Android comes with built-in protection feature to prevent unauthorized use of your phone. You can use the medium (Pattern) or high (Password) security, according to your requirement to prevent people from accessing your phone data.
However, there is a chance you might end up forgetting your password/pattern and lock yourself out of your phone. Furthermore, if your phone doesn’t have any protection, then anyone can lock your phone easily if they get access to it (quite a common prank). But don’t worry, we can help you access your device with some simple tricks.
Warning: You should only bypass the security of your own phone that you personally own. The below mentioned methods should never be used to access phone of any other person without their consent. You will be solely responsible for any possible action taken against you.
Bypass Pattern Lock
Pattern Lock provides medium protection and it is actually quite easy to unlock. However, this doesn’t mean anyone can unlock it, in most cases, only the owner of the phone can actually bypass it, here is how.
If you don’t know the exact pattern, then make 5 incorrect patterns and make sure you go through at least 4 points while entering incorrect patterns. When you will enter 5 incorrect patterns, you will be prompted that you need to wait 30 seconds before making further attempts, tap “OK” on the prompt. Now, you will see two new options below, “Forgot Password” and Backup Pin”. You can use any of these two options to access your phone.
Backup Pin
When you first created the Pattern you were also prompted to add a Pin code that will be used to bypass Pattern in case you forget it. If you still remember the Pin code, then just tap on “Backup Pin” and enter the Pin Code. If you can’t access the Pin code field, then wait for the 30 second timer to finish and then enter the Pin code. As you enter the correct Pin code, you will be automatically directed to the “Lock Screen” option where you can enter a new protection option.
Forgot Password
If you don’t remember the Pin code, then you can click on “Forgot Password” to unlock pattern using your Google Account. For this purpose, your phone must be connected to a Google account, and most probably it will be connected to a Google account as it is required to use most of Android features.
Tap on “Forgot Password” and on the next page, enter your Google account email and password and tap on “Sign in”. If both email and password are correct, then the phone will unlock and you will be directed to “Lock Screen” option.
Bypass Pin/Password Lock
It is not that easy to bypass Password/Pin (if it was easy, why would it be there?), but still you can bypass it. There are different methods for this purpose and we are going to mention the easiest ones.
Method #1: Use Samsung’s Find My Mobile Feature (Samsung Phones only)
If you have an Android phone by Samsung and it is also connected to a Samsung Account, then you can unlock your phone using “Find My Mobile” service. This service is basically used for finding your phone and controlling it remotely, so it can also be used to unlock your phone if the phone has internet access.
Just open Find MY Mobile website and Sign in with your Samsung Account.
Once inside, click on “Unlock my Device” located in the left side menu and from the drop down menu click on “Unlock my screen”.
Now, on the next page, click on “Unlock” and your device will unlock automatically while removing Security lock. You can then add another protection as you may like.
Method #2: Use An App To Unlock Your Phone (Paid)
You can also use an Android app that will let you bypass lock screen, but there aren’t many apps for this purpose. Either your phone needs to be rooted or you will have to pay for the app in order to use it in an unrooted phone.
For this purpose, Screen Lock Bypass Pro is most famous and it can unlock a phone without any root access. However, the app comes with a price of $4.2, but if you would like to protect your data and you can’t access by any other means, then this is your last hope.
Note: This app might not work on all Android devices, so before buying make sure it is compatible with your Android phone.
You need to access Google Play Store with the Google account that is connected to your phone with a PC. Then Just go to Screen Lock Bypass Pro app and download it on the device which you need to unlock (after purchasing, of course). Although make sure your phone is not connected to any charger or USB data cable that could charge it.
Once the app is installed completely, plug in your charger or restart your phone (by taking out the battery). The bypass process will start and once completed you will see an “Activate” button that you can tap to reset the lock screen.
Method #3: Factory Reset Your Phone
This is the simplest method and doesn’t have any special requirements to fulfill either. However, it will completely delete all of your data and reset your phone to its Factory condition. This means if you didn’t backup any important data, then it will be deleted and you can’t do anything about it now as you are locked out.
If you concerned about your important data, then it is better to back it up Now. You never know when you may need to Factory Reset your phone and lose all data if not backed up.
As your phone is “locked”, you obviously can’t access the Settings to Factory Reset your phone. So we are going to use the Android’s “Recovery Mode” to factory reset the phone.
To enter recovery mode, you need to press a combination of “Home Button”, “Power Button” and “Volume buttons” while the phone is booting. The combination depends on your device and the manufacturer of your device, you can check the combination list of most famous devices or contact the manufacturer of your device to get the combination.
For example, For most Samsung Phones, we need to press “Power Button”, “Home Button” and “Volume Up Button” simultaneously while the phone is booting to enter recovery mode.
If you know the combination for your phone, just turn your phone off by holding “Power Button” and selecting “Power off” from the menu (or holding “Power Button” for 5 seconds). Now, turn on the phone by holding “Power Button” again and as soon as you see the screen with Manufacturer’s Logo, press the required key combination and hold it.
You need to keep holding it until the phone restarts again (it should take 2-4 seconds). You should see a menu of few options that isn’t much graphic intensive. If the phone starts booting normally, then turn it off again and retry until you get it right.
Once inside Recovery mode, you can navigate up and down through the options using the Volume Up and Down keys and to select an option you need press the “Power Button”. In the options, you will see an option of “Wipe data/ factory reset”, navigate to it and press “Power Button”. After that confirm the prompt and your phone will factory reset (it may take 5-10 minutes).
As the process completes, you will have to provide all personal details again like you did the first time when you bought the phone, and there will be no Password Protection activated.
Here is a video as well, showing how you can factory reset your phone using Android Recovery Mode:
Let us know how the article helped you or provide further suggestions in the comments below.