How to Unlock Your Bootloader, Root Your HTC One, & Install a Custom Recovery (Using TWRP)

As you may have noticed, many of our tutorials cover topics that require you to have root access. When your phone is rooted, backing up apps doesn't require you to connect to your computer, and installing custom ROMs lets you get more useful settings. Rooting also lets you get rid of the Sense-style menus and status bar, and even upgrade to a newer version of Android.

To Root Your Phone, You Will Need the Following

• HTC One drivers, which are included with HTC Sync Manager.
• Android Forums Mini SDK, which can be found in the second post on this thread.
• The latest TWRP recovery .img, which can be downloaded here. You may also want to rename it twrp.img for ease of installation later.

Step 1: Prepare Your Files

Extract the Mini SDK .zip file to a folder anywhere on your computer, then copy the twrp.img file to this folder. I'll be using C:\sdk-tools. Now, copy the SuperSU .zip file to your phone, either with AirDroid or via USB.

Image Credit wonderhowto.com

Step 2: Unlock Your Bootloader with HTC Dev

Next, head on over to HTC Dev and unlock your HTC One's bootloader using their instructions or our previous softModder tutorial. Our guide is for the EVO 4G LTE, but the process is the same.

Step 3: Install TWRP

Power off your device, then press and hold Power and Volume Down until you're in the bootloader menu. Highlight FASTBOOT and press Power. You should see Fastboot USB highlighted in red.

Open a command prompt on your computer and navigate to your SDK directory. Type "fastboot flash recovery twrp.img" and hit Enter.

Step 4: Backup Your Stock ROM

On your phone, highlight BOOTLOADER and press Power.

This time, select RECOVERY and press Power to boot into TWRP.

Tap Backup and swipe to confirm. You can restore this backup if anything goes wrong by selecting Restore in TWRP's main menu.

Step 5: Install SuperSU

In TWRP's main menu, tap Reboot. It will tell you that you're not rooted and ask you to install SuperSU, so swipe to confirm. When you reboot your phone, you should see a notification that you need to install the SuperSU app. Open the notification and select TWRP, since the app from Google Play only works with S-OFF.

That's it! For most people, the next step is installing a custom ROM or apps that require root. Be sure to check out some of our other posts on HTC One softModder for examples of some of the mods and customizations you can install.