can i root android while its enrolled or why is OEM unlock greyed out??Solved

Hi @zariah,

Thanks for reaching out! I can see why that greyed out OEM unlock setting would throw you off, especially since you already made sure Factory Reset was allowed in your policies.

To give you a straightforward answer: No, it is not possible to root an Android device while maintaining its active enrollment. The workaround you ended up using (disenrolling, rooting, and then reenrolling) is actually the only correct way to achieve this. Here is a quick breakdown of why Android devices behave this way under management:

• The Factory Reset Requirement: Rooting an Android device requires unlocking the bootloader. Unlocking the bootloader automatically triggers a hard system Factory Data Reset to protect user data.
• Android Enterprise Framework: When a device is enrolled as a Device Owner (AE DO), performing a factory reset immediately and permanently wipes the Hexnode UEM agent and all associated corporate policies from the hardware. The enrollment simply cannot survive the rooting process.
• OEM Unlocking Restrictions: While Hexnode can restrict OEM unlocking (usually by disabling Factory Reset in Advanced Restrictions), the Android Enterprise framework itself, and often the device manufacturer, heavily locks down bootloader tampering on actively managed devices at the OS level. This is a baseline security measure, which is why that toggle remained greyed out for you.

If you need help with anything else or run into any other issues, please feel free to ask!

Cheers,
Eden Pierce
Hexnode UEM