Samsung Galaxy S21 series was Samsung’s flagship series on the market a couple years back. Samsung had rolled out the One UI 4.0 based on the Android 12 update for it’s Galaxy S21 series and other flagship devices, including foldable. If you updated your device to the latest Android 12-based One Ui 4.0, then this article will provide you with a step-by-step guide on how to root The Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+, and S21 ultra. This guide will work for all the devices in the Galaxy S21 series. We have already written a step-by-step guide on how to gain root access on the Samsung Galaxy S21 with One UI 3.1, which is based on Android 11. This guide will focus on devices already being updated to Android 12.
Prerequisites
- Before we begin, there are some things that we need to set up ahead of time, like having the bootloader of this smartphone unlocked first.
- We also need to download and install the Canary build of Magisk as it is the only version of Magisk that currently supports Android 12. So, download the canary build of Magisk from the GitHub page.
- With that done, download and extract the firmware that matches the Android version that you are running on your device. We download our firmware files from samfw.com.
Download and Prepare Firmware Files
To complete the process, you must download the firmware on your PC or laptop. Once you download the firmware file, extract it’s contents. After extraction, you will get a folder containing several files. These files’ names start with “AP”, “BL”. “CP”, “CSC” and “home CSC”. Copy the file that starts with “AP” and paste it onto the internal storage of your Samsung Galaxy S21 or any device from the series.
Patch the Firmware File
Open Magisk Manager on your installed device. Tap the install button next to the Magisk section. Choose the “select and patch a file” option and then browse for the “AP” file that you just copied to your device. Select the “AP file ” and tap the “Let’s go” button.
Magisk will extract the contents of that “AP” file and then grab the specific files we need. After copying, it will patch those files. Once that is done, it will repackage that “AP” file for us but with a different name, Magisk_patched. It will be saved in the downloads folder of our device. Copy that new “Magisk_patched” file from your device to your computer in the same folder where you have other firmware files.
Prepare the Device for Rooting
- Now, power off the device completely and boot it into Download Mode.
- Press the volume up button when you see the blue screen to enter the Download Mode.
- Download and open Odin on your PC, and make sure that your phone is showing up on Odin when your device is plugged in and in Download Mode.
Flash Firmware with Odin
- The next step is adding the firmware files you extracted earlier to your PC Odin.
- Click on the “BL” button in Odin and select the file that starts with “Bl”. Next up, click on the “AP” button, and now, this time, choose the file that we patched with Magisk on our phone and then copy it onto your device. The file is a zip file that starts with “Magisk_patched”.
- You may also need to check and Find Your CSC Region Code if you need clarification on what it is. Next up, click the “CP” button and find & select the file that starts with “CP”.
- Lastly, click the “CSC” button and select the file that starts with regular “CSC.” Do not select the file that starts with the “Home_CSC” file here.
- As we go from an unrooted version of the firmware to a rooted version, we need to wipe all the data and do a factory reset. The regular “CSC” file is required here, and that’s all there is to set up Odin.
- Once four of these files are populated correctly, click the start button at the bottom to start the process.
Finalizing the Root Process
Odin will take some time to complete the process, so just be patient and wait until it is complete. Ensure you have a stable USB connection, and there is no need to mess with the phone or the cable during the process.
When you see the green pass message at the top in Odin, your device will reboot on it’s own and the process will be completed. Your device will boot into Android just like the very first time, and it takes some time, so again, be patient. Remember that during the process, we did a Factory Reset and reinstalled the Android operating system firmware. This first boot back into Android will take slightly longer than usual.
Complete the Android activation process, once you boot back into Android, look in the app drawer and see if you see a Magisk app installed. If not, install the Magisk just like you did at the start of this tutorial. Download the Root Checker app from the Play Store and check whether you have gained root access to your Samsung Galaxy S21.
Note: we have already written a step-by-step guide on how to root Samsung Galaxy S21 with Android 11. This process is also quite similar, and if you need clarification regarding Odin and downloading the firmware, you can also check that guide.
Experiencing difficulties with your Device, check out our “How To” page on how to resolve some of these issues.
