It is associated throughout its range with open woodland, avoiding forest, semi-desert and desert areas. It tends to be found along rivers in wooded savanna. It requires the shelter of rocks or stone buildings in which to roost during the day (Skinner and Chimimba 2005). In the Arabian Peninsula animals have been recorded roosting in castles, forts, deep caverns and sea caves, with animals foraging among palm groves and gardens (Harrison and Bates 1991). In South Asia this species is found in arid climes and prefers tropical thorn forests. It roosts in small to large colonies ranging from a few individuals to thousands of individuals in caves, darker areas of old forts, mosques, large old wells, artificial tunnels, old disused buildings, and shares its roost with Rhinopoma spp. It feeds on moths and beetles (Bates and Harrison 1997).

The Egyptian tomb bat occurs widely throughout northern and sub-Saharan Africa, the Arabian Peninsula, and Asia, east to the Indian Subcontinent. In sub-Saharan Africa, records extend along the Nile and east to Ethiopia and northern Somalia, and west to Mauritania, Senegal, Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Ghana, Burkina Faso, Benin, Niger, and northern Nigeria, and south to Kenya (including Lamu island), Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, and Botswana. In southwest Asia, it has been recorded from Israel, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and Oman. In South Asia, this species is presently known to be widely distributed from southern Pakistan (Roberts 1997) and western India (Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan) (Bates and Harrison 1997, Molur et al. 2002) and recently reported from central Eastern Ghats in Andhra Pradesh (Chakraborty et al. 2004). It has been recorded up to 200 m Asl.

This species is present in many protected areas, and no direct conservation measures are currently needed for the species as a whole. The species has not been recorded from any protected areas in Pakistan or India. Being a poorly understood species in the region, more studies on distribution, abundance, reproduction and ecology are recommended (Molur et al. 2002).