The J series has been offering some compelling mid-range smartphones for a while now and the latest Galaxy J7, the 2017 edition, is no exception, but this mid-range smartphone is made to be rooted and used to its full potential. Don’t get us wrong, the smartphone along with Samsung’s own Android skin is very well made. However, if you want to extract some more out of the hardware, it is best that you root the Samsung Galaxy J7 2017. Now if you want to root the older 2015 Samsung Galaxy J7 the steps are a little different, but you can check out the handy guide we have written about that as well. Before we start rooting the Samsung Galaxy J7 2017, you should learn everything you need to know before rooting your phone. Also take a look at common problems faced during rooting to clear all the doubts and misconceptions. Warning: It is recommended that you backup your smartphone’s data before continuing on the rooting process. Joy of Android is not responsible of any damages that may occur to your device while rooting or flashing recoveries.
Method 1: Installing a Custom Recovery
Rooting the Samsung Galaxy J7 becomes a lot easier when you install a custom recovery on the smartphone. Usually the smartphone already comes with an unlocked bootloader so you don’t need to unlock it as well. While you can install any custom recovery on your device, we recommend you try TWRP first. The Team Win Recovery Project (TWRP) has been around for a while and are reliable. Here is what you will need to have when installing a custom recovery on Samsung Galaxy J7 2017:
Windows based PC, Mac or Linux computer.USB cable that comes with the J7 or any other quality one that works.The TWRP tar file.Odin installed on the system.SuperSU rar file.
Step 1.
Go to TWRP website and locate your smartphone. Or you can go straight to the Galaxy J7 download pages, depending on the variant. For the Qualcomm version head over here, for the Exynos international version check here. Get the latest files with .tar and .img files. You won’t be needing them both but it is better to download regardless. This will only take a few moments.
Step 2.
Now download SuperSU for the link. This nifty piece of software will help you in the rooting process by giving easy access to root. You can do almost everything with this app installed on your device. Once it is downloaded, move it to the internal storage of your device.
Step 3.
After all of that is done, you need to download Odin on your PC. You can download it from their official website. After it is downloaded and installed on your PC. You are ready for the process, well almost.
Step 4.
Now you need to download the auto root file from Chainfire’s website. Once you are on the website, type in the model of your smartphone. If you don’t know the model number, check in the settings of the phone under the About Device section. Once you have located your smartphone, download the package. It usually comes with the latest version of ODIN as well so if you want, you can skip step three altogether.
Step 5.
On your smartphone head over to the Settings > About Phone > Build number. Tap on the build number 7 times to enable Developer Options. Now go back to the settings and you will find a new menu option called Developer Options. In that new menu, check the USB Debugging option.
Step 6.
Now enter download mode on your smartphone. Make sure the device is not connected to your PC.Turn it off.Press and hold the Volume Down + Home + Power buttons for several seconds.The phone will vibrate and turn on.It will show you a message about entering download mode. Press the volume up key to access it.
Step 7.
On the PC, open up Odin.exe
Connect your smartphone to the PC using the USB cable.Your phone will show up. Now press the AP button.
Navigate to where you downloaded and saved the TWRP.tar file. It will be named something like twrp-x.x.x.x-J7.After it is selected, press the START button.Now you have installed a custom recovery on your smartphone.Press and hold Volume Up, and HOME buttons for a couple of seconds.Let go of the buttons when the Samsung logo appears on screen. You are now in the custom recovery.
Method 2: SuperSU
If you have TWRP installed, now all you need is the custom recovery and SuperSU file to root the Samsung Galaxy J7 2017.
Place the downloaded SuperSU.zip file at the root director of your smartphone’s internal storage. It’s the place that shows up when you attach the phone with the PC.Go into recovery mode by pressing and holding Volume UP, Power, and HOME buttons for a while.Once in the recovery you will see the TWRP interface.Tap on the install button and navigate where you placed the SuperSU.zip file.
Select the file and confirm.
The SuperSU will be flashed and you will see an option to reboot your device. Wait a while after rebooting the smartphone. After it starts, you will have a rooted Samsung Galaxy J7 2017 smartphone.
Method 3: ODIN
Place the files you downloaded from Chainfire’s website at a convenient location on your PC.Go to download mode on the phone.You can do that by pressing and holding the Volume Down, Power, and Home buttons for a few moments.The smartphone will show you a message that you can accept by pressing the volume up button.Now on the PC start ODIN.Connect your smartphone to the PC using a USB cable.On ODIN, select the AP button and navigate to where you placed the Auto-root file.Select it and press confirm.Press the Start button on the bottom of the ODIN interface.The rooting process will start. It will take a few seconds only to complete.If it goes smoothly, you ODIN will display a PASS message in green. The device will automatically reboot and once it boots back up, you will have a rooted phone.
Concluding Thoughts
Now you know how to root the Samsung Galaxy J7 2017 smartphone. The rooting process for all Samsung devices is more or less the same these days. All you need to be careful about is the model number of your device and make sure the files you download are for your smartphone model. You also need to make sure that you have the appropriate Android Root software. Just like always, if you hit a snag and need a helping hand, feel free to talk to us in the comments below. We love to help.
