Magisk, explained step by step install, modules, troubleshooting
Magisk is the open-source tool most people use to root Android phones. This site is an independent guide to using it: which file to patch on your phone, how to install and update it, and what to do when something goes wrong. Everything here is summarized from Magisk's own documentation and other upstream sources, which every page links to.
What Magisk is
Magisk, developed by John Wu (topjohnwu) and contributors, gives you root access, a module system and Zygisk without modifying the system partition. It works by patching your phone's boot image (or init_boot, or recovery), so everything else is applied at boot and can be undone. It supports Android 6.0 and newer, and needs an unlocked bootloader. How Magisk works
Rooting for the first time
The whole process, in the order you will do it. Every step has a full guide.
- Check your phone can be unlocked. Carrier-locked phones and some regions (for example USA and Canada Samsung models) can't be. See your brand's guide.
- Unlock the bootloader. This erases the phone, so back up first.
- Get your stock firmware for the exact build you're running, and extract the right image. The root method checker tells you which.
- Patch it in the Magisk app and flash it with fastboot. Full steps: patch a boot image, or compare all install methods.
- Turn on USB debugging before you install any modules, so a bad module can always be removed. See fixing a bootloop.
Guides by brand
Google Pixel
Factory images, fastboot unlock, init_boot on Pixel 7 and newer.
Samsung Galaxy
AP file patching, OEM lock and KnoxGuard checks, Knox warning.
Xiaomi, Redmi, POCO
Mi Unlock, fastboot ROMs and which image each model uses.
OnePlus
Fastboot unlock and extracting images from payload.bin.
Nothing
Phone (1), (2), (2a), (3) and CMF Phone.
Motorola
Motorola's unlock code program and eligible models.
After rooting
Keep root through updates
Restore images, update, then Install to Inactive Slot.
Modules
How modules work, and what popular ones actually do.
Play Integrity
Which verdicts a rooted phone can pass, and which it can't.
Zygisk
What it is and why many modules need it.
Troubleshooting
Bootloops, "Installed: N/A", apps detecting root.
Magisk vs KernelSU, APatch, Shizuku
How the alternatives differ.
About this site
Magisk Guide is an independent, unofficial reference. It is not affiliated with the Magisk project or its author. Our pages summarize Magisk's documentation and release notes, Android's developer documentation, and the documentation of the other projects we cover, and each page lists its sources. We don't host any downloads: links go to the official releases. If you spot a mistake, email contact@magiskguide.com. Read how this site is written.