Last Updated on January 28, 2020 by Mathew Diekhake

The Motorola Moto Maxx is a new phone that many of my friends are buying. Not to be confused with the RAZR Maxx, the new variant comes under the same brand but with different specs. Even people around Pakistan and India are heavily shopping around for this one, as it’s a decent mid-ranger with outstanding battery life.

We showed the guide on how to root the same running Android 4.4 KitKat earlier which you can see here. The post also shows users how to install the Team Win’s recovery system. However, the guide is too difficult to follow for some so we are preparing a dedicated guide for just installing the custom recovery on your device.

As you know, Android phones always come with at least one version of recovery where you can get access to the bootable partition for flashing firmware files and performing tasks such as a full factory reset. That’s what the stock recovery system is for. However, if you are wanting to flash custom ROMs, custom firmware, gain root access and do lots of unofficial tasks, you must do that through a custom recovery system.

There are two main custom recovery images which people install for their devices. The first is ClockworkMod recovery and the second is TWRP recovery. Each person has their own personal favorite and there is no right or wrong answer. Much of it comes down to personal preference.

Once you are inside TWRP you can take a Nandroid backup which is like storing a mirror image of the ROM. It saves pictures, videos, text messages, music, settings, WiFi passwords, other passwords and just about everything you need. It saves you from having ot install third-party applications such as Helium from the Google Play Store.

I’ll guide you through a list of the essentials after the jump so you are prepared with things like the USB cable, what computer and operating system to use, the risks involved and more.

  • Firstly, you can only install this specific TWRP file for the Moto Maxx. Do not try flashing the same file on a different difference as you risk bricking the same.
  • Keep your data safe by backing up the files using Helium, or third-party applications you trust such as Easy backup, or by using the build-in backup feature coming with the phone.
  • Navigate to the Developer options menu from the Settings menu and enable the USB Debugging mode.
  • Moreover, make sure you have the up to date USB drivers from the official Motorola website. That way you are successfully connecting ot the computer with your smartphone.
  • The following tutorial is unofficial and not recommended by Google or Motorola. We are opening up the system internals away from their ideal business plans which means they won’t look at the device if it would normally be under warranty. You must return the device back to stock Android without a custom recovery image for the warranty to start working again.
  • You must have a computer running Android SDK. The Android SDK with ADB and fastboot is available for all major operating systems including Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. You can learn how to install Android SDK and ADB on windows.

How To Install Team Win’s TWRP Recovery For Motorola Moto Maxx

  1. Turn on the computer and log in to your user account.
  2. Download the unofficial TWRP recovery file from here.
  3. Use the desktop of the computer.
  4. Open the Android SDK folder you have installed on the computer.
  5. Look for a blank white space inside the folder and right-click the mouse while holding down the Shift key on the keyboard.
  6. Open the command prompt program.
  7. Connect the Maxx to the PC with the USB cable.
  8. Type “adb reboot bootloader” to boot the phone in bootloader mode.
  9. Watch as the phones display changes and you can see it rebooting in the mode.
  10. Type the next command in the command windows and press enter: “fastboot flash recovery recovery.img.”
  11. That’s all you have to do for the recovery image to begin installing.
  12. Do not touch any buttons until it completes.
  13. Type one last command from the prompt window: “fastboot reboot”.
  14. Now the device is rebooting and you can use it again in normal mode.

How To Enter Recovery Mode

  1. Navigate to the Google Play Store.
  2. Download the reboot manager app.
  3. Sign in to your Google account and confirm the installation.
  4. Wait for the icon to finish downloading from the app section.
  5. Click the icon and open the app once it’s finished downloading.
  6. Press the “reboot recovery” option from the menu.

Now that the TWRP Recovery is installed on the Motorola Moto Maxx smartphone, you can start flashing things like the SuperSU or custom ROMs. Just be careful that you are flashing the right version of the SuperSU application because there is generally a different version available for each version of Android. Likewise, the custom ROMs can have preferences with versions of the TWRP Recovery also. So, if there is a newer version of TWRP that can be installed for your device, you are best to flash that one instead of an older one. That way all of the new custom ROMs will be compatible.