How to Unroot Any Android Device

Here at Android Root, we spend a lot of time talking about rooting Android. But many people are surprised to learn that you can also unroot Android – and it’s actually pretty easy.

Today, we’re going to explain the advantages of unrooting your Android device and why you might want to do it.

Why Unroot?

Many rooted Android users will unroot their device in order to upgrade its firmware.

You know those over the air updates you get from your carrier? After rooting, those updates typically don’t work. Your carrier assumes all of the files on your Android have been left intact. When it tries to install the update, it realizes those files have been compromised, so it aborts the update.

This is really the only downside of rooting. Fortunately, there’s an easy fix.

How to Unroot and Install OTA Updates

The first and easiest way to install an over the air (OTA) update on a rooted Android device is to use software like Samsung Kies or whatever desktop software is used by your manufacturer.

You flash the new Android version onto your device using this software, and then you’re good to go.

Unfortunately, installing the new update with this method will also cause you to lose root access. This is the fastest and easiest way to unroot your device.

Once the update completes installation, you’ll need to reroot your device.

There are also two alternative ways to quickly unroot your device.

First, One Click Root lets you unroot directly from the main screen. Just like you pressed “Root” to root your Android device, you can also press “Unroot” to unroot your device. The process takes about 2 minutes and one reboot cycle to complete.

Alternatively, you can use an app like SuperSU to unroot your device. Go to the SuperSU settings menu and tap the Full unroot button. Your phone will reboot, and you should have an unrooted Android once again.

Once the phone is unrooted, you can install your OTA update, and then repeat the rooting process to regain instant access to your powerful rooted device.

99% of Android devices can be unrooted using the three methods listed above. The remaining 1% of devices cannot be rooted to begin with.

How to Temporarily Unroot Your Device

All of the unrooting methods listed above are “temporary”, so to speak.

But there are some apps on the Google Play Store that specifically advertise themselves as temporary root applications.

THT OTA RootKeeper 2.0.3 is one popular option. That app has been removed from the Google Play Store, but you can download it as an APK file for free from certain websites.

After you install the app, you open it up to find a button that says “Temp. un-root (keeps backup”

That button does exactly what it promised. After clicking it, you can install your OTA update.

Many people keep this app installed on their phones. Then, when an OTA update notification appears, they open the app, temporarily unroot it, and proceed with the OTA update installation.

Once you’ve installed the update, you can open the app once more and hit the “Restore Root” button.