How to Root the Samsung Galaxy J2 (2015)

Samsung Galaxy J2 is one of the phones that Samsung has launched in its J lineup of budget smartphones. Since it’s a budget Android smartphone, it’s not the top of the line with hardware, but that doesn’t mean it’s not a great device (it does have that Super AMOLED display that Samsung is famous for after all).

If you aren’t satisfied with what you have on the phone, however, might want to root the Galaxy J2. With root access you’ll be allowed to remove the existing stock apps from your phone, add new apps that require root access, flash a custom recovery which will then let you flash a custom ROM, and more. There’re tons of things you can do when your phone’s rooted and the following guide will walk you through rooting the Samsung Galaxy J2 and flashing a custom recovery on it.

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 must have a Windows based PC to do this procedure as the tool that you’re going to use is Windows only.
3. Ensure that ADB USB drivers are installed on your Windows computer. Install them if they aren’t already.
4. This should also flash a custom recovery on your device.
5. You should only do this on a Samsung Galaxy J2 device.

How to Root the Samsung Galaxy J2

To root the device, you’ll first flash a custom recovery called TWRP using Odin and then flash SuperSU using the installed recovery to obtain root. Here’s how it’s all done:

Downloading Required Files

1. Download Odin and save it to your desktop.
   Odin
2. Download TWRP Recovery and save it to your desktop.
   TWRP for Galaxy J2 (Download the latest version that has .tar as its extension)
3. Download SuperSU and save it to your desktop.
   SuperSU

Flashing a Custom Recovery on the Samsung Galaxy J2

1. Extract files from Odin over to your desktop by right-clicking on it and selecting Extract here.
2. Launch Odin by double-clicking on its executable file available on your desktop.
3. When the Odin launches, click on the PDA button and navigate to your desktop and select TWRP Recovery .tar to be flashed as PDA on your device.
4. Uncheck the Repartition option if it’s already checkmarked.
5. Checkmark the options that say Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time.
6. Turn off your device.
7. Turn your device back on in download mode. To do that, hold down Volume DOWN, Home, and Power buttons together for a few seconds.
8. When the device shows a prompt, hit the Volume UP key and you should enter the download mode.
9. Plug in your device to your PC using a USB cable.
10. Odin should show that your device is added to the PC.
11. Hit Start in the Odin and it’ll start flashing TWRP Recovery on your device.
12. Wait for Odin to finish flashing the recovery.
13. When the Odin’s done flashing recovery, your device should automatically reboot.

A custom recovery called TWRP was successfully flashed on your Samsung Galaxy J2, and here’s how you can use that recovery to gain root access on your device:

Rooting the Samsung Galaxy J2 Using SuperSU

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. Place the file in the root folder so you can easily find it in the steps below.
3. When SuperSU is copied, disconnect your device from your PC.
4. Turn off your device.
5. Reboot your device into TWRP Recovery mode. To do that, hold down Volume UP, Home, and Power buttons together for a couple of seconds.
6. Your device should reboot into the recovery mode.
7. Once inside the recovery, tap on Install to install a zip file on your device.
8. Navigate to internal SD card storage on your device and find and tap on SuperSU .zip to flash it on your device.
9. Tap on Swipe to Confirm Flash to confirm flashing of SuperSU on your device.
10. Wait for TWRP to flash SuperSU on your device. It shouldn’t take too long to do that.
11. When SuperSU’s flashed, reboot your device by tapping Reboot followed by System from the recovery menu.
12. Your device should reboot.

And your Samsung Galaxy J2 is now rooted!

You now have a custom recovery and root-access on your Samsung Galaxy J2 that should let you run root-only apps and custom ROMs on your device.

Head to our custom ROMs repository to find a custom ROM for your device and then head to our how to load a custom ROM on an Android device procedure to learn how you can flash your favorite custom ROM on your Samsung Galaxy J2.

Let us know how this worked for you!