Last Updated on September 18, 2024 by Mathew Diekhake

Samsung makes some of the best smartphones in the world, but they also come with a lot of additional data automatically on your smartphone that most people don’t want. Thankfully with root access to Samsung’s internal system, we are then able to remove the data which then gives us better performance.

We reap the rewards of the extra performance with the battery life being noticeably better and the operating system working faster. Once you remove most of the Samsung system apps you don’t want, the RAM will be freed up, and that helps your hardware work better. It also means there is less going on with your Samsung’s internal system which means the battery doesn’t have to work as hard.

Samsung Galaxy J5

The rooting file in this guide is based on LMY48B.J500MUBU1AOJ1 firmware which is part of a larger Android 5.1.1 Lollipop update. It does not mean you need to be flashing that same firmware build ID on your Samsung Galaxy J5 smartphone before starting with the guide.

Chainfire gives us that build ID just to use as an indicator. He says that some of the old Samsung smartphones and tablets will not boot some of the older images. That means you might be better off updating to a newer firmware if yours is not working.

Files You Need

  • Download the updated CF-Auto-Root package for the SM-J500M on Android 5.1.1 Lollipop.

We recommend unlocking your Samsung Galaxy J5 smartphone before you start the guide hen flashing a firmware build from one of the most popular smartphone carrier networks on the SM-J500M model number. Once you SIM unlock your Samsung Galaxy J5 smartphone, you are then able to flash any firmware so long as it is made for the same model number.

It’s difficult for Chainfire to keep up with software updates that roll out to so many Samsung devices. The firmware update presents a problem for him because updates can come with new bootloader and that new bootloader can break the rooting method until he fixes it later. You know this is happening if your device doesn’t boot after flashing the CF-Auto-Root. You can fix it by booting into download mode and connecting it to the computer to flash a new stock ROM with the Odin flashing tool. You should also report any problems to the official CF-Auto-Root XDA Developers thread along with the new recovery.img your firmware has. He needs the updated recovery.img to fix the problem.

Double-check the model number in the file matches up with the model number in your hands. The wrong model number can result in a bricked device.

By rooting the Samsung Galaxy J5 smartphone, you agree to void the warranty so you can no longer send the device away for free repairs. You can unroot by flashing the stock ROM, and it will make the warranty work again provided that your device does not come with Samsung’s Knox security. Using the CF-Auto-Root tool does trip Knox and give the warranty void status.

Rooting the Samsung Galaxy J5 SM-J500M running Android 5.1.1 Lollipop software updates

  1. Enable the USB Debugging Mode on the Samsung Galaxy J5 smartphone before you follow the rest of the guide.
  2. Log in to the Windows computer as an administrator or else the Odin flashing tool will not work.
  3. Download and install the USB Drivers from the official Samsung website. (You install the drivers by downloading them and then opening the folder where the file awaits. Double-click on the driver file and it will open up the driver program. Click the Next > Next > Finish and the drivers are installed. Now you can continue with the guide).
  4. Extract the rooting file for the J5 to the desktop of the computer and you should see the Odin flashing application and the rooting files you need.
  5. Double-click the mouse on the Odin flashing app and wait for the user interface to open.
  6. Boot the Samsung Galaxy J5 SM-J500M into download mode and connect it to the computer with the same USB cable it comes with out of the box.
  7. Wait for around 10 seconds and you should see a blue or yellow color from the ID: COM port on the Odin user interface letting you know that your device is added. (No color means you need to get the drivers working, which often means rebooting the computer or logging out and back in once again.)
  8. Click the AP button or the PDA button and browse the desktop for the rooting file you extracted earlier.
  9. Do not make any changes to the default settings you get from the Odin user interface.
  10. Click the Start button and wait for the rooting exploit flashing to complete.
  11. You know it’s done when you see the Samsung Galaxy J5 display say it is installing the SuperSU, cleaning up the cache partition, reflashing the stock recovery and then rebooting.
  12. Look at the Odin user interface on the computer and it should now show a green box with a pass message inside the box.

In conclusion, that’s how to root the Samsung Galaxy J5 SM-J500M smartphone using the CF-Auto-Root application by Chainfire. The smartphone will reboot from recovery back to normal mode, and you will find the SuperSU from the app drawer.

It all happens very quickly, but your Samsung Galaxy J5 smartphone gets into recovery mode when it is flashing the SuperSU, cleaning the cache and then restoring the stock recovery, and it’s a requirement for the rooting to work. Anyone who does not find the SuperSU from the app drawer might have suffered a similar fate of the device not getting into recovery mode as it needed. If that happens to you, try rebooting to the recovery mode manually after the flashing completes and it should help.

Furthermore, anyone who is still not finding the Samsung Galaxy J5 smartphone rooted should install a new version of the Odin flashing tool from our page. The Odin application comes in a few versions and sometimes people need to try a few versions before one works for their Samsung Galaxy J5 smartphone.

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