How to proceed with Android file transfer with a locked screen or if it is broken? One day you are walking, you grab your mobile from your pocket, and suddenly it slips from your fingers & crashes straight to the floor facing down. We all have been through that, crossing fingers whenever it happened for the screen to escape unscathed.
It can be very distressing to break the screen of our Android phone inadvertently, and even worse, if it gets broken to an extent, we can not see anything or even use the touch panel. The display is the most critical component of our phones; it is its main UI.
After all, it’s through the screen that we can navigate between apps, watch videos, text our friends, access social networks, check e-mails, do phone calls, & access all of the stored data. In case your screen is no longer working, not only it gets unusable, but all that info stored in your mobile gets inaccessible. It can be very stressful if it gets broken.
And no matter how careful we’re with our mobile devices, it is expected that we are going to drop it accidentally sometime during its lifespan.
If you have recently smashed your phone screen, do not worry, and keep reading, we have good news & beneficial info.
Android file transfer with a locked screen (or broken)
If your touchscreen refuses to respond to your fingers or the screen is so damaged, you can not see a thing, do not be in pain or anxious, as there are some solutions to retrieve your precious data.
Use an OTG adapter
The OTG (On-The-Go) adapter is nothing but a USB to micro-USB (or USB to USB-C) cable so that you can connect your Android phone to your PC via regular USB port. When you connect both devices, you will be able to use your smartphone without using the touchscreen.
Plug your broken smartphone into your PC via its USB cable;
As soon as your smartphone gets detected, an “Open folder to view files” will be shown on your computer screen;
Now you’ve access to most of your phone’s files, both in internal memory and on the memory card, if you have one;
Chose the files you are willing to recover (app data, personal files, videos, photos, etc.) and copy those from locked Android phones to your PC.
This method will only work if you have the USB debugging mode turned on before your Android phone screen got damaged.
How to activate USB debugging?
To activate USB debugging, you need to activate “Developer Options,” hidden by default, since Android 4.2.
Follow the next steps to activate “Developer Options”:
1.Open the menu and access “Settings”;
2. On the “Settings” screen, scroll down to the bottom, and click “About phone”;
3. Now, scroll down the menu to the bottom, and find the “Build number” field;
4. Click the “Build number” field seven times to enable Developer Options;
5. If it is done correctly, you will see the message: “You are now a developer!”.
Click the Back button, and you will notice that a new “Developer Options” field appeared above the “About Phone” section in the Settings menu.
Now, let’s enable “USB Debugging”:
1. Open the “Developer Options” menu;
2. Scroll down to the “Debugging” section;
3. Afterward, toggle the “USB Debugging” switch to activate it, and that’s it!
In case USB debugging is not enabled and you can not use your phone’s touchscreen by any means to activate it, check the following procedures.
Use an HDMI cable
If you do not have a PC or you can not access one to transfer your files, or even if you do not have the USB Debugging capability enabled, you can connect your Android phone to a TV or a monitor through the HDMI port, so you can access your data & activate that feature.
Some phones have a built-in micro-HDMI port, but most don’t. If your Android does not have one, you should get a suitable converter box. A converter box connects to your mobile through micro-USB o USB-C and features many other ports like USB-A (conventional USB), HDMI, etc.
It is how you will use the converter box:
1. Connect the box to your mobile;
2. Connect the HDMI port on the box to your TV or external monitor;
3. Connect an external mouse to a USB port on the converter box;
4. Turn on your TV or monitor & use your mouse to unlock your mobile, browse its contents, or enable USB debugging.
Using 3rd party software to access your files
If you do not have the USB Debugging option enabled and your touchscreen is unusable and does not have any ways to connect it to a TV or an external monitor, some 3rd party software may help.
Broken Android Data Recovery by MobiKin will help you access your Android system and retrieve all the vital info you have there. With it, you will extract the existing data such as contacts, text messages, documents, music, videos, photos, etc. both from the internal phone memory and from the SD card.
You need to follow these simple steps:
1. Install Broken Android Data Recovery on a computer;
2. Connect your damaged phone to that PC through USB cable;
3. Choose the proper data recovery mode, which would be “Broken Android Data Extraction”;
4. Match your device with the program by choosing the device name & model;
5. Enter the download mode by following the on-screen prompts;
6. You will then get an interface to choose the data you wish to extract and tap the “Recover” button to save it on your PC.
Note: If you have a Samsung Android smartphone, you can use its proprietary software Kies to recover and transfer data.
Android transfer files to a computer over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth are also possible, and there are apps designed to do it when both devices are connected to the same wireless network. Although, bear in mind this can only be done if you can access your mobile and use the touchscreen if it is not non-operational.
Wrap Up
Inadvertently breaking the screen of our mobile can be painful and, even more, if it gets damaged to a point, the device is unusable. Not being able to access our important contacts & personal data is distressing, a terrible thing to happen.
To copy files from a locked Android phone is still possible, and throughout this post, there were some tips given on how to retrieve your data even if your phone’s screen is not working. I sincerely hope it was useful and able to save you from the worry of losing your essential files.