reboot bootloader

          It’ll reboot you into bootloader mode from where you can select Fastboot.

          Let me know if it works for you. Thanks!

          • MrEjonzzon

            Thanks again for a quick answer! Still doesn’t work unfortunately. It says:

            “adb server is out of date. killing…
            *daemon started successfully*
            error: device offline”

          • If the above solutions didn’t work for you, you might want to go the hard way.

            Turn OFF your device, pull the battery out and then put it back in after a couple of seconds, hold down Volume UP and Power buttons together. You should get into bootloader mode from where you can select Fastboot.

            Hope this helps you!

          • Rama Kirsten Von Jürgen Remich

            hahahaha battery out in Z3???

  • Robiedick

    Can someone please help me I flashed the bootrom but now my phone won’t start if I press volume up and the powerbutton. If I just use the powerbutton there is no problem and it just starts, but it won’t even turn on using volume up button with the powerbutton. Thanks for your help allready

  • Yeah, but no but

    Hey, very new to all this stuff. My z3 is running 4.4.4 but it says my model number is D5833. Does this make a difference? Sorry if its a stupid question

    • Hey,

      Every expert was once a beginner 🙂

      This method only works for the models that start with D66. Unfortunately, this will not work for your D5833.

      • K.H-G

        That’s a shame. Do I just need to wait until there is a root that is compatible with my model?

  • Sleepy

    Would this work with23.0.1.A.5.77 on D6653?

  • kasmmajeed

    when i type adb reboot fastboot it’s only rebot, not rebot into fastboot
    and when i try to flash it say cannot load

    can any one help me

  • Sajiv Agrarian

    hello after done the recovery mode and rooting my z3 the wifi is not working?please help me!

  • Rama Kirsten Von Jürgen Remich

    You forget to say the phone stays fucked up after these, you will have a very great luck if after that they works well!

    • Simas Stoncius

      you need to have knowledge with custom roms, before even attempting this