Phone locked? Here’s how to unlock your smartphone if you can’t open it

Most smartphone users use Android or iPhone to keep their data like images, videos, files, etc. safe, users have become more likely to secure their phones with fingerprint scanner or face unlock. As a backup, all smartphones ask for a pattern, pin or password.

Since most users tend to use the fingerprint scanner or face unlock more often, some users may forget the pattern/pin/password they registered some time ago. Or you can borrow an old phone to use after a few months or years and forgot the password or pattern. In such cases, unfortunately, it is not possible to restore your data (if you do not remember your password or PIN) without resetting the device to factory settings.

In this article, we will look at how you can unlock your smartphone using a hard reset using Find My Device, as well as tell you how to unlock using third-party applications. We will be covering both Android and iOS users.

Note. As stated earlier, all of these methods will completely DELETE all of your data, including your photos, Google account, contacts, SMS, call history, and everything else. You can only unlock your device without data loss on Android 4.4 or below (see the last section)

How to unlock your smartphone by performing a hard reset

The first and easiest way to unlock your smartphone is to perform a hard reset. If this method, you can follow the other method mentioned below. It does not require an Internet connection, PC or USB cable, all steps can be completed simply by using a smartphone.

1. Long press the power key
2. Click “Turn off”
3. Hold the power and volume down buttons when the phone is completely turned off
4. Hold these buttons until you feel a vibration and keep holding until you see the logo, your phone will go into recovery mode.
5. You can release the buttons as soon as the screen turns on
6. On the next screen, you will be prompted to enter a pattern
7. Click on the “Forgot password”option under the template
8. You will receive the message “You will LOSE everything”(music, photos, etc.)
9. Click “OK”to start the factory reset process.
10. Your phone will erase all data and reboot after deleting all data.

Set up your device right from the start, including adding your Google account, apps, photos, songs, and more.

Note. On some phones, you need to press the volume up button to enter recovery mode.

How to unlock your smartphone using Find My Device

This is a popular Google service for remotely detecting, blocking and even deleting phone data. Using this method, we can find and wipe device data using the website. Alternatively, you can perform the same set of operations using the Google Find My Device app from another phone.

• Visit the Google Find My Device webpage
• Select a device from the list
• Once you have selected a device from the list, click “Erase Device”.

• Confirm by clicking “Erase device”.

Again, all data will be permanently deleted from this device. Once your device is deleted, you won’t be able to find it and you’ll have to set up the device from the beginning and sign in to your Google account again.

How to Unlock iPhone with iTunes

If you want to unlock and restart your iPhone, you must have a Mac or PC to do so. Once you have it, you can unlock your iPhone using the iTunes app.

1. Turn off your iPhone
2. Put your iPhone into recovery mode by holding the side button on your iPhone and immediately connecting your iPhone to your computer (don’t release the button).

(Use the side button on iPhone 8 and later, turn down the volume on iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, and press the Home button on iPhone models)

• Keep holding the button until you see the recovery mode screen on your iPhone, then release (if you see a passcode screen, you need to turn off your iPhone and start the process again)
• Find your iPhone in Finder or iTunes on the computer it’s connected to.

Select “Restore”when you see the option to “Restore”or “Update”.

Your computer downloads the software for your iPhone and starts the recovery process.

Wait for the process to complete

Disconnect iPhone from your computer, then set up and use iPhone.

How to unlock your smartphone using third-party apps

If you are unable to unlock and restart your phone with the above steps, you can follow the steps below and do it with the following apps.

Using the WonderShare Drfone App

• Download the PC app available for Windows/Mac
• Install and open the application
• Select the “Unlock Screen”option (it will load the module)
• Tap on the “Unlock Screen Android/FRP”option.
• Select “Unlock Android Screen”.
• Connect your Android phone to your computer

• The app will match your phone’s model number, install the environment, download the configuration, and automatically validate its file.

• After completing these steps, on the next screen, tap “Unlock Now”, which will erase all data from your phone and reset the device to factory settings.

This app also allows you to unlock the iOS screen, but the steps are the same as the ones we mentioned earlier for iTunes.

Using PassFab Android Unlocker

• Download the PassFab Android Unlocker PC app for Mac/Windows.
• Install and open the application
• Select the “Remove screen lock”option.

• Tap “Remove Screen Lock”.
• Connect your Android phone to your computer

• After recognition, click “Start”.
• You will receive a warning “Removing the screen lock password will delete all data on the device. Are you sure you want to continue?”
• Click “Yes”to continue

• Wait a few minutes and your Android lock screen will be removed.
• Click Finish to complete the process
• After completing these steps, on the next screen, tap “Unlock Now”, which will erase all data from your phone and reset the device to factory settings.

Reset your phone’s pattern (Android 4.4 or earlier only)

As of November 2021, less than 2% of billions of Android devices run only Android 4.4 or earlier. But if you still have an older device and need to unlock your unlock pattern, you can follow these steps.

1. After several attempts to unlock the phone, you will see the message “Forgot pattern”.
2. Click Forgotten Template
3. Enter the Google account username and password you previously added to your phone.
4. Reset screen lock