How to Root the Motorola Moto X (2013) (Verizon)

Verizon has that habit of not allowing their phones to be customized by the end users. For whatever reason, they keep the bootloader locked on their phones and don’t allow them to be unlocked. This prevents you from gaining root access or flashing a custom ROM on the phone.

Things aren’t the same for the Moto X (2013) from Verizon though, as a root method has been found that works even on locked bootloaders and allows you to gain root. A custom recovery, however, is not available at the moment for this particular variant but that should also become available soon if things go well for developers.

Getting back to root-access and forgetting the custom recovery for now, once you’ve rooted your Verizon variant of the Moto X, you should be able to do the things that you haven’t been able to do due to Verizon’s locked bootloader policy. These things include the ability to remove stock apps and install root-only apps among many.

Before You Begin

  1. This could void the warranty of your device. We won’t be held responsible for anything that happens from doing this tutorial so please proceed at your own risk.
  2. You should have a Windows based PC to do this procedure.
  3. You should have Motorola USB drivers installed on your PC. Install them if they aren’t already.
  4. You should have your device flashed with the ROM given here. If you haven’t, the following procedure won’t work for you.
  5. This will only work on the Verizon variant of the Moto X (2013) that has the model number XT1060.
  6. You must be running on Android 5.1 to do this procedure.

How to Root the Motorola Moto X (2013) (Verizon)

Verizon Moto X

To root the device, you’ll use a root-patch that will flash some files on your device to achieve access to the root. Here’s how you can use it to root your device.

Downloading Required Files

  1. Download Root Patch and save it to your desktop.
    Root Patch (Download link’s available in the first post)
  2. Download Python and save it to your desktop.
    Python (Download link’s available in the first post)
  3. Download Pyserial and save it to your desktop.
    Pyserial (Download link’s given in the first post)
  4. Download DLOAD drivers and save them to your desktop.
    DLOAD Drivers (Download link’s given in the first post)

Rooting the Motorola Moto X (2013) (Verizon)

  1. Install Python by double-clicking on it and following the on-screen installation wizard.
  2. Double-click on Pyserial and install that as well.
  3. Copy Root Patch from your desktop over to the Python directory on your PC. The directory should be C:\Python27.
  4. Right-click on the copied Root Patch and select Extract here to extract the files.
  5. Turn off your device.
  6. Reboot your device into fastboot mode by holding down Volume DOWN and Power buttons together.
  7. Plug in your device to your PC using a USB cable.
  8. Open the Python directory and double-click on BLBROKE.bat and it’ll launch.
  9. It should turn off your device and you should also notice that your device’s gone black.
  10. Right-click on DLOAD Drivers archive and select Extract here to extract the drivers.
  11. Launch Device Manager and install the DLOAD drivers manually.
  12. Once the drivers are installed, double-click on root.bat located in the Python directory to start rooting your device.
  13. The tool should take about 15 to 20 minutes to gain root access on your device.
  14. Your device should reboot when the tool’s done rooting.
  15. When your device reboots, it’ll optimize the apps for better performance. Allow it to do so.
  16. Reboot the device when apps have been optimized.

Your Verizon variant of the Moto X is now rooted!

To confirm root access, you can download and install Root Checker on your device and it should tell you whether you have proper root access or not.

Now that you have root access, you should go ahead and load up your device with your favorite root-only apps. That’s where the real customization begins.

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