Steps to backup & restore EFS / IMEI on Android phones

Today I am going to teach you various ways to backup & restore EFS / IMEI on Android phones
Steps to backup & restore EFS / IMEI on Android phones.

Similar to the partitions on your computer, the Android smartphone too has partitions. One of them is Encrypted File System i.e. EFS. It is basically related with the networking and communication within Android phones. The EFS folder is located in the system directory of your phone and contains some important information about your phones IMEI, Wireless MAC Address, Baseband version, Product Code, System ID and NV Data. EFS can handle all the functions related to connectivity including Cellular Network, Wifi, Bluetooth, IMEI, Network Unlock Information etc. So by any reason if this EFS data gets corrupted then your device will be completely useless & will no longer be recognized by your carrier. Also you’ll be not able to make or receive calls, send or receive messages, connect using Wifi, bluetooth etc. Your IMEI will become null. There are many reasons because of which your EFS data can get corrupted some of them are listed below:

• Installing custom ROMs from unknown sources may corrupt EFS data.
• Installing corrupted Kernel or unsupported Kernel may also lead to corruption of EFS data.
• In rare cases, manually upgrading or downgrading official firmware may also corrupt EFS data.

In order to avoid these unpleasant situations, it is recommended to take a complete backup of EFS data. In this article we’ll discuss some easy 10 methods on how to backup and restore EFS / IMEI on Android phones.

Disclaimer: Try this at your own risk. We’ll not be held responsible if your phone gets damaged by following these methods.

Pre-Requisites:

• Make sure your Android phone is charged at least upto 60%.

• Enable USB debugging mode by following the path Menu->Settings->Developer options ->USB debugging.

• Mobile Specific drivers must be installed on your computer.

Method 1: Using EFS Professional Tool

How to backup EFS / IMEI:

Requirements:

1. Android phone with Root access (custom recovery not needed).
2. Microsoft .NET Framework installed on your computer.
3. EFS Professional tool.
4. Busy Box App installed on Phone.

Downloads:

1. Download EFS Professional tool.

1. Download Busy Box Android App.

Procedure:

Step 1: Download and install Busybox App on your phone. Launch it and grant Superuser permissions.

Step 2: On the main screen tap on Install option. This will install required files for BusyBox to work.

Step 3: After installation you’ll see successful message on the screen.

Step 4: Now using USB data cable connect your phone to computer.

Step 5: Download and extract the EFS Professional tool on your computer.

Step 6: From the extracted folder, open the EFS Professional.exe file.

Step 7: Then click on EFS Professional from the popup window.

Step 8: Click OK on the next popup window.

Step 9: This will launch the EFS Professional tool. It will automatically detect the connected phone.

Step 10: At the same on your phone a popup window will appear to grant Superuser permission. So grant it.

Step 11: After successful detection you’ll see your device status, model number, firmware version, root and busybox version etc.

Note: If your computer fails in detecting the device, make sure device drivers are properly installed or not.

Step 12: Now tap on the Backup tap located on the top left corner of the tool. Also select the type of device under the Device filter option. I’m using Samsung International variant phone so I’ll select Samsung Int. Variants. If your phone runs on Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, then you need to select Samsung Int. LTE Variants.

Step 13: Now just tap on the Backup option to start the process.

Step 14: After a minute, the backup process will complete with a successful message displaying on the screen.

Step 15: The backed up EFS file (.tar.gz) will be saved in the EFS Professional\EFSProBackup folder. The same file will also be saved in your phones internal storage under the EFSProBackup folder.

How to restore EFS / IMEI:

Step 1: In EFS Professional tool, click on Restore tab.

Step 2: From the drop down menu in Restore options, select the backed up file.

Step 3: Click on Restore option to initiate the process.

That’s it! You’ve successfully backed up and restored EFS data using EFS Professional Tool. Now you can check your device IMEI number by typing *#06# on the phones dial pad.

Method 2: Using Terminal Emulator App

Downloads:

1. Download Terminal Emulator App.

How to backup EFS / IMEI:

Step 1: Download and install Terminal emulator app on your phone.

Step 2: Launch the App.

Step 3: Type this command in it and press enter:

su

As soon as you hit enter, a window to grant superuser permissions will popup. So allow it.

Step 4: On the next line type either of the two commands and press enter:

To backup EFS on internal storage:

dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 of=/storage/sdcard/efs.img bs=4096

To backup EFS on external SD card:

dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 of=/storage/extSdCard/efs.img bs=4096

This command will create efs.img file on your phone internal / external storage. Copy this file on your computer for more safety.

Note: All the commands are case sensitive so type each command line carefully.

How to restore EFS / IMEI:

Step 1: Launch Terminal Emulator app and type these commands in it.

su

Step 2: On the next line, type either of these commands and press enter:

To restore EFS on internal storage:

dd if=/storage/sdcard/efs.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 bs=4096

To restore EFS on external SD card:

dd if=/storage/extSdCard/efs.img of=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 bs=4096

Note: If this Terminal Emulator method does not work for you, it might be due to the location of EFS partition on your device. To fix this try these steps:

Step 1: Download and install Root browser app on your phone.

Step 2: Launch it and go to dev/block directory and note down the exact path of EFS data files.

Now edit the file path in the command line accordingly:

dd if=/dev/block/mmcblk0p3 of=/storage/sdcard/efs.img bs=4096

That’s all! You’ve successfully backed up and restored EFS / IMEI using Terminal Emulator app.

