What is a Payload.bin File?

Google introduced the concept of A/B (Seamless) System Updates back with Android Oreo. Of course, the new update mechanism offers several benefits. For one, the updates are installed seamlessly without rebooting the phone into the recovery mode. Also, it drastically reduces post-OTA failures that could make the device unusable. XDA posted a detailed write-up on A/B partitions and how they affect the custom development scene.

How to Extract Android OTA Payload.bin File

The easiest way to use the Payload Dumper Tool to extract the Payload.bin is on a computer. However, some users might want to do it on the go, skipping the need for a PC completely. If so, there’s also a way to use the Payload Dumper tool on an Android device.

Step 1: Payload Dumper Tool is a Python program, so the first step is to download and install Python on your system.

Step 2: Open the Command Prompt on your Computer and type Python. The Microsoft Store will automatically open the download for Python. Click on Get or Install.

Step 3: Still in the Command Prompt, type pip install protobuf==3.20.*

To extract payload.bin, the protobuf you need is version 3.20.*. If you use the python -m pip install protobuf command, then the payload will be unusable and will cause an error.

Step 4: Download the latest version of the Payload Dumper Tool on your PC from this link and extract its contents to a suitable location. Upon extracting you should have a new folder named “payload_dumper”.

Step 5: Now, download the full Recovery ZIP or OTA ZIP package for your Android device. Open it using 7Zip, WinRAR, or a similar application. Then extract payload.bin to the "payload_dumper" folder.

Step 6: Open the command-line window on your PC in the ‘payload_dumper’ folder. Hold the SHIFT key and right-click on an empty space inside the folder, then select the ‘Open PowerShell window here’ option.

Step 7: Now to finally extract the Android OTA payload.bin file, enter the following command.

python payload_dumper.py payload.bin

The tool will now start extracting the individual partition images from the Payload.bin file. Once finished, you will find the extracted files inside the same “payload_dumper” folder.