This guide will list various methods to fix the “Cannot Load Android System Your Data May Be Corrupt” error. Stepping into custom development and flashing custom ROMs and kernels, gaining administrative privileges by rooting the device via Magisk, and welcoming abode tons of modules sounds great on paper. However, this is just half the story. Carrying out these tweaks does bring in with itself quite a few risks and issues as well.
From the device ending up in a bootloop state to even getting bricked, you might come across any of these issues, depending on the magnitude of the problem. In this regard, the “Cannot Load Android System Your Data May Be Corrupt” is widely regarded as one of the most dreaded errors. The complete error message reads out as follows:
Cannot Load Android System. Your Data May Be Corrupt. If you continue to get this message, you may need to perform a factory data reset and erase all user data stored on this device.
Moreover, when the device states that it cannot boot to the OS until and unless you format your device and bid adieu to all your valuable data, well, things couldn’t get any worse, could it? Fortunately, there do exist various workarounds that should fix this error.
Fix Cannot Load Android System Your Data May Be Corrupt
It is recommended to try out each of the below-mentioned workarounds and then see which one spells out success. Thedroidwin will not be held responsible if anything happens to your device or data after performing the below steps.
Prerequisite 1: Boot to Fastboot From Recovery
As of now, your device will be in recovery mode with the error message and you won’t be able to carry out any fixes from that stage. Instead, you’ll have to boot your device to Fastboot Mode, which could be done via two different methods listed below:
Via Hardware Keys
- Long press the Power key to power off your device.
- Then press the Power and Volume Down keys for a few seconds [or Volume Up Key for some devices]
- Your device will now boot to Fastboot Mode and you may let go off the keys.
Using ADB Commands
- Download and Extract Android SDK Platform Tools.
- Then open Command Prompt inside platform tools.
- Now type in the below command to boot to Fastboot
adb reboot bootloader
Once the device is in the Fastboot Mode, we may then get started with the below fixes.
Prerequisite 2: Get Boot and Vbmeta
Next up, you’ll have to download and extract the firmware on your PC. It is compulsory that you should do so for the same firmware that is currently installed on your device. However, if that is not possible, then download the latest available one]. Moreover, you should download the entire Factory Image instead of OTA/Incremental Updates [in the case of Pixel and OnePlus] and the Fastboot ROM instead of Recovery [Xiaomi, Poco, etc]. Here’s how to extract the firmware:
- Pixel: It’s in a ZIP format, you could extract it via the built-in Windows extractor.
- Xiaomi/Poco: It will be in a TGZ format, extract it via 7 ZIP software. Doing so will give you the TAR file, again extract it via 7ZIP. Then go to the images folder.
- OnePlus: Extract the payload.bin file via the open-source Fastboot Enhance Tool.
Once you have extracted the firmware, copy the boot.img and vbmeta.img and transfer it inside the platform-tools folder on your PC.
FIX 1: Change Slot
In some cases, the current active slot might get corrupted. Therefore, switch over to the inactive slot and then boot your device via that slot [it will then become your new active slot]. Here’s how it could be done:
- First off, open Command Prompt inside platform tools.
- Then execute the below command in the CMD window:
fastboot set_active other
- Now type in the below command to boot to the OS:
fastboot reboot
- Check if it fixes the underlying boot-up issue or not.
FIX 2: Flash Boot
You might also get bugged by the “Cannot Load Android System Your Data May Be Corrupt” error if the boot partition gets corrupted. To rectify it, flash the stock boot.img might be the best bet. So let’s carry out this tweak and check if it resolves the issue:
- First off, open Command Prompt inside platform tools.
- Then execute the below command to flash the boot.img
fastboot flash boot boot.img
- Now reboot the device to the OS via the below command:
fastboot reboot
- Check whether the device is able to boot to the OS or not.
FIX 3: Re-Enable Verity
If the verity and/or verification is disabled, then it will prevent the device from booting up. Therefore, you’ll have to re-enable both these checks, as instructed below, and then check if it fixes the issue or not.
- To begin with, open Command Prompt inside platform tools.
- Then execute the below command to flash the vbmeta.img
fastboot flash vbmeta vbmeta.img
- Now reboot the device to the OS via the below command:
fastboot reboot
FIX 4: Flash Firmware Without Reset
The next course of action should be to flash the entire firmware without doing a format data. Here’s how it could be done:
- Pixel: Open the flash_all.bat file via Notepad++ and remove the -w keyword from the fastboot -w update filename.zip command. Then save the changes and launch the file. The firmware will be flashed on your device without a data wipe.
- Xiaomi: Launch the Mi Flash Tool, load the Fastboot ROM into it, and select Save User Data at the bottom right. Then click Flash and it will flash the firmware without formatting your device.
Once the flashing is complete, your device should boot to the OS if the issue is rectified or else, you’ll be taken back to the Recovery screen with the same error message. So in that case, proceed ahead and carry out our last fix listed below.
FIX 5: Reset Device
If none of the methods spelled out success, then the last course of action is to do a format data, which will unfortunately wipe off all the data from the device. In this regard, there are two ways of getting this job done:
- From the error screen: Use the Volume keys to highlight Format Data and press the Power key to confirm.
- From Fastboot Mode: use the fastboot -w command to perform a factory reset.
That’s it. These were the various methods to fix the “Cannot Load Android System Your Data May Be Corrupt” error. All the queries concerning the same are welcomed in the comments section below.
