Sometimes it can happen that you forget your Android smartphone unlock password or PIN, here's what to do to retrieve it
Not being able to unlock your phone is an embarrassing and frustrating situation. Especially if at that very moment we need the device for work. Yet it can happen quite easily to forget the unlock code on Android and not be able to access the phone:
What should we do if we do not remember the password of the smartphone?
To get around the lock screen, in case we have forgotten a password, PIN or sequence, the steps are quite simple. It should be remembered that being vast and varied Android world, the "tricks" shown below may be slightly different depending on the model of smartphone we own. In addition, the operations to be done change depending on the version of the Android operating system on the device. Obviously if we have set the fingerprint scanner we will not have these problems.
How to recover unlock password with Android 4.4 KitKat
If we own a phone with Android 4.4 KitKat or lower, resetting the forgotten password will be very easy. On the fifth wrong attempt, in fact, a pop-up message will ask us if we have forgotten the password. If we answer yes, we'll be redirected to a new login page where we'll just have to enter the access code of our Google account to regain possession of the phone.
How to recover unlock password with Android Lollipop or higher
If we own a smartphone with Android Lollipop or higher, the forgotten password option is not available. From this operating system onwards Google does not allow you to recover the PIN or unlock code in an easy way. In this case to regain possession of the phone we will have to perform a reset. This is a very secure system, but it will cost us all our data saved on the smartphone. If we were "wise" enough to make constant backups, however, this eventuality will not scare us.
Factory Data Reset
Another solution to get around the screen lock with forgotten password is to perform a factory data reset. To do this we need to connect our phone (which must be connected to Wi-Fi or data connection) to a computer. At this point through the Internet we access our Google account and choose the option restore to factory data from the section dedicated to Android devices associated with the account. It is important not to interrupt this process, otherwise the smartphone may suffer permanent damage. The phone can be restored to factory data by manually pressing a series of physical buttons (which change from model to model and from manufacturer to manufacturer). Once we enter the so-called recovery mode using the physical buttons we go to the Factory data reset section and start the process.