In this tutorial, we will show you how you can easily install TWRP recovery and root Samsung Galaxy A6/A6+ (2018) running Android Pie and Oreo.
The recently launched Samsung Galaxy A6 is a mid-range smartphone, which continues in the footsteps of the A-series. It sports a 5.6″ Super AMOLED display, powered by an Exynos 7870 chip, coupled with 3/4GB of RAM, and comes with storage options of 32GB/64GB, running Android 8.0 Oreo out-of-the-box.
Despite the decent hardware configuration, I’m personally not a big fan of the amount of bloatware Samsung saddles all its devices with. You would be pleased to know that, an unofficial TWRP recovery for Galaxy A6 and A6+ is now available, thanks to XDA senior member BlackMesa123 and ashyx.
Updated on 19 June 2019: KG/RMM Bypass v3 zip is now available, thanks to XDA Developer corsicanu! With this available, you can now easily prevent KG/RMM Prenormal State on your Galaxy A6/A6+ running Android Pie and Oreo. If you do not understand what KnoxGuard (KG)/RMM state is, we recommend that you go through this post.
Here’s a handy guide that will help you install TWRP recovery on Samsung Galaxy A6/A6+. Post that, you can easily use Magisk to root Samsung Galaxy A6/A6+ (2018) and get rid of all the unwanted apps, use root-enabled apps or mods like Dolby Atmos, or just to get some additional features.
Disclaimer & Warning
- This guide is ONLY meant only for the SM-A600* and SM-A605* models. Please do not attempt to use these files or steps if your model is different.
- Rooting will void the warranty permanently. KNOX dependent apps like Samsung Pay and Secure Folder will no longer function, even if the device is unrooted/flashed back to stock later.
- Installing TWRP and rooting your Galaxy A6/A6+ on Android Pie will break Samsung Account and secure lock screen (PIN, Fingerprint, etc) functionality. This issue might be fixed in the future. So, only follow the procedure if you can cope up with the said issue.
Contents
Before You Begin
Make sure that you fulfill all the requirements before you head down to the instructions and root Samsung Galaxy A6/A6+ (2018).
- First and foremost, ensure that you take a full backup of all the data on your phone. This includes messages, contacts, and everything else that you feel necessary. We also have a tutorial that will help you backup your data with ease.
- Charge the battery to at least 70%, so as to avoid the device shutting down during the process.
- Download and install the latest Samsung USB drivers.
- Enable USB debugging on Galaxy A6: To do so, go to the device ‘Settings’ -> ‘About phone’ -> ‘Software information’. Then tap on the ‘Build Number’ continuously until ‘Developer mode has been enabled.’ message appears on the screen.
- Also, enable OEM Unlocking in Developer Options. For that, go to ‘Settings’ -> ‘Aditional settings’ and tap on ‘Developer options’. Scroll down and enable the ‘OEM Unlock’ toggle. If the OEM unlock toggle is missing, then you also check out this tutorial.
- Download and extract the Odin 3.13.1 on your PC.
Downloads
- TWRP Recovery for Samsung Galaxy A6: TWRP-3.2.3-TwrpBuilder-a6ltexx-2018-11-26_20-43.tar
- TWRP Recovery for Samsung Galaxy A6+: twrp_3.2.3-2_sm-a6plte_191118.tar
- RMM Bypass: RMM_Bypass_v3_corsicanu.zip – This fixes the KG/RMM State – Pre-Normal issue (OEM unlock disappearing after reboot) on Samsung devices
- DM Verity fix: no-verity-opt-encrypt-6.0 zip
- Latest Magisk Installer zip: Magisk-v19.3.zip (Optionally, check for the latest available version here)
- Latest Odin flash tool: Odin v3.13.1.zip
Install TWRP Recovery on Samsung Galaxy A6/A6+ (2018)
- Download TWRP recovery img for Samsung Galaxy A6/A6+.
- Switch off your phone completely.
- While the phone is powered down, hold the Volume Down, Volume Up and Power button to enter Download Mode.
- With the Galaxy A6/A6+ in Download Mode, connect it to the PC via the USB cable.
- Fire up Odin 3.13.1. Make sure the device is detected, and the COM port at the top left of the screen is blue.
