UEFI

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface
AbbreviationUEFI
StatusPublished
Year started2006[a]
Latest version2.10
August 29, 2022
OrganizationUEFI Forum
Related standardsACPI, UEFI Platform Initialization
PredecessorBIOS on IBM PC compatible computers[b]
DomainFirmware
Websiteuefi.org
Boot order selection menu on a Lenovo ThinkPad T470 with UEFI
The UEFI implementation is usually stored on a NOR-based flash memory[1][2][3] located on the mainboard. Various I/O protocols can be used, SPI being the most common.

Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI, /ˈjuːɪfaɪ/ or as an acronym)[c] is a specification for the firmware architecture of a computing platform. When a computer is powered on, the UEFI-implementation is typically the first that runs, before starting the operating system. Examples include AMI Aptio, Phoenix SecureCore, TianoCore EDK II, InsydeH2O.

UEFI replaces the BIOS which was present in the boot ROM of all personal computers that are IBM PC compatible,[4][5] although it can provide backwards compatibility with the BIOS using CSM booting. Contrary to its predecessor BIOS which is a de facto standard originally created by IBM as proprietary software, UEFI is an open standard maintained by an industry consortium.

Intel developed the original Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) specification. The last Intel version of EFI was 1.10 released in 2005. Subsequent versions have been developed as UEFI by the Unified EFI Forum.

UEFI is independent of platform and programming language, but C is used for the reference implementation TianoCore EDKII.


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  1. ^ "Documentation - Winbond".
  2. ^ "Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 (13.8-inch) Chip ID". 22 June 2024.
  3. ^ Zimmer, Vincent; Rothman, Michael; Marisetty, Suresh (2017). Beyond BIOS: Developing with the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface, Third Edition. Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG. ISBN 978-1-5015-0569-0.
  4. ^ Kinney, Michael (1 September 2000). "Solving BIOS Boot Issues with EFI" (PDF). pp. 47–50. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 January 2007. Retrieved 14 September 2010.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference ElReg1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).