Most people wanting to install some custom ROMs on the Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone will go directly to a custom recovery and install whatever is available. They all have the options from uploading new zip files since that’s the main objective of any new recovery. It must be said that a custom recovery alone isn’t going to do you much good for installing custom ROMs because most new ROMs require you to root a device first before they work. The only exception to that is if your ROM file comes pre-rooted.

Rooting the operating system that is on your Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone is also great if you want to use any of the root applications available from the Google Play Store and other third-party sources. You might love the design of your Mi 5 but wish it had a different UI than the one it is given to the MIUI user interface. Correspondingly, you might prefer removing some of those stock apps that are bloating the operating system, or you might just want to use your battery more efficiently with the Greenify application. Whatever your reason for wanting to root the Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone you can get that done after the break.

Xiaomi Mi 5

Here is everything you need to root the Xiaomi MI 5 smartphone running the Android 6.0 Marshmallow software update by using a custom recovery and the SuperSU application:

Files You Need

  • Download the SuperSU you need to root the Mi 5 on Android 6.0 Marshmallow from here.

You must have a custom recovery installed on the Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone before you can follow this guide. You will need to get access to the custom recovery to upload the new SuperSU zip file.

Understand that you are voiding the warranty of your Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone by using this guide. You can usually unroot a smartphone, and the warranty will start working again unless your device has some additional security in place like some Samsung smartphones can have with the Knox security. We are not aware of any additional security coming with the Xiaomi devices so you should be okay.

Rooting the Xiaomi Mi 5 running the Android 6.0 Marshmallow software update

  1. Download the updated version of the SuperSU application from the files section above and have it on the desktop of your computer waiting to be transferred to your SD card.
  2. Connect the Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone to the computer with the USB cable you would normally use to charge the battery on the device.
  3. Copy the new SuperSU app over to the root of the internal storage SD card so you can find it again later. (The root of the SD card on your Mi 5 smartphone is referring to the topmost folder. Do not copy it to one of the subfolders in the SD card or you won’t find the SuperSU file later when you try to upload it from the recovery mode).
  4. Unplug the Mi 5 smartphone from the computer now.
  5. Turn off the Mi 5 and reboot by holding the hardware key combination to stock recovery mode and it will boot up the custom recovery you had installed earlier.
  6. Choose the “Install” option from the recovery mode menu and browse the SD card for the SuperSU file. (The SuperSU should still be zipped, or else it will not install correctly, and the rooting will fail).
  7. Choose the reboot system option from the main custom recovery menu on the Mi 5 smartphone and the device will reboot to normal mode.

In conclusion, that’s how to root the Xiaomi Mi 5 smartphone running the Android 6.0 Marshmallow update. Those of you finding TWRP available in the months and years ahead when you are reading this guide will want to install one of the later version of TWRP available so you can install some of the newer version of Android custom ROMs.