If you’ve sunk dozens of hours into eFootball 2021 on PC, you’ve probably run into the kind of annoying glitches that make you want to throw your controller across the room. Maybe your custom squads keep disappearing, your Master League save crashes every time you try to load a match, or player stats are showing completely wrong values for no obvious reason. I dealt with this exact issue last year, after piling on 12 different mod packs and custom squad updates to make the game feel more up to date. I tried everything from restarting my PC to reinstalling my graphics drivers, before I figured out how to reset eFootball 2021 database on PC properly, without wiping all my 80+ hours of Master League progress. This guide will walk you through exactly what you need to do before, during, and after the reset to fix your game issues without losing anything important.
What to Do Before You Reset Your eFootball 2021 Database on PC
The biggest mistake most people make when resetting their game database is skipping the backup step. It’s so easy to assume nothing will go wrong, but one wrong click can erase months of progress you worked really hard for. I learned this the hard way a few years back, when I reset my PES 2020 database without backing up my saves, and lost a whole career mode where I took a League 2 team to the Champions League final. Don’t make that same mistake. Before you touch any reset settings, take 5 minutes to back up all the following files:
- Your save game files, usually located in the Documents/KONAMI/eFootball 2021 folder under your Windows user profile
- Any custom mod files, like face packs, kit mods, or custom squad updates you installed manually
- Your controller configuration settings, so you don't have to remap all your buttons after the reset
- Screenshots or clips of your best in-game moments, if you save them in the default game folder
If you play the game through Steam, you should also turn off cloud sync for eFootball 2021 temporarily before you start the reset process. If you leave it on, Steam might automatically re-download your corrupted database files after you reset them, making the whole process useless. You can turn it back on once you confirm the reset worked and your game is running properly again.
2 Safe Methods to Reset eFootball 2021 Database on PC
There are two different reset methods you can use, depending on whether you have modded your game or stuck to the official vanilla version. Picking the right method for your setup will save you a lot of time and prevent unnecessary headaches. Let’s break both down step by step. First, the in-game reset method for vanilla, unmodded games. This is the simplest option, and it only takes a minute to complete. Open your eFootball 2021 game, head to the main menu, then select Settings, followed by Game Settings. Scroll down until you see the Reset Database option, select it, and confirm when the game asks if you’re sure. Only use the in-game reset if you have never installed custom mods or edited game files manually. This method only resets official game data, so it won’t fix issues caused by modified mod files.
If you have modded your game, you’ll need to use the second method instead. The second method is Steam file verification, which replaces any modified or corrupted database files with the original official versions. First, close your game completely, then open your Steam library. Right click on eFootball 2021 in your game list, select Properties, then head to the Local Files tab. Click the Verify Integrity of Game Files button, and wait for Steam to scan and replace any broken files. This usually takes between 5 and 15 minutes, depending on your internet speed and the size of your game installation. Always turn off Steam cloud sync before running the file verification to make sure old corrupted files don’t get re-uploaded to your system. Once the verification is done, your database is fully reset to its original state.
Common Issues You Can Fix With a Database Reset
A lot of people reset their database unnecessarily when they have a small issue that can be fixed with a simpler step, but there are some specific problems that a database reset will almost always solve. Let’s go over which issues are worth resetting for, and which ones you don’t need to waste time on. First, if your game keeps crashing every time you try to load a game mode like Master League or myClub, that’s almost always a sign of a corrupted database entry. This usually happens after a bad mod installation, or an incomplete official game update. A reset will wipe that corrupted entry and get your game working again. Second, if player stats, team names, or kit designs are showing incorrectly even after you’ve installed official updates, that’s a database mismatch that a reset will fix. Third, if your custom squads or transfer updates won’t save properly, even after you’ve edited them multiple times, a database reset will clear the old conflicting data so your new changes stick.
A database reset won’t fix low FPS issues caused by outdated GPU drivers or underpowered hardware, so make sure you rule those out first before you go through the reset process. If you only have issues with one specific save file, you don’t need a full database reset – just delete that single save file and start a new one, which takes far less time. I’ve had friends spend 20 minutes resetting their whole database just because one Master League save was corrupted, which was totally unnecessary.
What to Do After Resetting Your eFootball 2021 Database
Once you’ve completed the reset, there are a few steps you should follow to make sure everything works properly, and you don’t end up with the same issues again. First, launch the game once before you add any of your backed up files or mods back. Play a quick 10 minute exhibition match to make sure there are no crashes, glitches, or wrong data showing up. If the game works fine on the vanilla reset version, you can start adding your files back. Next, copy your backed up save files back to the original Documents/KONAMI/eFootball 2021 folder one at a time. Test each save file after you add it, to make sure none of them are corrupted and won’t break your database again. If you add a save file and the game starts crashing again, you know that specific save is the problem, and you can delete it without losing all your other saves.
If you want to install mods again after the reset, do it one mod at a time. Launch the game after each mod installation to make sure it works properly, so you can spot which mod is causing issues if something goes wrong. I made the mistake of installing 7 mods at once after a reset last year, and ended up having to reset the whole database again because one of the face packs was corrupted. Installing one at a time takes a little longer, but it saves you way more time in the long run. Never install untested mod packs from untrusted sources, as they can contain corrupted files or even malware that will mess with your game or your PC.
Resetting your game database doesn’t have to be a complicated, scary process that risks all your progress. As long as you take 5 minutes to back up your files first, and pick the right reset method for your game setup, you can fix almost all common game glitches in less than 20 minutes. Now that you know how to reset eFootball 2021 database on PC, you don’t have to panic the next time your game starts crashing or showing weird glitches. If you still run into issues after the reset, you can try fully reinstalling the game as a last resort, but that’s almost never necessary if you followed the steps in this guide properly.