Root is the word we use when referring to granting ourselves administrator permissions over the Android operating system. There are a few main reasons why one would want to do this, plus some downsides for your efforts too that you should know about before starting.

Rooting Android should always be reserved for advanced Android users due to the extra care one must take when using the device. You are more vulnerable to hackers if you don’t know how to use SuperSU without thinking things through properly first. With root access, apps can jump from one to the other. We install SuperSU to stop this from happening automatically. With SuperSU, any app that wants to jump to another app needs to go through SuperSU first, which means SuperSU will let you know about it with a message on the display. However, should you allow something to enter one of your apps and you have no idea what it is, then that’s when you get into trouble.

Once an advanced Android user understands never to grant root permissions to anything random that is asking for it, you can start thinking about the upsides you have at your fingertips. You can start making use of extra apps that can help you back, increase the battery life, increase the performance, plus much more. Furthermore, you need root access if you want to install most custom ROMs.

REQUIREMENTS

• You must have a custom recovery image installed on the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact before you can follow this guide.
• You can only use this guide and the corresponding recovery guide with the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact that comes with the E5823 model number.

BEFORE WE BEGIN

• You are voiding the warranty on your Sony Xperia Z5 Compact smartphone each time you root and install a custom recovery image. You can completely unroot and restore the stock recovery to get the warranty working again. Note that you might also need to re-lock the bootloader on some devices.

HOW TO ROOT SONY XPERIA Z5 COMPACT E5823 RUNNING ANDROID 6.0 MARSHMALLOW

1. Download the required updated SuperSU file from here and keep it zipped.
2. Connect the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact to the computer with the USB cable.
3. Copy the SuperSU zip file to the root of the internal storage SD card. (The root of your Z5’s SD card is referring to keeping the file at the topmost folder and not storing it in one of the subfolders. The reason being that you likely won’t find the file when you boot the device into recovery mode later if it’s hidden in one of the subfolders).
4. Unplug the Xperia Z5 Compact from the computer once you have the file on your device.
5. Turn off the Z5 Compact and hold the hardware button combination to boot into recovery mode. (Recovery mode is relatively straightforward to reach: Turn on the smartphone normally and press the Volume Up button as soon as your LED light blinks immediately after pressing the Power button to turn it on and you should be in recovery mode.)
6. Tap on the “Install” button from the main TWRP menu and browse the SD card for the updated SuperSU 2.71 zip file.
7. Follow the on-screen instructions to finish flashing the SuperSU file on your Xperia Z5 Compact device.

In conclusion, that’s how to root Sony Xperia Z5 Compact smartphones running the Android 6.0 Marshmallow software updates. You can head over to the Google Play Store and start installing your root applications like Titanium Backup. Moreover, you can check out any custom ROMs that are available for the Z5 Compact device since you have already installed your choice of custom recovery image.