- Click on the ‘AP’ button and select the ‘TWRP-3.2.3-TwrpBuilder-a6ltexx-2018-08-21_14-37.tar‘ file for the Galaxy A6 (A600) or ‘twrp_3.2.3-2_sm-a6plte_191118.tar‘ file for the Galaxy A6+ (A605).
- Make sure that ‘F.Reset Time’ and ‘Auto-reboot’ options are selected in Odin’s options.
- While holding the Volume Up and Power buttons together, click on the ‘Start’ button to install TWRP recovery on Samsung Galaxy A6/A6+ 2018.
Important!: Keep holding the buttons even after the flashing process finishes. This will make sure that your phone directly boots into TWRP. If not, then DM-Verity and Prenormal ROMM/KG State will trigger and you will have to wait for another 7 days until you can flash something.
Your phone should now enter TWRP recovery mode. Now head down to the next section to finally root Samsung Galaxy A6/A6+ (2018).
Root Samsung Galaxy A6/A6+ (2018)
- On the ‘Unmodified System Partition’ screen, swipe to allow modifications.
- Now go to ‘Wipe‘ -> ‘Format Data‘. Type ‘yes‘ in the field to confirm wiping of data and hit Enter. This will completely erase all the data on the device.
- Go back to the TWRP home screen, then tap on ‘Reboot‘, and then on ‘Recovery‘.
- Next, go to ‘Mount’ and press the ‘Enable MTP’ button.
- Connect the Galaxy A6 to the PC using the USB cable.
- Transfer the RMM Bypass, DM Verity fix and the latest Magisk installer zip files to the internal storage.
- In the TWRP main menu, tap the ‘Install’ button and first select the ‘RMM_Bypass_v3_corsicanu.zip‘ and swipe to confirm the installation
- Press the back button once, and flash the ‘no-verity-opt-encrypt-6.0.zip‘ file.
- Lastly, flash the ‘Magisk-v19.3.zip‘ file to root Samsung Galaxy A6/A6+ (2018).
- When the flashing process finishes, tap the ‘Reboot System’ button.
Once your Galaxy A6 boots set it up by following the on-screen instructions. You should now see Magisk Manager among other apps. If you want to verify if your device has been successfully rooted, download and run the Root Checker app from the Play Store. Now that your phone is rooted, you can start using root-enabled apps, install Magisk modules to add extra features or use MagiskHide to hide root from certain apps.
So, this was our tutorial on how to install TWRP recovery and root Samsung Galaxy A6/A6+ (2018). If you have any questions or get stuck at any step, feel free to drop a comment below, and we will try our best to help you out.
It actually worked! I had to connect the usb cable to enter download mode! Now I’m rooted! Thanks for everything.
I believe you don’t need to wait 7 days if you use your gmail account.
Nice to hear that Moses! Actually the seven days period is necessary unless Prenromal/KnoxGuard state is triggered. In your case, you did everything to the point, and hence, you didn’t need to wait for seven days.
Hi
Something funny is happening. When I connected to google, OEM unlock appeared again and I used it (1 day after). Then it requested my gmail again to confirm during the initial set up. Now the combo vol up+down+power to enter download mode no longer works. I did a second OEM ulocking and I can clearly see in developer mode it’s activated. But there is no way to access download mode. Please help me understand this.
Hi
I have A6 and what’s confusing is the vol up+down after flashing twrp. It basically sends the phone in download mode. Isn’t there any other key combo to achieve twrp? After successfully flashing twrp my phone rebooted and then I tried the process again that’s where it showed prenormal state. Also it should be noted that in order to activate OEM unlock all of your data will be wipped.
Hi Moses. Thanks for pointing that out. Although a small, it is a very important step and it was wrong. Apologies for that.
I have correct it. Before you press the Start button in Odin, you have to press Volume Up and Power buttons together, instead of Volume Up + Volume Down + Power.
Hey, I’ve got a little issue here, when I flash TWRP to my device (A6+), reboot and press volume up to approve “custom OS”, the device just goes into download mode and it says
“Downloading… Do not turn off target
Volume Down Key + Power Key for more than 7 secs : Cancel (restart phone)”
in the centre of the screen. What do I do? Thanks in advance.
Hi. While your phone is in Download Mode, connect it to the PC and run Odin tool again. Then, select the TWRP file.
