How to Root the LG G4 (International Version)
While it’s quite a tough task to root the carrier variants of the LG G4, rooting the international LG G4 is darn easy. Thing is, carriers often put locks on your devices that prevent you from touching the files that the carriers themselves added to the device (and would rather you didn’t remove). That makes the whole job of rooting the device that much more difficult for developers.
Fortunately, the international variant of the LG G4 is carrier agnostic so no carrier bloatware in the first place means no carrier panicking if you try to root it. Once you’ve rooted yours, you’ll be able to make tons of customization options that weren’t possible before. From root-only apps, flashing custom ROMs & custom kernels, to overclocking the phone’s processor, these are just some of the things you can enjoy on your device when you’re rooted. If any of all of that sounds good to you, go ahead and use the following guide to root your device and enjoy.
I. Before You Begin
1. This should void the warranty of your device. We won’t be held responsible if your phone gets damaged during the procedure. Go ahead at your own risk.
2. You must have unlocked the bootloader on your LG G4. You can do so by following the instructions given on the LG Unlocking website.
3. You must have a Windows based PC to do this procedure.
4. Download and install LG USB drivers on your PC, if you haven’t done so yet.
5. This should only work for the international variant of the device that has the model number – H815.
6. This should also flash a custom recovery on your device.
How to Root the LG G4 (International)
To root the device, what you’ll do is first boot into a recovery to flash a recovery, and then flash the SuperSU package to obtain root-access. Here’s how you can do that all:
II. Downloading Required Files
1. Download Fastboot and save it to your desktop.
2. Download TWRP Recovery and save it to your desktop.
3. Download SuperSU and save it to your desktop.
III. Rooting the LG G4 (International)
1. Right-click on Fastboot and select Extract here to extract the actual usable files.
2. Connect your device to your PC using a USB cable.
3. Copy p1.img (the recovery file) from your desktop over to the root folder on your internal storage. Make sure you keep a copy of the recovery file on your desktop as well.
4. Head to Menu > Settings > About phone on your device and tap on Build number for about 7-8 times until it says you’re a developer.
5. When it says you’re a developer, head back and tap on Developer options. Turn on the USB debugging option.
6. Launch a Command Prompt Window on your desktop by holding down Shift and right-clicking anywhere on your screen and selecting Open command window here.
7. Type in the following command into the Command Prompt Window and press Enter:
adb reboot bootloader
8. Your device should reboot into bootloader mode.
9. Type in the following command to reboot your device into custom recovery mode:
fastboot boot p1.img
10. Your device should reboot into TWRP Recovery mode.
11. Tap on Install in TWRP Recovery.
12. Tap on Images… to select an image file to be flashed on your device.
13. Select the TWRP Recovery Image file you copied to your device in step-3.
14. Hit Swipe to Confirm Flash to confirm the action.
15. Wait for TWRP to flash TWRP on your device. Yeah, it’s flashing itself on your device.
16. When it’s done flashing TWRP, reboot your device by selecting Reboot followed by System.
17. Your device should reboot.
18. You’re done!
And that’s it. You now have a working custom recovery on your LG G4 that should help you gain root-access in the following section. So, here you go:
IV. Rooting the LG G4 (International)
1. Connect your device to your PC using a USB cable.
2. Copy SuperSU .zip from your desktop over to the internal storage on your device.
3. When SuperSU is copied, disconnect your device from your PC.
4. Turn off your device.
5. Reboot your device into TWRP Recovery by pressing and holding down Volume DOWN and Power buttons together.
6. Select Recovery from the options that appear on your screen.
7. Tap on Install.
8. Select SuperSU .zip to be installed on your device.
9. Tap on Swipe to Confirm Flash.
10. Wait for it to flash SuperSU on your device.
11. When it’s done flashing SuperSU, reboot your device by choosing Reboot followed by System.
12. You’re all set!
Your international variant of the LG G4 is now rooted and is equipped with a custom recovery.
Feel free to check out our ROM repository to find a suitable ROM for your device, then head to our how to load a custom ROM post to learn how you can flash that ROM on your device.
Let us know how this procedure worked for you!
