How to Root the Pixel 7 Pro

rmiles7721November 1, 2022Android

FYI, if you buy a Google Pixel 7 from the Google store enter “Z1M77NMTD8MEMZWQI7SNT87” at checkout and both of us will get $100 in Google Store credit

The Google Pixel 7 Pro is fairly easy to unlock, root and pass SafetyNet provided you have a little bit of knowledge on how to use the command line and aren’t afraid to permanently break your phone. While Pixels are relatively easy to recover if you do something wrong, there is always the potential to permanently brick your phone if you don’t know what you are doing.

You are going to need a few things before you can unlock and root. I am assuming you are doing this from Microsoft Windows (I am using Win 11 and everything works from there)

Unlocking the Bootloader

Unlocking your boot loader will factory reset your device. There is no way around this so make sure you have backed up everything. Once you unlock it I would suggest never relocking. If you do want to relock it, make sure not to do so until you have restored it to 100% stock. A couple of notes are that with Verizon branded versions, they can never unlock the bootloader. With T-Mobile and AT&T you can unlock once you’ve paid off the phone. You can contact your carrier and have them CARRIER unlock it (not the same as bootloader unlocking). Your best bet for unlocking and rooting phones in my opinion is to buy them direct-from-google or make sure that you are buying the carrier unlocked version if you are getting them from Amazon, Best Buy or some other vendor.

The steps to unlock the bootloader are:

  • Go to Android Settings – About Phone
  • Click on Build Number repeatedly, seven times
  • Go back to the main Android Settings – System – Developer Options
  • Toggle OEM Unlocking (you need to be connected to the internet)
  • Make sure you’ve unzipped the ADB/Fastboot (SDK Platform Tools) and installed the Windows USB Drivers (you will have to do this twice. Once when you first connect and again when you reboot into the bootloader.)
  • Navigate to the platform-tools folder
  • Make sure your USB cable is plugged in to your computer and to the phone.
  • Run the command “adb devices”
  • On your phone you should get an ADB prompt. Check the box to always give ADB permission and click OK
  • You should get a list of connected Android devices at that point. If not you may need to troubleshoot your drivers, make sure you only have one ADB device connected, etc..
  • Run command “adb reboot bootloader” and the phone should reboot into the android bootloader
  • Run command “fastboot flashing unlock”
  • One the phone press the volume up or down button until you see “Unlock the bootloader |>|” beside the power button.
  • Press the power button. The screen should go black for a moment and then near the bottom it will say “Device state: unlocked”
  • After this go to the steps to root your device.

Steps to Root

  • Unzip the Pixel 7 Pro Factory Image that you downloaded.
  • Copy the Magisk apk to your phone (I generally use the Downloads folder and copy all items to it.)
  • Copy the init_boot.img file from the unzipped factory image to your phone.
  • On your phone go into whatever file manager you use and install Magisk and open the app.
  • Toward the top click “install”
  • Click “Select and Patch a File” and choose the init_boot.img that you copied over from your PC.
  • Copy the modified init_boot.img (it will look something like magisk_patched-25200_1a2B3c.img) back over to your PC into the platform tools folder
  • Go back to your command prompt and run “adb reboot bootloader”
  • After it has rebooted into the bootloader (Fastboot mode), run the command “fastboot flash init_boot magisk_patched-25200_1a2B3c.img” (use whatever your file is actually called)
  • Run command “fastboot reboot”
  • Confirm that your phone reboots normally.

Congrats. Your phone is rooted. If you open Magisk it should show “Installed” and the version number.

Passing SafetyNet

If you want to use Google Pay and most banking apps as well as some games and media apps there are a few more steps you need to do.

  • Launch Magisk
  • Go to Magisk’s settings (the gear on the top right).
  • Click “Hide the Magisk app. You’ll have the chance to change the Magisk app’s name to something a little less unobtrusive such as Settings. Note that when you have it hidden or renamed you can accidentally install a new version of Magisk and neither will work at that point.
  • Go back to Magisk settings
  • Click “Systemless Hosts”. That will add a Magisk Module to Magisk, you can verify that later.
  • Toggle “Zygisk” on.
  • Toggle “Enforce DenyList” on.
  • Click “Configure DenyList”
  • Add every app that you want to deny root access and the existence of root including Google Play Store, Google Services Framework, Google Play Protect Service, Wallet, GPay, and banking apps, any streaming apps that use DRM (like Netflix), any two-factor authentication apps.
  • Reboot your phone.
  • Go back into Magisk and go to Modules at the bottom.
  • Confirm that Systemless Hosts is in the list, and enabled.
  • Install the Magisk Module Universal SafetyNet Fix that you downloaded.
  • Reboot.
  • Install from the Play Store YASNAC – SafetyNet Checker and Play Integrity API Checker.
  • Launch YASNAC and click “Run SafetyNet Attestation”. It should say: Basic Integrity: Pass., CTS profile match: Pass, Evaluation type: BASIC.
  • Launch Play Integrity API Checker and click “Check”
  • It should have green checkmarks beside MEETS_DEVICE_INTEGRITY and MEETS_BASIC_INTEGRITY.
  • It’s normal for MEETS_STRONG_INTEGRITY to have a red X beside it.
  • You don’t have to keep those last two apps installed unless you just want to.
  • Sometimes you will need to clear app cache AND data for apps like the Google Play Store, GPay, Wallet and others if you have opened them before all of these steps.

I’m currently using the following Magisk Modules and can cofirm they work with Android 13 on the Pixel 7 Pro (Cheetah):

If you install a Magisk module and you start bootlooping or SystemUI freezes up, restart your phone (make sure you have it connected to your PC and from the commandline run: “adb wait-for-device shell magisk –remove-modules”

That will boot you into safe mode and all your Magisk Modules will be uninstalled and you can add them back one by one to see what the issue is.

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