How to ROOT LineageOS 15.1 Android Oreo ROM

If you are looking for one of the following: How to Root LineageOS 15.1 ? or how to enable ROOT on LineageOS 15.1? or rooting LineageOS 15.1 or LineageOS 15.1 su binary etc. then here is a post that exactly addresses all your needs.

Is ROOT not enabled by default on my LineageOS 15.1 ROM?

LineageOS is nothing but a CyanogenMod ROM and CyanogenMod had in-built root access since CyanogenMod 12 (The Lollipop Version) which was disabled by default. But this is not the same in case of a LineageOS ROM.

The LineageOS team has decided not to put the SU binaries into the ROM by default. But the developer can build the ROM with ‘export WITH_SU=true’ command to put the SU binaries back to the ROM built-in. The user then just need to enable root access from developer option. Well, most of the developers do not include this in their builds and users do need to flash a LineageOS 15.1 su addon to gain root access.

This guide will work ONLY on an Android phone installed with an OFFICIAL LineageOS 15.1 or an UNOFFICIAL LineageOS 15.1 Android Oreo build.

If you are looking to install su addon for LineageOS 14.1 or LineageOS 13 then you can refer the following link:
– How to root LineageOS 14.1 or LineageOS 13

Why do I need ROOT access on LineageOS 15.1 ?

Well, if you have reached to this post by searching then you know why you need root. Probably to unleash more power out of the Android Oreo based LineageOS 15.1 ROM! If not, then probably the following answer is for you.

Most of the pre-loaded stock Android UI by OEMs except OnePlus, Google’s Nexus, Pixel devices and most of the Moto devices has many un-necessary extra apps installed which is called as bloatware. You take the EMUI by Huawei, TouchWiz by Samsung, MIUI by Xiaomi or any other similar they all have the same bloatwares installed.

I don’t know if you really know or not, CyanogenMod (and now it is LineageOS) was the first most popular custom ROM for android devices which comes with no bloatware (un-necessary applications), just the awesome stock Android experience.

Also the LineageOS ROM has many in-built extra features unlike stock Android ROMs (AOSP ROMs). With the ROOT access on your Android phone installed with LineageOS you can further change some more settings on your phone, for example: You can tweak build.prop settings, you can customize your boot animation, you can manually change CPU frequency settings, you can add your own init.d boot scripts etc. just to add a few.

Simplifying the above statement, if you are a developer or an advanced user or very keen to explore all these things then yes enabling ROOT access on your LineageOS 15.1 ROM is the answer. With the ROOT access a user can modify the system settings and this is the potential reason that the ROOT access is disabled by default.

You need to follow the following to enable root if you don’t have su access for Apps or Apps and ADB in Developer Options.

There are OFFICIAL and UNOFFICIAL variant of LineageOS 15.1 SU binary available to ROOT LineageOS 15.1 ROM.

Download the suitable SU addon for LineageOS 15.1:

• OFFICIAL LineageOS 15.1 SU ROOT addon for ARM32
• OFFICIAL LineageOS 15.1 SU ROOT addon for ARM64
• OFFICIAL LineageOS 15.1 SU ROOT addon for x86

• LineageOS 15.1 ARM32 SU addon download link by Ibuprophen for LineageOS 15.1 ROM running on ARM32 devices (all legacy phones are ARM 32-bit. I cannot say what legacy phones, you need to verify on your own)
• LineageOS 15.1 ARM64 SU addon download link by LoneStar for LineageOS 15.1 ROMs for ARM64 Platforms (all newer phones are ARM 64-bit ARCH)
• LineageOS 15.1 ARM64 SU addon by razorloves for LineageOS 15.1 ROMs running on ARM64 devices
• LineageOS 15.1 ARM64 SU addon v2 by razorloves for LineageOS 15.1 ROMs running on ARM64 devices

1. Download and copy the LineageOS 15.1 SU Add-on ROOT binary package to your Android device. (Download from the downloads section)
2. Boot your Android device into TWRP recovery or any other Custom Recovery you have installed.
3. Then Just Select Install from TWRP home screen or similar option in other recovery and then select the LineageOS 15.1 su addon ROOT zip file that you have copied to your phone.
4. Flash the LineageOS 15.1 SU addon ROOT zip file by Sliding the Swipe to Confirm Flash on TWRP screen or similar option in other custom recovery if you are using.
5. Wait for the LineageOS 15.1 SU addon to be installed completely. Once the flashing is done just reboot your device.
   That’s all !!

NOTE:
You MUST use the LineageOS 15.1 SU addon binary from the above links.
The SuperSU links provided in the next SuperSU page MAY NOT WORK on LineageOS ROM. After flashing the SU addon you need to enable ROOT on LineageOS 15.1ROM. Follow the below steps to do so.

How to Enable ROOT on LineageOS 15.1 ROM:

The ROOT access settings are actually provided under Developer options in LineageOS 15.1 ROM. Developer options are the same as comes in stock Android Devices. So, you need to Enable the developer option on your android device first.

Enable Developer Options on LineageOS 15.1 and then enable ROOT settings:

To enable Developer Options on an Android phone or Tablet, do the following:

Go to Settings. Click on About phone and then Tap Seven times on the Build number.

Here is a link explaining How to Enable Developer Options on your Android device running LineageOS 15.1 or any other Custom ROMs.

Now to enable ROOT, open Developer options and then scroll a little bit down on the Developer Options settings and look for the Root access setting, which must be showing Disabled.
Just click on the Root access and set it to Apps and ADB or Apps only or ADB only, as per your need.

Here is a video demonstrating how to enable ROOT access on CM13/CyanogenMod 13 but the same should work fine for the LineageOS 15.1 too:

That’s all. Enjoy the benefits that comes with ROOT on your Android Phone powered by LineageOS 15.1 Android Oreo ROM. Stay tuned for more of such updates and if you like it then just don’t forget to share this.