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Help Forgot my pattern, locked out of phone, need to bypass lock screen

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DoctorFraggington

Lurker
Factory reset is not an option, unless you know for certain a method of recovering files from the phone immediately afterward.

I tried using android device manager and locked the phone with a backup password, but the prompt to enter it never showed up. Is it because I entered a password that was letters instead of numbers and longer than 4 characters? The site shouldn't have called it a backup *password* then, or accepted an invalid one. It won't let me set another one, of course.

I've exhausted all but one attempt at guessing my pattern. Wish I had known fingerprint was disabled immediately after restart.
 
david nist said:
Try any of these hacks yet?

https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/7-ways-bypass-androids-secured-lock-screen-0165540/
Click to expand...

Yes, the ones that apply. Some of them require prior setup which I don't have. I already mentioned that I used Android Device Manager/Find My Device and that it didn't send the back-up password to my phone, but I was able to send a lock message and ring the device, so I know ADM is working. My android version must be too recent to use the "forgot pattern" feature, which seems to me like an exceptionally useful feature, or to crash the lock UI screen.
 
That's a horse of a different color.

Have you started down that path yet?

You ok with going off road a little, booting into safe and recovery?

Apologize I haven't had time yet to read through the whole thread this go-round.

Can you give me a quick rundown of what you've tried?

I've got a couple free hours left tonight, and most of tomorrow evening after 6pm EST.

Cheers!
 
You can recover your files by plugging your phone into the PC and copying the data inside it's worked on many of my embarrassing moments of forgetfulness I hope this still works.
 
mikedt said:
Ask the FBI about retrieving data from a locked iPhone. And locked Androids can be just as secure, if not more.
Click to expand...

There's a huge difference between a screen locked phone, and an encrypted phone.

A common right of passage for a noob script-kitty is to demonstrate the ability to bypass a screen lock on any phone handed to them.

If memory serves, pattern lock doesn't meet encryption minimum standard requirements, halting any attempt to encrypt until you select a safer screen lock type.

Cheers!
 
Jacob Hoppe said:
You can recover your files by plugging your phone into the PC and copying the data inside it's worked on many of my embarrassing moments of forgetfulness I hope this still works.
Click to expand...

Don't give it all away just yet Jacob. Lol

The thread needs to bake just a little longer before taking it out of the oven to cool.

(we're missing two pieces of information)

But great answer!
 
david nist said:
That's a horse of a different color.

Have you started down that path yet?
Click to expand...


Nothing comes up when I plug my phone into my computer. I looked into Dr. Phone, but that currently only supports iPhone
david nist said:
You ok with going off road a little, booting into safe and recovery?
Click to expand...

sure...as long as we're not talking about deleting any pictures.

david nist said:
Can you give me a quick rundown of what you've tried?
Click to expand...

From the site you linked:

1. Use Android Device Manager
I successfully used the "Lock" function on that site with a password, but the prompt for the password I entered never came up on the phone. The password was 11 alphabetic characters. The site does not offer a chance to make another such temporary password.

2. Use Samsung's 'Find My Mobile' Service
Not possible, I didn't set it up prior.

3. Use the 'Forgot Pattern' feature
My phone hasn't given me the option, not even with one attempt remaining. My android version isn't old enough, right? Hey, let's remove a type of password recovery, nobody needs that. Not even Paypal members.

4. Perform a factory reset
Unless I can be certain that I can recover my photos immediately afterward, this is not an option

5. Enable USB Debugging
This one I haven't tried, but I don't know if I have usb debugging enabled.

6. Boot into Safe mode to bypass third-party lock screen
Haven't tried this because don't believe I'm using a third-party lock screen.

7. Crash the lock screen.
Tried this, can't copy and paste.
 
Sorry all
Picking up a new dev contract this week, time will be limited so I gotta fast-track.

I'm confident the answer to the pattern lock hack will be found here:

https://android.gadgethacks.com/how-to/7-ways-bypass-androids-secured-lock-screen-0165540/

If none of the recommendations works during 'first stab' at it, start again at the top of the list and go through it a second time just to make sure you didn't miss a step anywhere.

You'd be surprised how easy it is to hit reboot' when you're thinking 'power down.'

For future's benefit, please post the method that worked for you and any challenges involved.

And if the unit still misbehaves after the second run through, feel free to email me.

Maybe we can setup a Skype call.

