It’s not always an attractive situation when you intentionally or accidentally lock your phone, only to find out that your password can't unlock it anymore. And while it’s unusual to ‘forget’ your password, we can't but accept that mistake happens, and it might be easy to misplace a character or pattern included in your password if you’ve not mastered it yet. Anyway, the good news is there’s a chance of recovering your phone if you know how to. In this article, we'll guide you through how to flash a phone that is locked.
Shall we?
How to Flash a Phone That Is Locked
If you’ve not forgotten yet, the most prominent way of flashing a locked Android phone is by hard reset—which doesn't require going through the phone's settings. All you'll need is to power off and boot the device into recovery mode to perform a hard reset.
Mind you, resetting your phone will erase everything you’ve stored on it. Although it’ll help you recover the locked Android phone, it won’t keep your data. So, be sure you have a substantial backup before embarking on resetting it at all.
Some Android devices have different ways of booting into the recovery mode, but you can try this common way first. Here’s how to flash a phone that is locked via recovery mode:
- First, shut down the phone and wait for a few seconds.
- Press and hold the Volume down button + Power button
- Release the Power button once the logo shows up.
- Wait till you see the "No command" with the fallen robot screen, then press the Power + Volume down buttons again to enter the recovery mode.
- Use the Volume down button to highlight “Wipe data factory reset”
- Select it by pressing the Power button.
- Use the volume button to highlight “Yes” and confirm with the power button again.
- Wait for a moment to complete the process, then select “Reboot system now” to power on your phone.
That's it. You've successfully learned how to flash a phone that is locked by hard resetting it. Meanwhile, kindly note that while the hard reset has removed your lock screen and lock password pattern, you’ll still have to pass through Google’s Factory Reset Protection (FRP) before you can access the phone properly. That should be relatively easy if you can log in to the Google account linked to the phone. Isn’t it? Yes, it is.
Factory Reset Protection exists on the Android system to prevent thieves from unlocking your phone by hard reset without your consent. The inability to confirm your Google account after resetting the phone may render the phone useless until professional intervention.
How Do I Factory Reset Infinix, TECNO, itel Phone?
There are usually two data factory reset options on devices from these brands. First, you can perform a hard reset through the recovery mode (as analyzed earlier). And second, you can use the traditional data factory reset option from the Settings app.
But since your phone is locked and you can't find a way to unlock it, you're only left with the first option. Either way, remember that resetting your phone will result in data loss. So, remember to create a backup and proceed with caution.
Here’s how to reset a TECNO, Infinix, or itel phone via the recovery mode:
- Power off the phone.
- Press and hold the Power + Volume down buttons to start the phone.
- Release the Power button once you see the boot logo/animation
- Press the Power + Volume down keys simultaneously to pass through the “No command”
- Scroll to “Wipe data factory reset” with the volume down button, then click the Power button to select it.
- Select Yes to confirm your request.
- Click the Power key to reboot the phone after the reset is completed.
FAQs on How to Flash a Phone That Is Locked
1. How Do You Reset a Phone Without Unlocking It
To reset an Android phone that you've forgotten its password, you’ll have to perform a hard reset. Doing that requires you to boot your phone into recovery mode and select the data factory reset option.
Different Android phone brands have their way of accessing the Android system recovery mode. So, you may need to search for how to boot your particular phone model into recovery mode.
E.g: “how to boot TECNO CAMON 19 into recovery mode”
Nonetheless, entering recovering mode on most Android phones requires combining the volume down or up button with the power button to power the phone, as explained earlier in this article.
2. How Do I Bypass the Android Lock Screen?
Besides hard reset, some computer software, like Dr.Fone’s Android Screen Unlock, claims they can help bypass and unlock the Android lock screen without losing your data. And while Android’s security has gotten tighter over the years, chances are this method may work. However, it is usually not free and limited to selected Android brands.
So, if you don’t want to lose your data after a factory reset, you can try out one of the software.
3. Will a Factory Reset Unlock My Phone?
Absolutely Yes! Factory resetting your phone will help unlock it. Nonetheless, you must be able to pass Google’s Factory Reset Protection (FRP) before you’re guaranteed success. It contains simple steps that mandate you to enter the password of your Google account to authenticate if you genuinely own the device.
Final Thoughts
Accidentally forgetting your phone's password and getting denied access to anything on the phone can be a pain in the ass. But with this simple guide on how to flash a phone that is locked, you should be able to recover your phone, even if it leads to data loss.
