Rooting opens your device to a whole world of customization, including ad blockers, system optimizers, and more. This guide will show you how to root the Galaxy S5 anywhere in the world that contains an unlocked bootloader. Here is a short list of known bootloader unlocked phones from North America:

Canada: All S5s, regardless of carrier

USA: Sprint, T-Mobile (AT&T and Verizon are confirmed locked)

Mexico: All S5s, regardless of carrier

Caution: Do NOT try this on an octa-core Galaxy S5 which only contains the model G900H. Take a look in your battery compartment to make sure it isn’t a G900H.

All other countries, please Google “Galaxy S5 <your carrier name> bootloader” and find out whether it is locked or not.

What you need:

Hardware:

A USB cable

A Windows PC running Windows 7 or later

Software:

Samsung USB Drivers. Download link The appropriate root files. (Will be linked below per model)

Alright, let’s get started. First off, install the Samsung USB drivers. Just install it like a normal application.

Now, Go to phone–>settings–>about device. It may be different for some models, but you are trying to find the build number. Then:

Visit https://autoroot.chainfire.eu/ Press CTRL+F in your browser. Type in the first few letters until you find an exact match like I did below: Download the file. Extract it and put it in a folder.

Now, turn off your phone and put it into Download Mode. In order to do that, turn it off completely. Then, hold Volume DOWN, Home and Power till you get to the following screen

Now, press volume up and you will be at a screen with lots of Verbose text.

Now, connect your phone to your computer and Run ODIN from the folder. Do have Auto reboot checked, if it is not done already. If it does not look like this, leave it as is.

Click “AP” and select your tar.md5 file in the first folder we extracted . Then click Start. It will shutdown or restart depending on model.

Power your phone on. After the initial boot, go to your app drawer and open the new app “SuperSU”. If it wants to disable KNOX, let it do it. If it doesn’t, let it be for 15 seconds and reboot your phone. Now go to the SuperSU app again, it will prompt to disable KNOX. Let it disable KNOX. After it is done, you need to reboot your phone.

That’s it! Now you are able to download root apps and work with them!

Sources: Odin 3.09, SuperSU, CFAR