How to Install Magisk (Alternative to SuperSU) on Android

Any person who has a rooted device must be familiar with SuperSU. It has been around for ages and has become the standard for rooting. However, with the latest apps making use of Google’s SafetyNet to check for root status and thus blocking usability, SuperSU is slowly becoming quite obsolete. This is where Magisk comes in. Magisk is currently the best alternative to SuperSU, as well as the future of rooting. Having said that, there’s a lot of confusion around Magisk and if you have confused too, let me first tell you what actually Magisk is.

What is Magisk?

Magisk is an in-house development project by XDA developer topjohnwu, focused on providing root access to the user system-less-ly. It does so by modifying the boot image file and writing contents to the /data and /cache partition. What this essentially does is create a ‘mask’ of the /system partition. As such, all the modules and root access is granted in this mask and the original /system partition is left untouched. Also, think of Magisk as a mix of SuperSU and Xposed Framework.

Now that you have an idea what Magisk is, let’s talk about how you can install Magisk on your Android device:

How to Install Magisk

Prerequisites:

• Unlocked Bootloader
• TWRP or any other Custom Recovery

1. Magisk can be easily installed with the help of a flashable zip. You can get this .zip from here. Download it, and transfer it to your device.

2. Then, reboot to recovery mode using your device’s specific key combinations.

Note: Before proceeding further, you may want to create a Nandroid backup of your current ROM, just in case things go wrong.

3. Here, just tap on the Install button and browse for the Magisk ZIP file that you just transferred.

4. After that, swipe right to flash the ZIP file and continue installing Magisk.

5. The installer modifies the boot image of your device and creates a new magisk.img partition in your smartphone’s root directory. It also places necessary files in /cache and /data partition. Once the flashing process has been completed, you’ll see a “Reboot System” button. Tap on that.

6. Magisk has now been installed. Now, to manage it, you need to install Magisk Manager. Magisk Manager was recently removed from the Play Store, so you’ll have to install it through the APK file of the app. First, you must enable installation of apps from “Unknown Sources” in Settings->Security. Now, download the APK file from here to your device and just install it.

That’s it, you can now use the Magisk Manager to manage different elements of Magisk.

How to uninstall Magisk

In case you want to uninstall Magisk, simply download the uninstaller’s Flashable zip from here to your device, and flash it via TWRP. Make sure to wipe cache/dalvik upon uninstallation of Magisk to avoid any conflicts.

SEE ALSO: SECRET and Unique Android launcher You Should Try

Easily Root Your Device and Do Much More With Magisk

You can use Magisk to gain root access, modify various elements, install handy modules and gain complete control over your device, without ever tampering the /system partition. So, have you ever used Magisk? Let us know about your experiences and your use cases. Also, if you know about some other features that we have missed out on or if you have any doubts regarding Magisk, do mention them in the comments below.