Cheers!

davidnist.com
 
DoctorFraggington said:

Nothing comes up when I plug my phone into my computer. I looked into Dr. Phone, but that currently only supports iPhone



sure...as long as we're not talking about deleting any pictures.



From the site you linked:

1. Use Android Device Manager
I successfully used the "Lock" function on that site with a password, but the prompt for the password I entered never came up on the phone. The password was 11 alphabetic characters. The site does not offer a chance to make another such temporary password.

2. Use Samsung's 'Find My Mobile' Service
Not possible, I didn't set it up prior.

3. Use the 'Forgot Pattern' feature
My phone hasn't given me the option, not even with one attempt remaining. My android version isn't old enough, right? Hey, let's remove a type of password recovery, nobody needs that. Not even Paypal members.

4. Perform a factory reset
Unless I can be certain that I can recover my photos immediately afterward, this is not an option

5. Enable USB Debugging
This one I haven't tried, but I don't know if I have usb debugging enabled.

6. Boot into Safe mode to bypass third-party lock screen
Haven't tried this because don't believe I'm using a third-party lock screen.

7. Crash the lock screen.
Tried this, can't copy and paste.
Click to expand...


THANK YOU!

Grateful for the detailed reply. This helps a lot.

It's no wonder you're frustrated.

First up is an easy one:

Before you go through that last link I sent, we probably need to address what you found at the very start:

To quote you:
Nothing comes up when I plug my phone into my computer. I looked into Dr. Phone, but that currently only supports iPhone

We need to fix you here first. The laptop or computer must first be able to communicate with the S7.

Have you checked for proper USB drivers for the S7? - I can send them to you if not.

What version of Windows are you running?

updates applied?

Does the computer recognize the phone thru USB, but sometime in the past you set it to ignore it when you plugged in?

Be glad to help in any way I can.

I know how frustrating this be.

David
 
Sorry I disappeared for a long while, I had vision trouble for a week and heavy cleaning on a deadline.

What I meant when I said "Nothing comes up when I plug my phone into my computer." is that it asks me what to do with the device, and when I select to browse photos to upload to the computer, it tells me it can't find anything to import.

This still happens after I downloaded and (re)installed the drivers from Samsung's website.

I'm using Windows 10, which says it's up to date.
 
DoctorFraggington said:
Sorry I disappeared for a long while, I had vision trouble for a week and heavy cleaning on a deadline.

<br>

<br> What I meant when I said 'Nothing comes up when I plug my phone into my computer.' is that it asks me what to do with the device, and when I select to browse photos to upload to the computer, it tells me it can't find anything to import.

<br>

<br> This still happens after I downloaded and (re)installed the drivers from Samsung's website.

<br>

<br> I'm using Windows 10, which says it's up to date.
Click to expand...
It usually won't show files unless the phone is unlocked :(
I guess it's different on the s7 but on my s5 when i restart my phone it tells me that i can't use finger print, but on the bottom right there's an option to change password, when i press that it asks for finger print and then for new password!!!
 
DoctorFraggington said:
Factory reset is not an option, unless you know for certain a method of recovering files from the phone immediately afterward.

I tried using android device manager and locked the phone with a backup password, but the prompt to enter it never showed up. Is it because I entered a password that was letters instead of numbers and longer than 4 characters? The site shouldn't have called it a backup *password* then, or accepted an invalid one. It won't let me set another one, of course.

I've exhausted all but one attempt at guessing my pattern. Wish I had known fingerprint was disabled immediately after restart.
Click to expand...


Forgot your Android lock screen pattern, PIN or password?

Here’s what to do:

Unlock your Android device using Android Device Manager (ADM).

The following method only applies to devices that have Android Device Manager enabled.

1. On a computer or other mobile phone, visit: android/devicemanager
2. Sign in using your Google login details that you also used on your locked phone.
3. In the ADM interface, select the device you need to unlock (if it isn’t already selected).
4. Select ‘Lock’
5. In the appearing window, enter a temporary password. You don’t have to enter a recovery message. Now click ‘Lock’ again.
6. If it was successful, you should see a confirmation below the box with the buttons Ring, Lock and Erase.
7. On your phone you should now see a password field in which you should enter the temporary password. This should unlock your phone.
8. Now, before you go on with your life, go to your phone’s lock screen settings and disable the temporary password.
9. That’s it!
 
