Last Updated on July 19, 2022 by Mathew Diekhake

The Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 now has the root access available on the latest Android 4.1.2 software update that’s available. You won’t find a newer software update available in the present for this device. Furthermore, this method is likely to work for a long time since we aren’t expecting any new major updates coming the way of the Samsung Ace 2. Therefore, use this guide with confidence.

You usually must use a Windows computer for guides such as these with Samsung mobiles, However, since we aren’t using the Odin tool today, you can use any operating systems for this guide. A Mac or Linux OS will work just fine for transferring the file over to the SD card.

Galaxy Ace 2

Even though you can use any computer, we still recommend taking the usual backup precautions. You can use the built-in backup option Sammy provides, or install third-part apps from Google Play. The helium app is still the one to use for most people before they can take NANDroid backups from inside a custom recovery. With that being said, you should already have a custom recovery installed before starting the guide. You can take a backup from that recovery if you prefer. A NANDroid backup will take a complete snapshot of the present ROM; it will even save game data so you can pick up where you left off with the games.

The files you need:

  • Download the rooting tool from this page.
  • Download the Samsung USB Drivers for mobile phones from Samsung’s official webpage.
  • You must already have a custom recovery installed to follow this guide. You should be able to flash CWM or TWRP with Odin and then start this guide after completing that task.

Rooting the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 GT-I8160 running Android 4.1.2

  1. Transfer the rooting zip file to the Galaxy Ace 2 internal storage SD card. Do not unzip the file.
  2. Completely power off your device and reboot it in the custom recovery mode. The button sequence you need for the Samsung recovery mode is Power + Home + Volume Up buttons at the same time. Now you should see the recovery mode option.
  3. Navigate using the Volume keys in recovery mode through the menu and choose to install the zip from SD card. You’ll find this option from the recovery mode menu.
  4. Now browse the SD card for the rooting file you transferred earlier that’s still zipped.
  5. Load that zip file and confirm the installation.
  6. Once the rooting package is uploaded, go back using the Volume keys to the main recovery menu and choose to reboot the system.
  7. Your device will now have the root access you needed to start thinking about flashing custom ROMs and downloading root-requiring applications from Google Play.

You can check that everything went to our plan by installing a root checker app from the Google Play Store. Moreover, you might want to learn how to unroot the Samsung Galaxy Ace 2 GT-I8160 and return the device back to the way it was when you opened it out of the box.