How to Root the Samsung Galaxy S5 (All Variants)(CF-Root)

Towelroot was one of the first few methods that root the Samsung Galaxy S5 but it seems it no longer works on the latest version of Android namely Android 6.0 Marshmallow. This means no more custom ROMs and root-only fun for your Galaxy S5.

However, Chainfire has heard your requests and he’s come up with his CF-Auto-Root method that’s capable of rooting the Galaxy S5 even on the most recent version of Android. Once you flash the CF-Root file on your device using Odin, you will have root access on your Galaxy S5 running the latest version of Android.

Root access will let you remove the stock apps from your phone, flash a custom ROM (the procedure below flashes a custom recovery as well), flash custom kernels, and so on.

So, here’s how to root the Samsung Galaxy S5 using the Chainfire method:

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. This procedure should only work on Windows as the tool that you’re going to use is Windows only.
3. You should have Samsung USB drivers installed on your PC. Install the drivers if they aren’t already.
4. This should also flash a custom recovery called TWRP on your device.
5. This procedure works for a number of Galaxy S5 variants. Please check the sections below to see if yours is covered.

How to Root the Samsung Galaxy S5 (All Variants)(CF-Root)

To root the device, you’re going to flash CF-Auto-Root using Odin and when that’s done you’re going to use Odin once again to flash a custom recovery. Here’s how to do that all:

Downloading Required Files

1. Download Odin and save it to your desktop.
   Odin
2. Download CF-Root and save it to your desktop.
   CF-Root (Download the one that is for your model from third post)
3. Download TWRP Recovery and save it to your desktop.
   TWRP Recovery (Download the one that is for your model and has .tar as its extension)

Rooting the Samsung Galaxy S5 (All Variants)(CF-Root)

1. Extract files from Odin and CF-Root over to your desktop by right-clicking on each of them one by one and selecting Extract here.
2. Double-click on the Odin executable and it’ll launch.
3. Click on PDA in the Odin and select CF-Root available on your desktop to be flashed on your device. Make sure to select the extracted CF-Root file and not the CF-Root archive itself.
4. Uncheck Repartition in the Odin.
5. Checkmark both Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time options in the Odin.
6. Turn off your device.
7. Turn your device back on in download mode by pressing and holding down Volume Down, Home, and Power buttons together for a few seconds.
8. Press Volume Up when prompted and you’ll enter the download mode.
9. Plug in your device to your PC using a USB cable.
10. Click on Start in the Odin and it’ll start flashing CF-Root on your device.
11. When CF-Root’s flashed, your device will automatically reboot.

Congrats, your Samsung Galaxy S5 is now rooted, all thanks to Chainfire.

Let’s see how you can flash a custom recovery on your device:

Flashing a Custom Recovery on the Samsung Galaxy S5

1. Double-click on the Odin executable and it should launch.
2. Click on PDA in the Odin and select TWRP Recovery .tar available on your desktop. This is what will be flashed on your device.
3. Make sure Repartition is unchecked in the Odin.
4. Checkmark both Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time options in the Odin.
5. Power off your device.
6. Reboot your device into download mode by pressing and holding down Volume Down, Home, and Power buttons together.
7. Press Volume Up when prompted and you will enter the download mode on your device.
8. Plug in your device to your PC using a USB cable.
9. Click on Start in the Odin and it’ll start flashing TWRP Recovery on your device.
10. Wait for it to flash TWRP on your device. It shouldn’t take too long to do that.
11. When TWRP Recovery’s flashed, your device should automatically reboot.

And there you go, you’ve successfully flashed TWRP custom recovery on your Samsung Galaxy S5.

Now that you’re rooted and have a working custom recovery, go ahead and flash a custom ROM on your device using our procedure. We have a number of custom ROMs for the Samsung Galaxy S5 and you can check those out in our ROMs repository.

Let us know how this worked for you!