On an Android phone you can protect unauthorized access by asking, for the use of the phone and its applications, to enter a PIN, a password or a drawing to be done with your finger. Basically this is the unlock code, to be entered every time the screen is turned on or after a certain period of time in which the smartphone remains in standby.
We talked about the Android blocking modes in another article explaining the pros and cons of each type.
In this article we see if and how you can do to unlock a protected Android phone without remembering the unlock code which can be a password, pin or sequence .
On smartphones with Android 4.4 and earlier there is an integrated way to bypass the protection while in Android 5 Lollipop this possibility no longer exists.
To find this feature in Android 4.4 and earlier, mistake your PIN, password or lock sequence five times to then see a recovery box.
You will then be asked to enter the username and password of the Google account associated with the Android device to access.
As already mentioned, this feature has been removed in Android 5.0 so on these smartphones there is no way to reset the password, pin or sequence if forgotten.
This is certainly a reinforcement of protection against thieves and spies who have no way of circumventing the access code, unless they use special software.
On Lollipop, however, there is the Android Smart Lock function to keep the phone unlocked at home or in your pocket, automatically, even if you don't remember the normal unlock code.
On Samsung tablets and smartphones, if you are logged in to the device with a Samsung account, you can use the Samsung Device Find website, log in with your account and use the remote unlock option.
Other manufacturers may offer similar characteristics if they have a location site.
If there are no other possibilities, the only way to go back to using an Android phone without knowing the access code is by factory reset, deleting the device's memory and all the data inside it .
This is a bearable sacrifice, if it is our smartphone, because the address book, applications and settings (even photos if you use Google Photos) will be automatically recovered the first time you log in with the previously set Google account.
Furthermore, if the device has an SD card, you can remove it before doing the factory reset and keep the data inside it.
After the reset, you can then reset a new lock screen.
The easiest way to reset the password or PIN for accessing an Android smartphone or tablet is by using the Android Device Management function, if it was previously set to erase the memory.
As already explained in the guide to delete data from lost or stolen Android phone, just activate the wifi network on the phone, open the device management website from the computer, log in with the Google account and click on the Block button
This button is used not only to lock the mobile phone if it was left without a lock screen (in case it has been lost or forgotten somewhere), but also to reset the access password .
In practice it allows you to reset your PIN or password and set a new one which can then be used to unlock the phone you forgot how to access.
Alternatively, a radical solution is to reset the mobile phone memory, which can always be done from the Device Manager or even manually from the device itself.
The exact way to do this work varies depending on the phone or tablet model and we talked in another article about how to reset Android .
On devices with Android 5.1 operating system it may be necessary to enter the username and password of the Google account that was previously associated with the device after the reset.
This prevents someone else from resetting and using the device.
The old unlock code will still be canceled.
Final note .
It has been discovered that in Android 5 the password lock screen mode can be easily overcome by anyone with a banal trick.
Basically, when asked for a password, an emergency call must be made.
On the keypad, press as many random keys as possible (after writing about ten, you can copy and paste several times).
Then return to the lock screen, open the camera, pull down the notification bar, press the settings button and, when asked for the password, paste everything that was copied from the emergency call, several times, until the camera don't crash.
A demonstration video has been published on this trick.