Method 3: Using Custom recovery

Requirements:

1. Rooted Android phone.
2. Custom recovery like CWM / TWRP installed on your phone.

How to backup EFS / IMEI:

Step 1: Boot into custom recovery.

Step 2: Select the Backup option.

Step 3: Select the partitions including EFS to backup and swipe to start the backup process.

How to restore EFS / IMEI:

It is similar to backup process just click Restore option and select saved backup file.

That’s it! You’ve successfully backed up and restored EFS / IMEI using custom recovery.

Method 4: Using Script

Downloads:

1. Download EFS backup.zip script file.

How to backup EFS / IMEI:

Step 1: Download and extract the zip file on your computer.

Step 2: Connect your phone to computer using USB cable.

Step 3: On PC, open the Start.bat file from the extracted folder.

Step 4: A black window will appear as given below:

Step 5: To backup EFS, type 1 and hit enter key.

Step 6: On the next screen, type yes to start the backup process.

The EFS backup file will be created in EFS backup/backup folder.

How to restore EFS / IMEI:

It is similar to backup process just select the Restore option and then select the saved backup file.

That’s it! You’ve successfully backed up and restored EFS / IMEI using Script.

Method 5: Using Aroma Installer

Requirements:

1. Rooted Android device.
2. Custom recovery like CWM/TWRP installed on your phone.
3. Aroma Installer.

Downloads:

1. Download EFS_backup_Restore_Aroma.zip file.

How to backup EFS / IMEI:

Step 1: Download and copy the EFS_backup_Restore_Aroma.zip file on your phone. Do not extract it.

Step 2: Boot your phone into recovery mode.

Step 3: Select Install Zip option.

Step 4: On the next screen, select Choose zip from sdcard option.

Step 5: Navigate to the EFS_backup_Restore_Aroma.zip file and select it.

Step 6: Now next screen you will have is Aroma installer. You may backup EFS on either internal or external storage. Here I’ll take backup on both the storage.

Step 7: Click the Next option to start the EFS backup process. It’ll take a minute to complete.

Step 8: Return back to recovery mode and select Reboot system now option to restart the phone.

How to restore EFS / IMEI:

It is similar to backup process just select the Restore option from Aroma Installer and select the saved backup file.

That’s all! You’ve successfully backed up and restored EFS / IMEI using Aroma Installer.

Method 6: Using Samsung Tool

The Samsung Tool app is one of the easiest way to take backup of EFS partition. This app is developed by recognized developer Ricky Divjakovski from xda community.

Downloads:

1. Download Samsung Tool app.

How to backup EFS / IMEI:

Step 1: Download and install Samsung Tool app on your phone.

Step 2: Launch it and click on the Backup EFS option.

Step 3: Select the location of backup process and click OK to start the EFS backup process.

This will create backup of EFS in internal/external storage on your phone.

How to restore EFS / IMEI:

It is similar to backup process just select the Restore EFS option and then select the saved backup file.

That’s it! You’ve successfully backed up and restored EFS / IMEI using Samsung Tool.

Method 7: Using SAManager App

Downloads:

1. Download SAManager App.

How to backup EFS / IMEI:

Step 1: Download and install SAManager App on your phone.

Step 2: Launch it and click on the EFS Manager option.

Step 3: On the next screen select Backup EFS option.

Step 4: This will start the EFS backup process.

How to restore EFS / IMEI:

It is similar to backup process just select the Restore option and then select the saved backup file.

That’s it! You’ve successfully backed up and restored EFS / IMEI using SAManager App.

Method 8: Using Andromizer App

Downloads:

1. Download Andromizer App.

How to backup EFS / IMEI:

Step 1: Download and install Andromizer App on your phone.

Step 2: Launch it. Then go to the Tools tab and select IMEI (efs) Backup/Restore option.

Step 3: On the next screen select Backup option to start the EFS backup process.

Step 4: This EFS backup file will be saved in Andromizer folder.

How to restore EFS / IMEI:

It is similar to backup process just select the Restore option and then select the saved backup file.

That’s it! You’ve successfully backed up and restored EFS / IMEI using SAManager App.

Method 9: Using Mobile Uncle App

Downloads:

1. Download Mobile Uncle App.

How to backup EFS / IMEI:

Step 1: Download and install Mobile Uncle app on your phone.

Step 2: Launch it. Then click on the IMEI Backup Restore option.

Step 3: On the next screen select Backup IMEI  to SD card option.

Step 4: This will start the EFS backup process.

How to restore EFS / IMEI:

It is similar to backup process just select the Restore option and then select the saved backup file.

That’s it! You’ve successfully backed up and restored EFS / IMEI using Mobile Uncle App.

Method 10: Using Ktool

This is another handy tool to backup EFS / IMEI. This tool supports all Samsung phones except Qualcomm based LTE devices.

Downloads:

1. Download HC-KTool.

How to backup EFS / IMEI:

Step 1: Download and install HC-KTool app on your phone.

Step 2: Launch it. Then click on the Backup EFS option.

Step 3: This will start the EFS backup process.

Step 4: After completion of process, you may run the EFS backup check.

How to restore EFS / IMEI:

Step 1: Launch app and select the Restore EFS option.

Step 2: Select the saved img/tar EFS file you want to restore.

That’s it! You’ve successfully backed up and restored EFS / IMEI using KTool.

Success

Vohoo! You’ve successfully backed up and restored EFS / IMEI data. If you face any issue while going through process then do comment me. I’ll be glad to help you. Enjoy! 

Author : Lafaxi

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