Install official Android to Samsung Galaxy phones

Instructions about how to get back official Android to Galaxy phones

Galaxy logoSamsung Galaxy is a huge family of smart phones based on Android, very popular for its customization options and also custom ROMs, for example CyanogenMode and MIUI from Xiaomi.

Nevertheless, sometimes you want to get back some official version of Android (sometimes mistakenly called TouchWiz, but TouchWiz is only the Samsung Launcher/GUI for Android), which was installed in your Galaxy phone after you bought it in a store.

Because Samsung develops many different types of Galaxy phones as well as their local variants for individual markets and mobile operators, it can be very difficult to find the original firmware in Samsung official databases or in some of the third party alternatives (Samsung Updates, SamMobile).

This article covers how you can find and install the official version of  Android for your Galaxy phone.

Find your official Android with Phone INFO Samsung  and SamFirm tools

The very first thing you will need, is information about your Samsung phone model and region. You can get these information with the Phone INFO Samsung app from Google Play.

The phone model is described in GENERAL tab (in our case GT-I9300), and region type (CSC Code) in CSC CODE tab (in our case CYO).

Phone INFO SAMSUNG General info Phone INFO Samsung CSC Code tab
Model and CSC Code information

The easiest way how to find official firmware for your smartphone, is to use a little Windows tool called SamFirm. The utility is distributed as ZIP archive, so extract the content to suitable folder so you can work with it and start it.

Check box before Auto option → Fill the Model box (GT-I9300) and Region box (CYO) → Click on Check Update button.

SamFirm check firmware
SamFirm find firmware

Click on Download button and wait until the SamFirm download enc2 archive with firmware to your computer.

SamFirm download firmware archive
SamFirm download firmware

Click on Decrypt button and wait till the SamFirm decrypt downloaded enc2 archive (Samsung also uses enc4 file extension for firmware archives).

SamFirm decrypt firmware archive
SamFirm decrypt firmware archive

Open ZIP archive with firmware and extract firmware image with md5 file extension.

MD5 firmware archive
MD5 archive with Galaxy firmware

Install official Android to Galaxy phone with Odin tool

Download and install Samsung USB drivers for your Galaxy phone to Windows.

Download Odin (www.odindownload.com) a service tool for Galaxy phones, leaked a few years ago from Samsung. It is distributed as a ZIP archive and only extract its content to your storage.

Restart your Galaxy phone to Download mode, which is usually done via holding of combination Power+Volume Down+Home buttons at once.

After that connect the phone to computer with USB cable and wait until Windows recognizes your device.

Run Odin as Administrator (right click on Odin executable →  Run as administrator option).

Click on AP button and navigate to Android image with md5 file extension. Wait a few minutes till the Odin check the file checksum.

Odin main screen
Odin for Samsung Galaxy phones

Click on Options tab and Check the boxes before Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time, don't check other boxes!!

Odin options
Odin options and settings

Click on Start button and wait until Odin installs original Android to your Galaxy Device. After that the phone will be restarted and boot to the default TouchWiz launcher.

Related software and links:

Odin    Microsoft Windows platform
ROM Flashing tool for SAMSUNG Android Smart phone and tablets devices

 

SamFirm    Microsoft Windows platform
Tool to download and check latest Samsung firmwares

 

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Related file extensions

enc2 - Samsung Galaxy encrypted firmware update

enc4 - Samsung Galaxy encrypted firmware update

md5 - Samsung Galaxy firmware archive

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