If you are not happy with the stock features on your Xiaomi Mi 4, then you can go ahead and root your phone to then be able to remove the stock features and add the custom ones to your phone.

By custom features, we mean the root-requiring apps and custom ROMs that you can install on a rooted phone. These things have the ability to help you greatly customize your phone.

Here’s how you can get them on your Xiaomi Mi 4:

Files You Need

  1. You must have a Windows running computer in order to do this tutorial as the tool that you are going to use is Windows only.
  2. You should have USB drivers installed on your Windows computer. Install them if they are not already.
  3. This should flash ClockworkMod (CWM) Recovery on your Mi 4.
  4. Download CWM Recovery Installer (mirror) to your computer. It should install the recovery on your phone.
  5. Download SuperSU to your computer. Do NOT extract it, leave it as is.
  6. You should only try this on a Xiaomi Mi 4.

Installing a Custom Recovery on the Xiaomi Mi 4

  1. Unzip files from CWM Recovery Installer over to your computer by right-clicking on it and selecting Extract here.
  2. Turn off your phone completely.
  3. Turn your phone back on in fastboot mode by holding down Volume DOWN and Power buttons together for a few seconds.
  4. Your phone should reboot into fastboot mode.
  5. Plug in your phone to your computer using a suitable USB cable.
  6. Now, double-click on the .bat file that you have extracted from the recovery installer archive.
  7. When the batch file launches, press 1 on your keyboard and hit Enter. It is for installing CWM Recovery on your phone.
  8. Wait for the tool to flash the recovery on your phone.
  9. When the tool’s done flashing recovery, reboot your phone.
  10. You are all set!

Your phone has been successfully equipped with a custom recovery and you can now follow the following steps to gain root access on your Xiaomi Mi 4 phone:

Rooting the Xiaomi Mi 4

  1. Plug in your phone to your computer using a USB cable and ensure your phone can receive files from your computer.
  2. Copy SuperSU .zip from your computer over to the internal SD card storage on your phone. Place the file in the root directory so you can easily find it.
  3. When SuperSU is copied, disconnect your phone from your computer.
  4. Turn off your phone.
  5. Turn your phone back on in CWM Recovery mode. To do that, hold down Volume UP and Power buttons together for a few seconds.
  6. Your phone should reboot into CWM Recovery mode.
  7. When your phone enters the recovery mode, select the option that says install zip from sdcard.
  8. Select choose zip from sdcard on the screen that follows.
  9. Navigate to your internal storage and select SuperSU .zip to be installed on your phone.
  10. Confirm the prompt by tapping Yes.
  11. The recovery should begin flashing SuperSU on your phone.
  12. When the recovery’s done flashing SuperSU, reboot your phone by choosing the reboot system now option in the recovery menu.
  13. Your phone should reboot.
  14. You are now fully rooted!

Congratulations! Your Xiaomi Mi 4 is now rooted and has a custom recovery installed on it.

You now have everything that you need to customize your phone. Root access should let you install root-requiring apps and the custom recovery should let you install a custom ROM on your phone. So, go ahead and enjoy these great custom goodies on your phone!

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