Have you lost access to your smartphone because you forgot the password or unlock pattern? Fortunately, there is still hope for this extremely typical accident. You can try a number of ways in this post to try to unlock a banned phone. The available approaches range from the most simple to the most complex.
Our whole personal, professional, financial, and health data is now stored on our smartphones. Thus, locking the screen is a crucial security precaution to safeguard your information's confidentiality. Users frequently forget their pattern or password, which results in them being "locked out," despite this. Many people today no longer use passwords since they unlock their smartphone using a biometric ID.
Before getting to the heart of the matter and talking about unlocking, let's emphasize that this situation is avoidable. As the saying goes, “prevention is better than cure”. When you receive a new Android smartphone, a few preliminary manipulations can save you a lot of inconvenience in the future.
THE FIRST STEPS TO TAKE WHEN YOU RECEIVE YOUR NEW ANDROID SMARTPHONE
Always link your Android smartphone to your Google account
Make sure it always has WiFi or cellular connectivity
Activate your device's Location services
Activate "Find my device" on your terminal
Use Smart Lock or smart lock function available from Android Lollipop
This last function exempts you from entering your password as long as you carry your phone on you, “or when it is in a verified place or near your connected devices”.
TO ACTIVATE THE “SMART LOCK” FUNCTION:
Go to Settings ⇒ Security & Privacy ⇒ Other Security Settings ⇒ Smart Lock
Set either or all of “Device detection when worn”, “Verified locations”, and “Verified devices”
Note that to change the Smart Lock settings, you must enter your current password, which is why it is best to make these settings as soon as you receive your device.
Enable Developer Mode on your smartphone
To go even further, and be sure and certain to be able to troubleshoot your device, it is a good idea to activate the Developer Mode on your smartphone.
Go to Settings ⇒ About Phone
At the very bottom of the screen, tap on “Build number” repeatedly until you see a message informing you about the “Developer options” menu in the System screen.
Go back a page
Go to System screen ⇒ Developer Options
Tap on “Use Developer Options”
In the Debugging submenu, activate the "USB debugging" button
If your computer is running Windows, you need to download your smartphone's USB driver, which is unnecessary if you're debugging your Android on a Linux or macOS system.
Then go to Computer Manager ⇒ Device Manager
Right-click on the name of your device (here, a small smartphone that looks like a big one, the Google Pixel 6a), then choose "Update Driver"
"Browse My Computer for Drivers"
Click "Browse" and find the usb-driver folder. Windows 10 or 11 will install the correct driver for your device
Download Android Debug Bridge, and unzip the file
Now, if there is a problem with your smartphone, you can access its file system from your computer and fix the problem from the Windows command prompt.
5 TECHNIQUES TO UNLOCK THE LOCK SCREEN OF YOUR ANDROID DEVICE
Reset via Google's "Find My Device" feature
If you do forget your passcode, this is the fastest way to remotely reset your Android smartphone. Google's Find My Device feature can not only locate a misplaced device, but also lock it, make it ring or wipe the data on it.
In order to perform the process correctly, make sure your smartphone is well connected to the internet (if not, go to technique 3).
You can also go directly to Technique 2 if you haven't previously enabled Find My Device.
If you meet all these conditions, the procedure to follow is very simple:
Go to the “Google Find My Device” site from your computer
Select the device to restore and click on "Reset device". This will remove the lock password
USE RECOVERY SOFTWARE LIKE DROIDKIT
Droidkit is a software suite that acts as a real Swiss army knife for Android. This program, available on Windows and macOS, is unfortunately paying, but it allows you to repair or recover lost data, reinstall or update the operating system, free up memory, or even bypass Google account verification on Samsung devices. It supports nearly 20,000 phone models, with the notable exception of OnePlus, whose support is imminent.
It has a very intuitive interface, which makes it accessible to all audiences.
Droidkit is an effective tool, but it is not the only one to offer this kind of service. Its only drawback, and it is significant, is that it is paid.
If you have forgotten your passcode but have enabled USB debugging on your smartphone, do the following. The procedure is uncomplicated and will not cost you anything.
Use ANDROID DEBUG BRIDGE (ADB) to delete the PIN file.
This technique requires prior soil preparation and following the preparation steps outlined at the beginning of this article.
First, connect your smartphone and computer with a USB cable
ADB is a tool designed primarily for Android app developers. It allows you to interact with Android emulators and devices connected to your computer. This program allows us to access saved KEY files, which contain all your identifiers, including your passwords, patterns and other fingerprints. If you delete it, the lock screen will disappear after a reboot.
You will need to launch ADB manually in its own folder, from the Windows command prompt.
To do this :
Go to the folder where you unzipped ADB
Right click on the folder titled “platform-tools_r…/platform-tools”
Choose the option “Copy as path”
Open the “Run…” command with Windows + R shortcut
Type cmd, and press Enter
Type “cd/d”, then do Ctrl+V, as in the screenshot, take care to delete the quotes, then press Enter
You should now be in the correct folder to run ADB.
To verify that this is indeed the case, simply type ‘adb’, then Enter.
If the list of Android Debugger Bridge commands appears on the screen, you are ready!
Type “adb shell rm /data/system/gesture.key” (still without the quotes)
Restart your smartphone.
The lock screen should be gone.
Note that this method is temporary and you will need to set a new PIN before the next restart.
Manually reset your smartphone (hard reset)
If you've gotten here, it's because none of the solutions suggested so far have worked. Your only remaining nuclear option is to reset your smartphone to Android. This method certainly works, but it has the disadvantage of completely wiping all data contained on the device, whether it be apps, call logs, SMS/MMS, photos, music, or other videos. Therefore, it's a good idea to regularly back up your smartphone to your Google account (a process that can be automated).
To unlock the smartphone we just have to reboot it to its original state (the so-called factory reset).
To do this, the manipulation is very simple:
Turn off your smartphone or tablet
Restart everything in Recovery mode (the handling may vary from one device to another, refer to your phone's manual if in doubt):
In general, we keep the 'Home', 'Volume Up' and 'Power' buttons pressed at the same time
In the menu without interface, head to the line 'Wipe data/factory reset' using the 'Volume Down' key to go down
Confirm your choice by pressing the ‘Power’ button on your device
Restart your smartphone or tablet using the 'reboot system now' menu option.
Your Android system is refurbished.
Once the reset is done, you will need to re-enter your Google credentials in order to use the device again and reconfigure it.
USE THE FIND MY DEVICE APP IF YOU HAVE A SAMSUNG GALAXY
If you own a Galaxy smartphone, whether it's a Galaxy A54 or a Galaxy Z Fold 4, Samsung offers a service similar to "Google Find My Device". It can be found on your terminal under the name “Find My Mobile”. You must have created a Samsung account, and make sure that your operator does not block this service.
Open the app and sign in with your Samsung account credentials
Click on ‘Lock my mobile device’
Then establish a new password/PIN code in the first field and click on 'Lock'
Your new code will be installed. After a few minutes, you just have to enter it on your smartphone to unlock it
BYPASS THE NON-NATIVE LOCK SCREEN
Note that this method is temporary and you will need to set a new PIN before the next restart.
Manually reset your smartphone (hard reset)
If you've gotten here, it's because none of the solutions suggested so far have worked. Your only remaining nuclear option is to reset your smartphone to Android. This method certainly works, but it has the disadvantage of completely wiping all data contained on the device, whether it be apps, call logs, SMS/MMS, photos, music, or other videos. Therefore, it's a good idea to regularly back up your smartphone to your Google account (a process that can be automated).
To unlock the smartphone we just have to reboot it to its original state (the so-called factory reset).
To do this, manipulation is very