Senyora said:
<br>

<b>Forgot your Android lock screen pattern, PIN or password? </b>

<br>

<br> Here’s what to do:

<br>

<br> Unlock your Android device using Android Device Manager (ADM).

<br>

<br> The following method only applies to devices that have Android Device Manager enabled.

<br>

<br> 1. On a computer or other mobile phone, visit: android/devicemanager

<br> 2. Sign in using your Google login details that you also used on your locked phone.

<br> 3. In the ADM interface, select the device you need to unlock (if it isn’t already selected).

<br> 4. Select ‘Lock’

<br> 5. In the appearing window, enter a temporary password. You don’t have to enter a recovery message. Now click ‘Lock’ again.

<br> 6. If it was successful, you should see a confirmation below the box with the buttons Ring, Lock and Erase.

<br> 7. On your phone you should now see a password field in which you should enter the temporary password. This should unlock your phone.

<br> 8. Now, before you go on with your life, go to your phone’s lock screen settings and disable the temporary password.

<br> 9. That’s it!
Click to expand...
This used to work. But now if you lock the phone using device manager, it tells you that being that you already have a password set up, you will have to use that password to unlock phone
 
Senyora said:
Forgot your Android lock screen pattern, PIN or password?

Here’s what to do:

Unlock your Android device using Android Device Manager (ADM).

The following method only applies to devices that have Android Device Manager enabled.

1. On a computer or other mobile phone, visit: android/devicemanager
2. Sign in using your Google login details that you also used on your locked phone.
3. In the ADM interface, select the device you need to unlock (if it isn’t already selected).
4. Select ‘Lock’
5. In the appearing window, enter a temporary password. You don’t have to enter a recovery message. Now click ‘Lock’ again.
6. If it was successful, you should see a confirmation below the box with the buttons Ring, Lock and Erase.
7. On your phone you should now see a password field in which you should enter the temporary password. This should unlock your phone.
8. Now, before you go on with your life, go to your phone’s lock screen settings and disable the temporary password.
9. That’s it!
Click to expand...

Like I said in the first post, I already tried Android Device Manager. I created a temporary password that was apparently never sent to my phone, even though I was able to lock and ring said phone with ADM.
 
Hi, thanks for your tips.

I seem to have forgotten my recently set or changed password. Now at attempt 9 of 10 before all my data get deleted.

I can see my phone (not on its current location) there, but do not see an option to provide a new password (code).
I could enter a text or "let my phone ring" (which it btw does not do ...)

What shall I do now, please?
(If there 's an option to get a few more attempts, that would help as well.)

Many thanks for any tips or advise.
 
Are you talking about "find my phone" (formerly "android device manager")? It sounds like it but you've not said what you are using so it's good to be clear.

Unfortunately, as said above, that utility is no use for bypassing a forgotten lockscreen password - the method you will still find on some websites (because the web is full of out of date information too) hasn't worked for several years.
 
DoctorFraggington said:
Like I said in the first post, I already tried Android Device Manager. I created a temporary password that was apparently never sent to my phone, even though I was able to lock and ring said phone with ADM.
Click to expand...
Hadron said:
Are you talking about "find my phone" (formerly "android device manager")? It sounds like it but you've not said what you are using so it's good to be clear.

Unfortunately, as said above, that utility is no use for bypassing a forgotten lockscreen password - the method you will still find on some websites (because the web is full of out of date information too) hasn't worked for several years.
Click to expand...
Hi Hadron,
thanks a million for getting back to me so quickly.
The page I am talking about:
https://www.google.com/android/find

And yes, fully agree " the web is full of out of date information " .

Yet, I still cannot believe that google erases people's data only because they have forgotten one of their 600 passwords and regards this as a security measure. To me, data loss rather seems to be a major security issue.
 
The assumption is that the data falling into a thief's hands is the biggest concern, and erasing the phone removes that risk. There is of course no way for the phone to distinguish between someone who is trying to break in and someone who has forgotten a password.

Unfortunately I don't myself know a solution to this problem. And if one exists there is an obvious drawback to posting it: any thief could use it too.
 
Hi - many thanks again. I totally get and appreciate the point that best intentions lead to this increased security.

I am happy to show my invoice, the original box of my smartphone, my driving license to whoever needs to know that I am not a thief and know the solution .
I also understand that this causes extra work, so even a reasonable fee could be kind of acceptable.

So, many thanks again, and if anyone knows a solution (but does not want to reveal it in public, can you please let me know and we will find a way)
 
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