Nexus 5X: How to Unroot

If you’re tired of having root access, or maybe you just want to accept an OTA update, then let me walk you though how to unroot the Nexus 5X.

I love having root access on my smartphones and tablets until an OTA update comes out and then getting the latest update on my device is generally more important than the root apps and mods that I have installed. This can very from update to update but with Google sending out security updates to Nexus devices every month, it can be very important to stay up to date with the latest version of Android if you want to be as secure as possible.

Thankfully, we don’t have a massive vulnerability like Stagefright every month, but when it happens it’s good to know how to get rid of the modifications that we have and accept that OTA update onto our device.

Today, I’m going to show exactly how to remove root access from your Nexus 5X but I want you to know that there is more to it that just this. For example, if you have rooted your Nexus 5X and changed the DPI if your device, then you’re going to need to revert those changes before unrooting and then you’ll be able to accept an OTA update.

This goes for any and all modifications that you may have done to the Nexus 5X while you have root access. So, if you have installed Xposed on the Nexus 5X, then you’ll need to uninstall all of those Xposed Modules, as well as run the Xposed Uninstaller that I had you download before you follow the tutorial below. So if you root your Nexus 5X and OTA updates are important to you then please try to remember each and every modification you have done to your device so that you can revert them when the time comes to accept an OTA update.

There are two ways to unroot the Nexus 5X. One is the easy method(so that SuperSU can be enabled again when you need it) and the other is an full unroot(so you’ll have to root your Nexus 5X all over again when you want root access again). I suggest to try the simple one first and if you still can’t accept an OTA update(or use Android Pay or whatever you want to unroot for), then proceed to the second method listed below.

Easy Nexus 5X Unroot

1. Launch the SuperSU Application
2. Tap on the ‘Settings’ Tab
3. Uncheck the ‘Enable Superuser’ Option
4. Then Reboot the Nexus 5X

Full Nexus 5X Unroot

1. Launch the SuperSU Application
2. Tap on the ‘Settings’ Tab
3. Scroll Down and Tap on the ‘Full Unroot’ Option
4. Tap on Continue
5. Wait for the SuperSU Application to Close
6. Then Reboot the Nexus 5X

Explanation

So the first method I’m showing you is basically just a way to disable SuperSU and root access until you choose to enable it again. If you have followed my tutorial on how to root the Nexus 5X then you will have applied the system-less root method onto your device. This means that as long as you don’t have any other apps or modifications that have made changes to the /system partition then you should be able to apply an OTA update or get by with Android Pay restrictions(at least as of writing this article). Nothing is guaranteed, but it’s worth a shot since trying this method will not hurt your device at all.

The second method takes things a step further and shows you how to completely uninstall SuperSU and all of its specific changes from your Nexus 5X. This will remove all traces of the root tool and again, as long as you followed my previous root tutorial and haven’t done any other mods then this should work very well for you. Again, nothing is guaranteed as things change all the time but it’s worth trying before you take things even further and revert back to complete stock Android so that you can apply an OTA update or use Android Pay or whatever else you’re looking to do that is restricted because you have root access.

I will be doing a complete tutorial on how to revert the Nexus 5X to stock tutorial tomorrow, but if you’re still having issues accepting an OTA update then it might be worth trying to factory reset the Nexus 5X so that you can accept the update. Just remember that reverting to stock and performing a factory reset will wipe out all of your user data. So it will be as if you had just pulled the phone out of the box with nothing installed and nothing downloaded.