How to Root the HTC Incredible S

HTC’s Incredible S was released quite a while ago. Back then it came with then-latest version of Android called Froyo running on-board and while it’s been several years since the phone was announced, it’s still owned by many people around the world. The phone eventually got various software updates namely Gingerbread and Ice Cream Sandwich, but that’s where it stopped.

The latest update it received is now considered to be obsolete as we’ve had quite a few new versions of Android since. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t get your phone to run the latest version. If you root your HTC Incredible S, you can get access to tons of custom ROMs that allow you to install newer versions of Android and even get custom versions.

Besides flashing a custom ROM, you can also remove the stock apps, flash custom kernels, and more. Gaining root on the HTC Incredible S isn’t as hard as you may think it’d be being an old phone, in fact, rooting it is as easy as rooting the latest phone from the Taiwan based company.

Here’s how to root the Incredible S.

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 will erase the data stored on your device. So, please backup everything that you wish to keep.
3. You must have a Windows based PC to do this procedure.
4. You should have HTC Sync installed on your Windows PC. Install it if it isn’t already.
5. This should also flash a custom recovery on your device.
6. You should only try this on an HTC Incredible S.

How to Root the HTC Incredible S

To root the device, you’ll first unlock the bootloader, flash a custom recovery, and then use that recovery to flash SuperSU to get root. Here’s how:

Downloading Required Files

1. Download Fastboot and save it to your desktop.
   Fastboot
2. Download ClockworkMod Recovery and save it to your desktop.
   ClockworkMod Recovery (Download the one that is for your device)
3. Download SuperSU and save it to your desktop.
   SuperSU

Unlocking the Bootloader on the HTC Incredible S

1. Extract files from Fastboot over 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 a USB cable.
4. Launch a command prompt window on your desktop by holding down Shift and right-clicking anywhere on the screen and selecting Open command window here.
5. When the command prompt window launches, type in the following command and hit Enter:
   adb reboot bootloader
6. Your device should reboot into bootloader mode.
7. Now, type in the following command and press Enter:
   fastboot oem get_identifier_token
8. You’ll see a long text string in the command prompt window. Highlight it all and copy it to your clipboard for later use. Make sure you only copy the string and not words like <bootloader>, etc.
9. Head over to the HTCDev Bootloader website and follow the on-screen instructions for unlocking the bootloader on your device.
10. At one step, the site will ask you to input the string that you copied in the above steps. Paste the string and click on Submit.
11. Once you’ve submitted the string to HTC, they’ll email you an unlock file. Download that file and save it to your desktop.
12. Get back to command prompt and type in the following command and hit Enter:
    fastboot flash unlocktoken Unlock_code.bin
13. Hit Yes when prompted for unlocking the bootloader on your device.
14. Your bootloader should now be unlocked.

Congrats! Your device is now ready to be flashed with a custom recovery to then be rooted. Here’s how to flash a custom recovery:

Flashing a Custom Recovery on the HTC Incredible S

1. Enable USB debugging on your device by heading to Menu > Settings > Developer options > USB debugging.
2. Plug in your device to your PC using a USB cable.
3. Open a command prompt window on your desktop by holding down Shift and right-clicking anywhere on the screen and selecting Open command window here.
4. Type in the following command into the command prompt window and hit Enter:
   adb reboot bootloader
5. Your device should reboot into bootloader mode.
6. Type in the following command into the command prompt window and press Enter. Make sure to replace cwm.img with the actual name of the ClockworkMod Recovery Image you have downloaded.
   fastboot flash recovery cwm.img
7. Wait for it to flash CWM on your device.
8. When it’s done flashing CWM, reboot your device using the following command:
   fastboot reboot
9. Your device should reboot.

Great! A custom recovery has been successfully flashed on your HTC Incredible S, and here’s how you can use this newly installed recovery to achieve root on your device:

Rooting the HTC Incredible S

1. Connect your device to your PC using a USB cable.
2. Copy SuperSU .zip from your desktop over to the internal SD card storage on your device.
3. When SuperSU is copied, disconnect your device from your PC.
4. Turn off your device.
5. Turn your device back on in recovery mode by holding down Volume DOWN and Power buttons together.
6. Choose Recovery from the options available on your screen.
7. Select install zip from sdcard in the recovery menu.
8. Select choose zip from sdcard on the screen that follows.
9. Choose SuperSU .zip to be installed on your device.
10. Hit Yes when prompted.
11. CWM should begin flashing SuperSU on your device. Wait for it to do so.
12. When CWM’s done flashing SuperSU, reboot your device by selecting reboot system now.
13. Your device should reboot.

And there you go, your HTC Incredible S is now rooted!

Now, with root-access and a custom recovery, your device is all set to be loaded with a custom ROM of your choice. You can check out the Android ROMs collection we have here on our site and pick a ROM that you think will best suit your device.

Let us know how it worked for you!