The Motorola Moto Maxx is the third smartphone under the “Maxx” name. It comes with Android 4.4 Kitkat out of the box and its initial release was during November of 2014. It’s a great phone with long battery life. You likely know all that already since you are looking for the guide on how to open it up away from the manufacturer’s restrictions. We’ll show you how to install a custom recovery image and gain root access below.

REQUIREMENTS

The Motorola Moto Maxx by Verizon is running Android 4.4 KitKat out of the box. Therefore, only use this guide on any version of Android 4.4.X KitKat. We do not know if this same method will work or by patched by Google when Android 5.0 Lollipop is available for installing.

BEFORE WE BEGIN

• You must have the Motorola Moto Maxx by Verizon. Do not apply the following files on a different device or you risk bricking the handset.
• Enable USB Debugging mode by navigating to Settings > Developer Option > USB Debugging.
• Have the Motorola USB drivers for mobile phones working on your computer for the phone.
• You must have a computer for following the guide. Our fastboot guide is for Windows; therefore you want a Windows PC.
• The Windows computer can run any operating system from Windows Xp and above.
• Understand that applying the following steps on your device voids the warranty. That means you cannot send it away for repairs if something goes wrong.
• Bricking the device or losing data is not our fault. You follow the guide at your own risk.

HOW TO ROOT THE MOTOROLA MOTO MAXX RUNNING ANDROID 4.4.X KITKAT

1. Download ADB and fastoot (you want the fastboot on the computer)
2. Download the TWRP recovery zip file here.
3. Download the DatRoot tool here.
4. Extract the fastboot on the desktop and have the file open.
5. Extract the TWRP recovery on the desktop.
6. Connect the device to the computer using the USb cable.
7. Right-click the empty white space and hold down Shift from the fastboot foldeer
8. Launch the command prompt window
9. Type: “adb reboot bootloader” to get in bootloader mode
10. Type “fastboot flash recovery recovery.img” (change the recovery.img extension with the real .img name)
    The custom recovery is now flashing.
11. Type fastboot reboot

Now it’s time for the rooting procedure:

1. Transfer the DatRoot file to the internal SD card store on the phone.
2. Open the command line once more.
3. Type “adb reboot recovery” for recovery mode.
4. Find the “install’ option from the recovery menu.
5. Up load the DatRoot zip file.
6. Wait until it finishes flashing.
7. Reboot the phone in normal mode.

That’s it! Your device is ready for installing a custom ROM or installing extra apps from Google Play. You can verify it worked by installing the root checker application from Google Play.