Sunday, March 27, 2011

Locked Out of Android Phone After Too Many Pattern Lock Attempts

If your phone wont accept your gmail login and password in this scenario here are the possible work arounds:


RESOLUTION 1:

  • Try entering "null" as password. (together with your Google username)

RESOLUTION 2:

  1. Create a new Gmail account on the computer.
  2. Call your cell phone with a different phone. 
  3. Answer your cell phone then hit the back button and it will take you to the home screen.
  4. Turn on WiFi so it can do data and voice at the same time (remember that the phone is still connected)
  5. Go to Settings -> Location & Security and disable lock pattern (you'll need to enter to correct pattern previously set)
  6. Go to Settings -> Accounts & Sync and click "Add Account" and add your newly created Gmail account.
  7. Disconnect the call and switch the phone off. 
  8. Turn the phone back on, at the lockout screen, enter your new Gmail account info and it should let you back in 
  9. Once the phone is unlocked, you can go in setting and remove the newly added Gmail account and keep the old one.
RESOLUTION 3:

In this case the solution is to make a factory reset (sometimes referred to as hard reset or wipe). This will erase all data on your phone (not on your SD-card). Your contacts and mails should be in sync with the Google servers, no problem there then. Downloaded applications needs to be installed again but there is a list of your previous downloads in the Android Market->My Downloads. Other things though are lost if you haven’t backed them up manually with a 3rd party application. Example on things you will lose: Call logs, text messages, application settings.
This is your 3 step solution
  1. Factory reset your phone (links to Android device manuals can be found below, it differs between devices)
  2. Setup your phone just like you did the first time you unpacked it (use the same Google Account if you want your old contacts back!)
  3. Restore any manual back-ups and install your previous applications from the My Downloads list.

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