Last Updated on November 15, 2019 by Mathew Diekhake

A custom recovery image replaces the stock recovery image so you can never have both of them running on your device at the one time. T-Mobile’s Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone always comes out of the box with a stock recovery which gives people everything they need for fixes problems and recovering the device. The custom recovery is developed to add on from that original brilliance by still giving people the same features as the stock recovery but then adding some more. The additional features are often ones that help people with ROMs and kernels, such as the ability to upload them for starters. These new ROMs are always uploaded and installed in .zip file format and the custom recovery image allows for these installations.

In addition to installing new ROMs and kernels, the custom recovery partition is also helpful for installing the SuperSU package efficiently. The SuperSU package is available from the Google Play Store for everybody to download but just installing it from the Play Store does not result in the app being enabled properly. To get that done it required either a modified recovery partition or a custom recovery partition to help. Only loading it from the custom recovery and installing the SuperSU zip file just like you would a ROM or kernel file results in the SuperSU being successfully installed and enabled on the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone. That is what we are going to do today.

Samsung Galaxy S5

Details You Should Know

  • The following guide flashed TWRP Recovery to the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone. Those looking to root the device with SuperSU can do that using multiple recovery versions. Anyone preferring to flash ClockworkMod Recovery on the phone instead can do that and then flash the SuperSU package the same way.
  • You must have the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone that comes with the SM-G900T model number to use this guide. There are a few model numbers of the S5 from the United States, and only one of them is for the T-Mobile phone carrier network. Flashing the TWRP in this guide on another device might not work. Even worse, it can brick the device. You can research what the model number of the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone is by pointing to the Menu > Settings > About Device > Model Number.
  • Installing a custom recovery image like Team Win’s TWRP Recovery on a smartphone is going to void the warranty you have on the handset. You can always get the warranty working again by flashing the stock recovery again for all Samsung devices that do not come with Samsung’s Knox security. All devices that ship with Knox will be tripped and therefore the warranty will work again.

Files You Need

  1. Download the TWRP Recovery for T-Mobile’s Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone with the SM-G900T model number.
  2. Download the Odin flashing tool for the Windows computer.
  3. Download the Samsung USB Drivers for the Windows computer before you get started with the guide.

Installing TWRP Recovery on the T-Mobile version of the Samsung Galaxy S5 (model number SM-G900T)

  1. Log into the Windows computer using an administrators account so that you can use the Odin flashing application.
  2. Unlock the Developer Options menu on the T-Mobile S5 smartphone so you can use the options that are on that menu.
  3. Enable the USB Debugging Mode on the Galaxy S5 smartphone so you can do some developmental work on the Android software.
  4. Install the Samsung USB Drivers on the Windows computer so that the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone can be detected by the flashing application when it is running on the computer.
  5. Extract the Odin and the TWRP Recovery packages to the desktop of the computer so you can use them.
  6. Double-click on the Odin flashing tool’s .exe file so that the Odin flashing app opens up and you can see the user interface with all of its buttons.
  7. Boot the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone by T-Mobile into the download mode and then connect it to the computer using the USB cable.
  8. Check the Odin app on the computer shows a yellow or blue ID: COM port and a word appears on the screen telling you that it is “added.” (No message and no color from Odin is telling you that the Samsung USB Drivers you were supposed to install earlier are not yet working. You can try installing the Universal Windows ADB Driver if the ones from Samsung are not working on the computer. If you are positive that you have the drivers installed, then it might be that you are not logged into the computer as an administrator. Those who cannot get access to the administrators account can sometimes right-click on the Odin app before it is open and choose to run it as an administrator instead).
  9. Click the AP button from the Odin app user interface and then browse the desktop of the TWRP file that you extracted earlier.
  10. Click the Start button from the Odin app on the computer and wait for the custom recovery to finish flashing to the phone.

In conclusion, that is how to install Team Win’s TWRP Recovery on the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone so you can start flashing ROMs, kernels and even achieve root access to the internal system. Those looking to find out how to root the device can read up on everything there is to learn for rooting the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone with the SuperSU application.