The Android N Developer Preview builds are now live for most Google Nexus smartphones and tablets. Anyone who is into customizing the Google Nexus range will also be pleased to hear that we already have ways for you to gain those rooting rights over the operating systems so you can start installing your root requiring applications among other things. The guide also teaches you how to install a custom recovery so you can use your new recovery and root for installing new ROMs.

Here is everything you need to know to root Google Nexus 5 smartphones running the Android N NPD35K Developer Preview by installing a custom recovery and then flashing an updated version of the SuperSU application made by the famous developer, Chainfire.

REQUIREMENTS

• The following guide is made to root the Google Nexus 5 smartphone only. Moreover, it is designed to root the Android N Developer Preview with the NPD35K build ID; there are no guarantees this rooting guide works for any other build number in the future or any other software updates.
• You must have a computer that is running a version of Windows operating systems to use this guide to root the Google Nexus 5 smartphone. The guide makes use of the ADB commands, and our version of ADB can only be set up in a Windows environment.

BEFORE WE BEGIN

• Make sure you enable the USB Debugging Mode on your Google Nexus 5 smartphone before you start with the guide by tapping on the Settings icon > Developer Options > USB Debugging Mode.
• Anyone who is not seeing the Developer Options menu under the Settings menu might need to unlock it to make it appear. You can do that on your Nexus 56 by tapping on the Settings icon > About Device > Tap over where it gives you the Build Number at least seven times. Just continue tapping until you get a message on the display telling you that you are using the smartphone as a developer.

HOW TO ROOT GOOGLE NEXUS 5 ON ANDROID N NPD35K DEVELOPER PREVIEW

1. Download the updated version of the SuperSU application that will root your Nexus 5 on Android N from here.
2. Download the TWRP custom recovery image that is made for your Nexus 5 from here.
3. Set up your ADB on the Windows computer by following our guide and then come back to this guide to complete the rest of the steps.
4. Extract the TWRP Recovery file from the link to the desktop of the computer and then copy the custom recovery image to the same folder as your ADB, so you have them both in the same directory.
5. Connect the Google Nexus 5 smartphone to the computer with the USB cable.
6. Copy the SuperSU file over to the Nexus 5’s internal storage SD card and keep it at the top level of the folder.
7. From within your ADB and custom recovery folder, hold down the Shift key and right-click the white background where there are no files and choose to open a new command window here from the menu.
8. Type “adb reboot bootloader” to get your Nexus 5 in bootloader mode and prepared for the flashing of custom recovery.
9. Type “fastboot flash recovery twrp-2.8.7.0-bullhead.img” and the custom recovery will be flashed on your smartphone.
10. Type “fastboot reboot” and hold the hardware button combination for the recovery mode as soon as the Google Nexus 5 first-time boots so it boots directly to recovery.
11. Tap on the ‘Install” option from the recovery menu and browse the SD card for the SuperSU version 2.71 zip file that you transferred there earlier.
12. Choose the option to reboot the system when it’s done.

In conclusion, that is how to root the Google Nexus 5 smartphone running the Android N NPD35K Developer Preview build by using a custom recovery and the updated SuperSU version 2.71. You can reboot the device back in normal mode and start installing your root apps or check out whatever custom ROMs are available for you to install.