Last Updated on July 22, 2022 by Mathew Diekhake

The Motorola Moto E is the cheapest smartphone out of the trio including the Moto X and the Moto G. While I don’t own the Moto E myself, I do have the G variant and it’s one of my favorite devices to own and customize with custom ROMS because it’s so cheap. The E variant provides much of the same upside while delivering arguably less downside. Since the E is even cheaper you don’t have much to lose and you have less to lose compared to the other two Motorola devices in terms of price. That’s assuming something goes wrong which is rare. Plus, today, people are continually getting themselves out of trouble thanks to the handy works from third-party developers who are available from the XDA Developers website.

Chainfire is the developer who you may know from reading many of our guides. We often follow his work because he creates an easy method for readers to follow with next to no fuss and it is reliable. Because he is such a talented third-party developer, he also creates other apps. Two of the most famous are Triangle Away which takes away the yellow or orange warning triangle after creating root from the boot animation. The second is the SuperSU application which also doubles as a critical part of gaining root for many devices too! Fortunately we can actually take the Motorola Moto E away from the default factory restrictions by just supplying the SuperSU alone. That’s how we are cracking the operating system open today.

Moto E

You’ll probably find a few different ways of going about this for the Moto E. We aren’t here to critique the others, so if you want something more complex that isn’t what we have here, you are free to keep searching. Use a stock Google search and key in the words you want to search, or visit a popular website such as XDA developers. From there you may browse the existing threads because there are surely a few about your query.

Details of Note

  • The processes we are guiding you through today isn’t any riskier than the others. However, you should backup the data if you must apply a hard reset down the track. Most Android devices have various forms of resetting which you can do. Factory resets will wipe the current ROM clean of any data. You can store the data on the internal memory and it doesn’t get wiped. You don’t have to transfer the data to the computer, Google Drive or any other cloud storage service. The internal SD card memory keeps the data stored safely away no matter what happens. Therefore, you want to take advantage of that knowledge and use the remaining memory space you have on the device for the data such as pictures, music files, full albums, videos, phone contacts, call logs, SMS texts and more.
  • Now that you have the data stored, you must apply the steps for installing a custom recovery. Choose the Team Win TWRP recovery in this case. Other people could offer steps for opening up the OS with root access providing clockworkMod recovery, but not here. We think that TWRP is easier to use anyway, so if you haven’t tried it already, now’s the perfect chance.
  • Take care of the USB Debugging mode by enabling the same from the Developer Options menu. You’ll find that coming directly from the Settings menu.
  • Furthermore, you must unlock the bootloader to complete the following steps. Read: How to unlock bootloader of Motorola Moto E with Windows. Basically you’ll struggle unlocking the system internals of any Android device with root access without the bootloader unlocked. Some modern-day smartphones bring an exception to that rule, but historically speaking the same applies.
  • You may use a computer, notebook, or laptop to complete the following. Moreover, it doesn’t matter what the operating system is, so long as it has a working use Slot mounted in the side or front. Choose from Windows, Max OS X or Linux machines. We are only using the desktop briefly for transferring files.
  • The USB charging feature will take care of the battery charging while the phone is plugging into the computer. It won’t continue doing so once you unplug the device. It’s critical that the device doesn’t turn off while the flashing is occurring. That’s why you want to make sure the handset has at least 60% battery power before starting the guide. The percentage is loosely based on how great a capacity the battery has on the Motorola Moto E, and how old the device has been on sale. If you think that sounds like too much battery, feel free to connect your device and start the steps with less battery from the status bar.
  • You can download a third-party application to enter recovery if you don’t want to press the keys manually. The app you want is Quick Boot and it’s free to install. The one issue with continually installing applications is that it is like adding more bloatware to your smartphone and that slows down the performance, drains the battery faster, and makes the experience less pleasant. that said, if you are desperate to apply commands that you otherwise cannot do, or you simply can’t be bothered, the applications are often the easy way out you’ll surly enjoy.
  • You ought to have the latest USB Drivers for mobile phones by Motorola before applying the steps. That way you are connecting the phone to the computer successfully without any hindrance.

How to root the Motorola Moto E using SuperSU

  1. Download the suitable SuperSU file from here.
  2. Download the file directly to the desktop and bypass the C:// Drive.
  3. Connect the Moto E to the computer with the USB cable.
    – the phone comes with a USB cable in the box you buy it with.
    – it’s the same cable you are using to charge the battery.
  4. Transfer the SuperSU file to the internal storage SD card.
  5. Disconnect the phone from the computer.
  6. Boot the handset in recovery mode.
  7. Select the “choose zip from SD card” followed by “install zip from SD card.”
  8. Upload the SuperSU file you transferred earlier.
  9. Do not touch any buttons until it’s loaded and flashed on your device.
  10. Next, head back out of there and select the “reboot system now” from the main recovery menu.
  11. Boot the device in normal operating mode.

You can confirm that everything went as planned by installing the Root checker and Unroot pro application available from Google’s official Google Play app store. There is other applications on the market which offer a similar service. I though this one was the best because it offers the opportunity to unroot the device also. That means if you decide against what you are applying here, you can do so with the help of that guide. Do note that it comes at a premium price and it’s free. However, you can always wait for the next official software update to come and flash that file manually.

Remember: we do not recommend flashing future over the air updates that you’ll likely see when using the device with root access. They can soft-brick your phone. If you want to install the firmware you are seeing on your notification, search Google for the official download link and apply the same manually.