In this guide, we will show you how to backup IMEI files on Motorola devices. The Android ecosystem is an Open Source operating system in which users are allowed to customize their devices in every aspect possible. By everything, we mean that you can change your themes in your phone as well as sideloads apps and change how a simple function is carried out on your Android device. The customization part of the Android operating system is not familiar to many of the Android users, including users of Motorola devices and other brands.
But now their is a growing number of Android enthusiasts and users who want to customize and tweak their devices in order to enjoy the full experience of using their Android phone. They always look for different ways they can change their device to their convenience and always want to try something new.
These customizations can be achieved through various means, such as flashing a custom ROM, or installing a kernel or rooting your device via Magisk. As you would have known by know, that all of this customization is very fun for Android enthusiasts, but all of this also come with risks. An important thing is that you should take care of your important files and make sure that you do not lose them in any of these processes. One of these important files for your phone is the IMEI file. It should be made a habit that this file should be backed up before proceeding with any customization.
IMEI stands for International Mobile Equipment Identity. This file is a global identity of your device and is different for every Android device out there anywhere around the world. The IMEI number is very important because without an IMEI number for your phone, you would not be able to use the services of any network carrier on your phone. Furthermore, the IMEI number of your device can also be used to track it. So this makes it a significant enough file, enough to make you back it up before proceeding with any customization. So in this guide, we will be showing you two methods using which you can backup IMEI files on Motorola devices.
Method 1: Backup IMEI Files on Motorola Devices Using TWRP Recovery Mode
Before you start with the process, you have to install a custom recovery such as TWRP recovery on your Motorola device. If you have installed a custom recovery other than TWRP, then the options or selections might vary a little bit for you, but the overall functionality remains almost the same. In this method, will be making use of TWRP recovery to backup IMEI files on Motorola devices.
STEP 1: First of all, you need to boot your device into recovery console mode. This can be done by pressing the Power button together with the Volume Up button. For some devices, you have to press the Volume Down button to boot into the recovery console mode.
STEP 2: From the many options that show on TWRP mode, select the Mount option.
STEP 3: Once done, then you will be able to see many ticked and unticked boxes for different options. You need to tick all the boxes which are not already, such as Firmware, OEM, Persist along with some others. After that, return to the main menu.
STEP 4: After that, head over to the Advanced menu and from there, select the File manager option, under which, you have to look for the Persist folder. You may not find it instantly, you may have to search for it.
STEP 5: You will be able to see a blue folder icon on the bottom right of the interface. When you tap on it, you will be able to see a lot of different menus. From them, select Copy Folder.
STEP 6: Now go back to the root folder and then place the copied files on the SD card for internal memory or alternatively, you can paste it on the external SD card for external memory. Now tap on the blue folder icon again and then check if the copy from and to locations are correct or not. If wrong, then perform the previous step again. After that, you will see a sliding option, saying swipe to confirm. Well, swipe it to the right.
STEP 7: Finally, restart your device and head over to the TWRP folder and check if the IMEI file is available there or not.
Seeing the file there means that you have successfully backed up your IMEI files. Now you can save them onto your computer or keep them elsewhere to keep them safe.
Method 2: Backing Up IMEI On Motorola Devices Using ADB & Fastboot Tools
The second method is a relatively easier method to backup IMEI files on Motorola devices. This method makes use of ADB and Fastboot tools to backup IMEI files on Motorola devices.
STEP 1: First of all, head over to the Settings app on your Motorola device and then scroll down to About phone.
STEP 2: You will be able to find a build number on this page when you scroll down, tap on it seven times and then it will take you to the developer options. You will know this when you get the message that you are a developer now.
STEP 3: Now go back to the settings main page. Scroll down again and this time, click on developer options which you will be able to see above About phone.
STEP 4: Now swipe up until you see the USB Debugging option. Enable it, then you will see a prompt asking you to Allow USB debugging, tap Ok.
STEP 5: Once done, connect your phone to your computer using a USB cable. That will show a prompt on your device asking you to “Allow USB debugging?”. You can tick the option “Always allow from this computer”if you are a regular or simply by “OK” straight away in order to only allow this for one time.
STEP 6: Now extract the ADB and Fastboot tools from where you downloaded them earlier and then open the folder.
STEP 7: With you cursor on an empty section of the folder, press “Shift + Right Click on your mouse”and then select Open Command window here. With this, the cmd will be launched on your computer.
STEP 8: Now you are required to enter these commands in the CMD. Keep in mind that the IMEI files on your Motorola device are stored in the PDS partition and by doing so, you are searching for the PDS partition that you can backup and store on your internal storage or your computer. Key in the following commands:
ADB shell
Su
dd if=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/pds of=/sdcard/pds.img
STEP 8: Once you have entered all these commands in the command window, you will be able to see a PDS.img on your phone’s internal storage. This file is the IMEI file for your device. Now take a backup of this file on your computer or elsewhere to keep it safe.
How To Restore IMEI Files on Motorola Devices?
In case that something goes wrong, you will have to restore the IMEI files on your device. In this regard, you will need to restore the PDS.img file that was saved on your device. This process also requires the use of ADB and Fastboot tools.
STEP 1: Fetch the PDS.img file that you have stored on your Motorola device or your computer.
STEP 2: Now paste the file in the root folder of your device’s internal memory in the location where it used to be prior to it being deleted or removed.
STEP 3: Go to the ADB and Fastboot tools folder. With you cursor on an empty section of the folder, press “Shift + Right Click on your mouse”and then select Open Command window here. With this, the cmd will be launched on your computer.
STEP 4: Now type in the following commands in the command window:
ADB shell
Su
Dd if=pds.img of=/dev/block/platform/msm_sdcc.1/by-name/pds
With this, you have successfully restored the IMEI files back on your device;s internal storage.
STEP 5: Now check the process by rebooting your phone and then see if your device works and has the IMEI files present or not.
So that was it from our side on how to backup IMEI files on Motorola devices. We hope that you found this guide helpful. If you have any queries, post them in the comment section below.
