Last Updated on September 18, 2024 by Mathew Diekhake

A custom recovery isn’t considered an essential part of rooting the Android operating system unless you need a custom recovery to root the device in the first place. Rooting Android can seem confusing, but once you manage to wrap your head around the general concept that some devices have dedicated root tools while others need to have SuperSU installed from the custom recovery, it all seems much easier to understand.

When talking about rooting with the custom recovery, it’s always done with the SuperSU application. SuperSU was once in competition with something called SuperUser. The SuperUser was developed by Koushik Dutta and is now phased out for the SuperSU, which is made by Chainfire. The confusing part with SuperSU and SuperUser is that once you install SuperSU and open the application, there is a box which states “would you like to grant SuperUser access?”. Apart from that one fact, everything else is relatively straightforward.

Motorola DROID Turbo

That doesn’t mean you can just go around and install any version of the SuperSU application, though. It usually requires a certain version to work. These versions are not as distinct as the custom recovery images that are commonly made with one device in mind only. However, there are still quite a few versions of the SuperSU application floating around — and many of them are in the beta version stages. Don’t let that alarm you though because Chainfire seems to call most versions beta versions and they never tend to come out of their beta stages. As we just said, don’t let that turn you off SuperSU, though, and the reason is that they are still really reliable to install on your Motorola DROID Turbo smartphone.

Installing a custom recovery like we have here for the DROID Turbo doesn’t have to be done to root a device. Many people just want to install a new recovery and have no interest in rooting the smartphone or tablet at all. They usually install a custom recovery so they can take complete backups by using the NANDroid Backup feature. Some would also argue they want the custom recovery to install new ROMs, but you cannot install most ROMs unless you have rooted the device too. It’s also worth noting that you can take your complete backups using applications that require root access too like the ROM Toolbox. You don’t need to install a custom recovery just to use the NANDroid feature. With that said, many people choose to take the complete backups from within a recovery environment because they prefer it over any other method.

Files You Need

  • Download the ADB for Windows from here. You may also use ADB for Mac or ADB for Linux computers, but the steps in this guide will work for Windows operating systems only. You’ll need to find the unique ADB commands for the other operating systems if you are using Mac or Linux.
  • Download the TWRP Recovery for the Turbo.
  • You must unlock the Motorola DROID Turbo’s bootloader before you can follow this guide to install a custom recovery on the same device.

Installing a Custom Recovery on the Motorola DROID Turbo

  1. Enable the USB Debugging Mode on the Motorola DROID Turbo smartphone so it can connect to the computer and flash files.
  2. Install the ADB on your Windows computer and then keep the folder open with the ADB inside.
  3. Extract the TWRP Recovery package to the desktop of the computer and then copy it to the same folder as your ADB is sitting.
  4. Rename the TWRP file to “recovery.img” and leave the directory open.
  5. Connect the Motorola DROID Turbo to the computer with the USB cable.
  6. From within your ADB and TWRP folder, hold down the Shift key and right-click the white background to bring up a new menu.
  7. Choose to open a new command window from the menu you can see.
  8. Type “adb reboot bootloader” to get your Turbo smartphone in the required bootloader mode.
  9. Type “fastboot flash recovery recovery.img” to get the new recovery flashed onto your device.
    Type “fastboot reboot” and then press the hardware button combination for recovery mode as soon as your DROID Turbo reboots.

In conclusion, that’s how to install TWRP Recovery on the Motorola DROID Turbo smartphone using your ADB on a computer.