How to Root the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4

The Galaxy Tab S4 is one of the best tablet computer devices of 2018, but some users have had difficulty in rooting it. The most common complaint is that Magisk root doesn’t ‘stick’ after flashing in TWRP. In this Appuals guide, we will show you how to permanently root the Samsung Galaxy Tab S4.

Requirements

Before we begin, you should know that rooting this device will require a total wipe of all of your data. You should create a backup of all personal data before proceeding with this guide – you can create a backup in TWRP after flashing it, before you proceed to root.

1. First download and install the Samsung USB drivers on your PC.
2. Download and extract the Samsung Odin .zip onto your desktop.
3. On your Galaxy Tab S4, go to Settings > About > tap Build Number 7 times, until Developer Mode is activated.
4. Now go to Settings > Developer Options > enable OEM Unlock.
5. Power off your Galaxy Tab S4 completely, and launch it into Download Mode. To boot into Download Mode, hold Volume Down and Power together until the device vibrates, then quickly release Volume Down and hold Volume Up + Power button. The device should boot into recovery mode, from there you can choose ‘Reboot to Bootloader’.
6. Now connect your Galaxy Tab S4 to your PC via USB cable, and launch Odin software on your desktop.
7. In the Odin window, you should see the box for “ID:COM” light up blue, to confirm it has established connection with your Galaxy Tab S4. If it does not light up blue, you may need to troubleshoot your USB connection or USB driver installation.
8. Now in Odin, click on the ‘AP’ button and choose the ‘T830XXU1ARH8_dmverity_patched_boot_permissive.tar‘ file. After that press ‘Start’.
9. Odin should flash the file, then reboot the Galaxy Tab S4 into the Android OS. Power it off again and reboot into Download Mode.
10. In Odin, click the AP button again, and this time choose the ‘twrp_3.2.3-2_sm-t830_26918.tar‘ file. Press Start to flash it, and Odin will proceed to flash TWRP on your Galaxy Tab S4.
11. You need to be quick about this – after TWRP is flashed, you must boot directly into TWRP. Do not allow it to boot to the Android OS! Hold Volume Down + Power until the device turns off, then hold Volume Up + Power to boot into TWRP.
12. Once you are in TWRP, swipe to allow modifications (a prompt will display ‘Keep System Read Only’).
13. You should now transfer the forced-encryption disabler .zip file to your SD storage.
14. In TWRP main menu, tap Install > SD Card > ‘TabS4_oreo_forced_encryption_disabler.zip‘, and swipe to flash it.
15. After it has successfully flashed, go back to TWRP main menu (do not reboot!), and go to Wipe > Format Data > YES.
16. This is going to completely wipe the Galaxy Tab S4! Including the internal storage! This is an important step, because it will completely disable the device’s encryption, and allow access to the internal storage in TWRP.
17. Once the formatting has finished, you can now Reboot to System. Your Galaxy Tab S4 will reboot to the Android OS.
18. Now transfer the Magisk 17.2 zip file to your external storage, and reboot the device back into TWRP.
19. Go to the Install button again, and this time flash the Magisk .zip you just transferred.
20. After Magisk has been flashed, you can now reboot to system. You will see the Magisk Manager app has been installed on your device, and you can launch it to confirm if the device was successfully rooted (it should be).