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Trying to access your device and getting a password error is not an experience anyone wants to go through. It’s even worse when you’ve tried every combination and nothing seems to work. Whether you recently set up the password and forgot the passcode or it’s an old Android device you’ve kept away for a while, there is still a way to gain access. If you’re dealing with a second-hand Android device you’ve already bought with absolutely no way to contact the seller, there are tools designed to help unlock such phones.
In some cases, users who have become accustomed to using only biometrics on their devices may forget the passcode they initially set up. In a case where face or fingerprint unlock fails to work, the device becomes inaccessible.
There are several methods to unlock an Android phone without a password and this article explains some of the most reliable ones.
Google’s Find My Device
Find My Device is Google’s own security measure for Android devices. Before now, this was a viable way to unlock your Android device, but Google took out this feature for reasons best known to them. Find My Device now only appears to remotely lock, wipe, or locate your device in case of loss or theft. You will not be able to directly unlock your phone using this feature. However, if you don’t mind wiping your device, this feature somehow works. After wiping the device, logging in with your Google account should get you in.
Unfortunately, this method has a drawback: you need a working internet connection on the device, and GPS location must be turned on. Without this, you won’t be able to unlock the device. To get started:
1. Log in to https://www.google.com/android/find
2. Select the ERASE DEVICE option.
3. Confirm your selection on the next page and follow the screen prompt to complete the process.
4. After the device is completely wiped, the passcode would have been removed but you will need to access the phone with your Google account.
Samsung’s Find My Mobile
Find My Mobile is Samsung’s solution to help secure and locate your device. This is a better alternative to Google’s Find My Device, but as expected, it is only available for Samsung phones. If you’re using a different brand, you’re not totally out of luck as there’s another method discussed later in this article.
To use Samsung’s Find My Mobile to unlock an Android phone, certain conditions need to be met.
- The phone must be a Samsung phone signed in to a Samsung account
- Location service must be turned on and internet access must be enabled
To use this method, follow the following steps:
1. Log in to findmymobile.samsung.com
2. Click the Unlock icon on the left
3. Confirm your Samsung Account and your phone should be unlocked.
Why this isn’t the perfect option
If you’re using a brand different from Samsung, this wouldn’t work. As explained earlier, this method only works if you’re signed in to a Samsung account on the phone and there is access to location service and a working internet connection.
A better alternative is to use a third-party tool like iMobie DroidKit.
Using iMobie DroidKit
DroidKit has been proven to be a more reliable option to unlock your Android phone. The good news is that it doesn’t matter what brand your phone is and there is no root access required. iMobie DroidKit is designed to remove all kinds of screen locks including PIN, password, pattern, fingerprint, and facial recognition.
iMobie DroidKit has been reported to have a very high success rate and this was proven during our conducted test while writing this review. iMobie DroidKit supports an extensive list of phone brands comprising over 20,000 Android phones and tablets. At this time, only OnePlus seems to be conspicuously missing from the list and a future update will likely address this.
Unlike Find My Device or Find My Mobile, DroidKit does not need an internet connection or GPS location access to work. All you need is a USB cable to connect the phone to your computer.
How to use Mobile Droidkit to unlock an Android phone
1. Connect your phone to the computer through a USB cable.
2. Launch iMobie DroidKit and select the Unlock Screen option
3. Before proceeding, be aware that this process will erase your device and all data will be wiped. Hit the Start button to proceed.
4. Following the instructions to put the phone into Recovery mode and the process starts.
5. After a while, the phone will be wiped, removing the screen lock.
6. If the phone was signed in to a Google account or a Samsung account, you need to log in to this account to fully access the phone.