Last Updated on July 19, 2022 by Mathew Diekhake

When you root the Samsung Galaxy S3 device, you allow extra apps to be installed. many of the best apps available from the Google Play Store cannot work without root file permissions.

For example, you cannot use the ROM Manager, the ROM Toolbox, Tasker, SuperSU, Greenify, SCR Screen Recorder or the Triangle Away app unless you have root access first on the device.

Samsung Galaxy S3 T-Mobile

Files You Need

  1. You must have the Samsung Galaxy S3 smartphone bootloader unlocked before you can follow this guide.
  2. Download the CF-Root tool for the S3 smartphone from this page.
  3. Download the Samsung USB Drivers for mobile phones from this page.
  4. Download the Odin flashing tool from this page. We recommend using one of the later versions and keep installing new versions of the Odin if you cannot get the guide to work. Sometimes you need to try another version of Odin for the guides to work with the CF-Auto-Root one-click rooting tool.
  5. The rooting exploit we are using in this guide made by Chainfire is based on Android 4.4.2 KitKat. You should downgrade to Android 4.4.2 KitKat with build number ending FNH2 before following this guide if you don’t want to risk bricking the device.
  6. Rooting your S3 is still worth it on 4.4.2 KitKat because you can install custom ROMs based in newer software versions like Lollipop. You can a custom recovery on your Samsung Galaxy S3 before you can install a custom ROM on the device.
  7. You must have a Windows computer to follow this guide.

Rooting the Samsung Galaxy S3 T-Mobile SGH-T999V

  1. Download the CF-Root tool to the Windows computer.
  2. By default if you haven’t changed your default settings, that root file will end up in the Downloads folder.
  3. Click and drag that rooting file from the Downloads folder over to the desktop.
  4. Right-click over the file and choose the option that says “extract here”.
  5. Now follow the same steps only this time for the Odin flashing tool so it too is extracted on the desktop of the computer.
  6. Double-click that Odin executable file after you have extracted it on the computer and the Odin flashing tool should open successfully.
  7. Turn off your Samsung Galaxy S3 device and reboot to download mode. Press the Volume Down + Home + Power buttons together to reach the download mode you need. This only works if you do it with the device turned off first.
  8. Once in download mode, connect the Galaxy S3 to the computer using the USB cable.
  9. You need to see the ID: COM port change to a color in the Odin user-interface, otherwise it means your drivers are either not up to date or not working.
  10. Click the AP or the PDA button in the Odin user-interface on the computer.
  11. Browse the computer for the CF-Root executable file.
  12. Click the Start button and the Odin flashing tool will now flash that rooting exploit file on your device.
  13. Wait until you see a pass message appear in the message box found in Odin’s user-interface.
  14. Now your Samsung Galaxy S3 device should reboot automatically.
  15. Install the root checker application.

Once rebooted, you are ready to begin installing the amazing apps from the Google Play Store and other third-party sources. Just make sure you don’t download a fake app or a malware file since your device is now less secure with root access than it was before root access. Accidentally clicking on a malware application is really your only worry.