How to root Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus Snapdragon processor (Unlocked variant)?

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus comes with Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box. Recently, the two devices received the July 2017 security update on both Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. This brings  a new firmware build number G950FXXU1AQG5 to the flagship. The same update also comes to the unlocked S8 running on Snapdragon processors SM-G950U and SM-G955U. Moreover, contributors and developers have already been successful in rooting the international variants with Exynos processors. Here, we are to explore how to root S8 and S8 Plus running Snapdragon processor. These are usually the unlocked variants.

As we already know, TWRP recoveries for S8 and S8 Plus Snapdragon processors have already been developed, the root procedure has become quite simple. Unfortunately, the CF Auto Root method is unavailable due to no support of CFAR binaries for the same. The root method for Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus with Snapdragon Processors is listed below.

How to root Samsung Galaxy S8 (Plus) Snapdragon variants?

This guide is meant for the Snapdragon variants, but it won’t work on the US carrier variants like AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, Sprint etc. This is because the developers have not been able to unlock the Bootloader on S8 US carriers. Not even the unlocked firmware builds.

This tutorial is meant for Unlockable variants such as the S8 devices with Chinese or HK Snapdragon boards.

Plus, it definitely doesn’t work with Exynos variants including International (F/FD), Korean (N), Exynos LDU (X) variants. There is another simpler way for that listed  above.

In this root guide, the first thing we are going to do is unlock the bootloader. Once that is done with, flash the TWRP recovery. Later, you will need to root the S8 by either flashing latest Magisk or the latest SuperSU.

Steps to Root S8:

Step 1: As the (Chinese/HK S8 variants) do not have “OEM Unlock” option in Developer Options, you only need to reactivate (Samsung Account) lock needs to be disabled.

• To do so, go to Settings > “Cloud and Accounts” > “Accounts”.
• Select your Samsung account, open menu, remove account.

Step 2: Download the unlocker. It is an APK file. Simply install and run the unlock tool, named CROM service. Once done, your phone is unlocked and ready to flash TWRP.

Step 3: Make sure you have latest Samsung drivers on PC. Download either Smart Switch for PC.
or this standalone driver package.

Step 4: Download the latest dm-verity and force encryption disabler zip, a custom Kernel, latest Magisk zip or SuperSU and transfer to phone.

Step 5: Download the .tar image of TWRP for S8 Snapdragon from here to PC.

Step 6: Download and run the latest Odin (Samsung’s Flash Tool) onto your PC.

Step 7: Reboot your device into download mode. To do so, turn off phone and then press and hold [VOLUME DOWN] + [BIXBY] + [POWER]. Press up to get into Download mode.

Step 8: From the Odin interface, add the TWRP tar file in the [AP] slot.

Step 9: Connect S8 to PC via USB cable.

Step 10: Hit the Start button.

Step 11: Wait for the phone to reboot.

Step 12: Reboot into TWRP by pressing  [VOLUME UP] + [BIXBY] + [POWER]. Allow system modifications if asked.

Step 13: Go to TWRP home and tap on “Install” menu and flash the the latest dm-verity and force encryption disabler zip, custom Kernel, latest Magisk, or SuperSU zip. Flash them one after the other.

Note : Flash either SuperSU or Magisk. Not both. Also, take a full Nandroid backup.

That’s it. Reboot device to system and start granting root access to apps via Magisk or SuperSU.

If anything goes wrong, see how to restore Samsung Galaxy S8 to stock.