The Google Nexus range of devices is one of the funnest to root and were really the original devices bought out made for customizing. Though design didn’t prove to be on the Nexus 5’s side in the long run, it is still a capable device that can be enhanced more with root access to the internal system.

The Google Nexus devices are usually always rooted using fastboot with adb commands from a Windows computer. About the only thing that changes is the SuperSU file that you are going to want to install. SuperSU is always developed by Chainfire and received regular updates to make it compatible with newer versions of Android software and devices. The older versions of SuperSU won’t work if you were to try to install a version that isn’t the same as we have here in this guide.

Once you have rooted the Google Nexus 5 smartphone running on the Android 6.0.1 MMB29X Marshmallow factory image, you are then able to check out all the same root apps you loved to install before. Furthermore, since you have a custom recovery installed, you can also start taking your NANDroid backups directly from the recovery and not one of the apps that is also supporting the NANDroid feature. Correspondingly, you may also flash your custom ROMs and custom kernels — two of the more popular reasons why people are rooting the Google Nexus 5 these days seeing as the device is now starting to age.

REQUIREMENTS

• The following guide is intended for the Google Nexus 5 smartphone and no other. Likewise, we only recommend following this guide if you are running the factory image with build number MMB29X which is part of an Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow update.

BEFORE WE BEGIN

• Enable the USB Debugging Mode from the Nexus 5’s Settings by tapping on the Settings application > Developer Options > USB Debugging Mode.
• All Nexus 5 owners who did not manage to enable the said mode because there was no Developer Options menu can unlock it by tapping on the Settings application > About Device > Build Number 7 or 8 times. Continue tapping on that same build number until the Nexus 5’s OS tells you that you are now using the device as a developer. That’s Android way of letting you know that you have successfully unlocked the Developer Options menu which can now be found from the Settings menu.

HOW TO ROOT GOOGLE NEXUS 5 RUNNING ON ANDROID 6.0.1 MARSHMALLOW MMB29X FACTORY IMAGES

1. Download the updated SuperSU version 2.66 from here.
2. Download the custom recovery you need from here.
3. Set up the adb and fastboot on your Windows computer from out detailed guide and then come back and finish the rest of this guide.
4. Extract the TWRP Recovery and copy the file over to the same folder as your adb sits and leave the folder open with nothing else inside.
5. Connect the Google nexus 5 smartphone to the computer with the USB cable.
6. Copy the SuperSU version 2.66 to the internal storage SD card of the Nexus 5 smartphone. (Make sure you copy the SuperSU file to the topmost folder of your device so it’s not hidden in one of the sub folders. Further, you will need to keep the SuperSU zipped.)
7. From within your adb and TWRP folder, hold the Shift key and right-click the mouse where it shows you the white background and choose to open a new command window here from the menu.
8. Type the first command in your command prompt window: “adb reboot bootloader”
9. Type the second command: “fastboot flash recovery twrp.img”
10. Type the last command: “fastboot reboot”
11. As soon as your Nexus 5 reboots, hold the hardware button combination for recovery mode so it first time boots directly to the custom recovery you just flashed. (Failing to do this can result in the stock recovery wiping over our work and you’ll have to start again.)
12. Choose the ‘Install’ option from the main recovery menu.
13. Browse the SD card location for the updated SuperSU version 2.66 file you copied there earlier.
14. Follow the on-screen instructions to finish the installation.
15. Choose the option to reboot the system from your main recovery menu once it’s flashed.

In conclusion, that’s how to root Google Nexus 5 Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow MMB29X firmware so you can start installing your favorite root apps or flash some new ROMs!