Even though you may use your fingerprint to unlock your phone, most smartphones demand a PIN, pattern, or alphanumeric code as the primary password. It is easy to forget your phone’s PIN if you haven’t entered it for a while. It is precisely due to this reason that most smartphones make you enter your PIN at least once a day even if you have fingerprint unlock turned on. Even after all these extra measures it is possible to forget your phone’s unlock PIN. In this article, we bring you the top 4 ways to unlock locked Android phones without losing your personal data.
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Unlock your Samsung phone without losing your data
If you own a Samsung smartphone, there is a native way to unlock the lockscreen without factory resetting your device. Samsung’s Find My Mobile service lets you remotely unlock your smartphone without needing the device password. Here’s a step-by-step breakdown of the process.
This method only works if Find My Mobile and Remote Unlock are enabled on your Samsung smartphone. You can turn it on by going to Settings>Samsung Account>Find My Mobile and turning the toggle bar on for Remote Unlock.
Step 1: Go to https://findmymobile.samsung.com/ and sign in using your Samsung Account.
Step 2: Select your Samsung smartphone from the left panel.
Step 3: Click on the ‘Unlock’ icon on the right panel. You will be made to re-enter your Samsung password. After that, your smartphone’s screen will be unlocked. All the screen lock information including password, pin, and biometrics will be deleted from your phone after using this feature.
Remotely unlock your Android phone using Google’s Find My Device
Apart from tracking your smartphone, Google’s Find My Device service can also remotely unlock your Android phone for you without wiping the data on it. First, you need to go to Settings>Google and turn on Find My Device. Then go to Settings>Biometrics and Security>Other security settings>Device admin apps and turn the toggle bar on for Find My Device. Here’s how you can remotely unlock your smartphone using Google’s Find My Device.
Step 1: Go to https://www.google.com/android/find and select your Samsung smartphone from the left panel.
Step 2: Select Secure Device from the left panel. You can also set up a recovery message if you want.
Step 3: Find my device will lock your smartphone’s screen.
Step 4: Follow the on-screen instructions to set up a new temporary password to unlock your device.
Step 5: Once your phone is unlocked, disable the temporary password from Settings.
Unlock your Android phone using ADB
Some Android phones may get unlocked using ADB (Android Debug Bridge). First, you need to download and install the SDK toolkit on your PC. You can download it from the official Android website here. Next, you need to enable USB debugging from developer options on your Android smartphone. Read this article to find out how to enable USB debugging. Follow the steps below to unlock your phone using ADB.
Step 1: Connect your smartphone to your PC using a USB cable.
Step 2: Launch Command Prompt in the ADB installation path.
Step 3: Type this command ‘adb shell rm /data/system/gesture.key’ and hit Enter.
Step 4: Wait for the process to finish and restart your phone.
How to unlock a locked Android phone using DroidKit?
Use can use a third-party tool like DroidKit to unlock your smartphone in case you forget the lockscreen pattern or pin. DroidKit works for fingerprint unlock and Face ID as well. The only downside is that you will lose all the data on your phone after this process. If you periodically back up your data on your Google Account, you can easily recover your data after unlocking your phone. Here’s how you can unlock your Android phone using DroidKit.
Step 1: Download and Install DroidKit on your PC.
Step 2: Launch DroidKit on your PC and connect your Android phone via a USB cable.
Step 3: Select ‘Screen Unlocker’ from DroidKit’s homepage.
Step 4: In the following window, click on ‘Start’.
Step 5: Follow the onscreen instructions to remove the lockscreen password.
Step 6: Once the process is finished, your Android phone will be unlocked.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it possible to unlock an Android phone without losing data?
Yes, Google’s Find My Device and Samsung’s Find my Mobile make it possible to remotely unlock your Android phone without losing all your data.
How do I unlock my phone if I forgot the password?
Use Google’s Find My Device or Samsung’s Find My Mobile to unlock your Android phone if you forgot the password. You can also use the DroidKit tool on your PC to unlock your phone.
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Conclusion
This is how you can unlock a locked Android phone without losing the data. Some smartphones may allow you to enter a backup PIN or password if you forgot your phone’s primary password. This feature is usually found in older phones and newer devices may not have it.
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