Now, pay attention to step #8 above: Make sure to hold the Volume Up and Volume Down buttons together and then click on the ‘Start’ button in Odin. Keep holding the buttons until your phone reboots and enters the TWRP recovery mode.
Hello, I seem to be stuck at the very first step. I’ve downloaded all required files for my A6, and followed the instructions up to holding Volume Up & Down key and clicking start on Odin. The problem is that after Odin returns a “Pass” message, the phone restarts into the normal first time setup screen, but with safe mode, not TWRP recovery mode like it should. I’ve repeated this step several times and i get the same result.
Hi Kay. Here’s what I want you to do:
1) When Odin window opens untick the ‘Auto Reboot’ option
2) Then select the TWRP file and press the Start button
3) Once the flashing is complete, hold the Volume Down and Power button together to force shut down the device
4) When the screen goes black, hold the Volume Up and Power button to enter TWRP
Let me know if it works.
Hey when I flash the twrp file and boot to recovery mode, twrp fails to do anything it fails to mount so it fails to install zips and as a reasult I have to flash the stock firmware to accually boot into os am i doing anything wrong ?
Hi Manos! That’s because you first need to format the userdata to decrypt the storage, so that the recovery could mount the partition. After that, you will be able to flash the zip files. To do that, go to ‘Wipe’ > ‘Format Data’ in TWRP and then type in “Yes” in the provided field.
Hi Sir,
I have several Samsung Live Demo Units that i have managed to flash with other firmware versions so i could remove the annoying demo, except for the A6+ …. after flash the firmware and everything looked fine and Odin showing the green pass sign the mobile rebooted and then a blue screen appeared with this text : Security Error: this phone has been flashed with unauthorized software and is locked. and another error in the top left corner says Secure fail: modem. I tried wiping the data as well as flashing the firmware again, but nothing helped. So what could be the problem?
Hi Kadri. Sorry, but I don’t have much (Or should I say none at all) experience with demo units or how they work.
Although, after a little exploration, what I could tell is that Samsung got really tricky with the security (Like the Prenormal RMM State feature that prevents flashing). But still, that’s just a shot in the dark, considering I have no knowledge on the matter.
So, I wouldn’t be able to help you much. There’s nothing more than I’d suggest in a normal scenario, that you have not already tried (Flashing stock, factory reset, etc).
I turn on the OEM unlock and it says the phone will factory reset (i thought doing this the OEM will enable and i don’t have any choice) after factory reset then i check to developer options and the OEM unluck is missing. my question is, are the OEM unlock enable or disable?
Hi Yusuf. Samsung has recently been implementing a lot of security features to tighten things up. Basically, your phone has entered the ‘Prenormal’ RMM State, you can know more about it here.
You have to make sure that phone’s connected to the network and also do not reboot it in any case for straight 7 (seven) days. After that, the OEM unlock toggle should reappear and you should be able to flash TWRP and root the phone.
Earlier, there was a method to bypass this 7 day period. The method could be found here, although the trick was patched. But a recent user reported that he succeeded by performing an extra step after the instructions mentioned in our post.
Hello there , i’ve tried this method with my Galaxy a6 plus.
When i press the flash button on odim, the whole process fails with a message “ONLY OFFICIAL RELEASED BINARIES ARE ALLOWED TO BE FLASHED” on my device.
Mind you, i pressed and held volume up and down while pressing the Start button on odim.
What am i missing ??
Hi Salim. In order to flash TWRP or any custom binary, you must first enable the ‘OEM unlock’ option in Developer options.
Hi, thanks for the instructions. However, befor I begin:
1) do these instructions cover the A6+ model (SM-A605FN)?
2) can you recommend a rom to flash to get rid of the Samsung bloatware?
Hello. Initially, this guide was only for the A6 (A600). However, upon seeing your comment, I have now updated it and it now supports the A6+ (SM-A605) too. Thanks to the unofficial TWRP build posted by ashyx on XDA forums.
There aren’t any ROMs (that I could find) that support the A6+. With root, you can easily get rid of the bloatware. But if you are really interested in experimenting and since the A6+ supports Project Treble, you can try one of the ROMs available in XDA’s Project Treble section.
Thank you for this! I got there in the end. Took a few attempts to get TWRP flashed through Odin, but I referred to another site for tips.
You’re welcome Alan. If you could take some time out and let us know what went wrong with the TWRP instructions on our site, we could correct it.