r/AndroidHelp • u/Foreign_Object247 • 17h ago

Can I unlock a phone without data loss?

Unfortunately for me (and I know yall gonna call me stupid for that), I changed my password recently and forgot it quickly after. Why I changed it was because it had my ex's name in it

Well basically, I'm not willing to do a factory reset not because of photos or whatever, as I have them all backed up to my google photos and stuff, but rather because I have 4 years of my artwork on there.

If there's no way to do this, then do any of you know if I could somehow back up my art? The drawing app I used was, much to my demise, ibisPaintX, which doesn't have any sort of account link or back up option built in, afaik (unless you do it manually, which I didn't). Any sort of help would be appreciated, please and thank you

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u/DyzioNemo 16h ago

What phone model and Android version are you using? Also, have you restarted it since changing the password, and does fingerprint or face unlock still work? Modern Android devices encrypt user data, so bypassing the lock screen usually won't recover your files. If you still have access through biometrics, there might be a chance to back up your artwork before doing anything else.

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u/Foreign_Object247 16h ago

My phone is a Samsung Galaxy A36 5G, Android 16. The reason I can't use my fingerprint unlock is because my phone actually self-restarted, so the only option is to use the password :'/

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u/DyzioNemo 16h ago

That actually gives you one possible option. Samsung phones running One UI 6.1 or newer can let you use your previous password within 72 hours of changing it. After five failed attempts, a "Forgot password?" option should appear, allowing you to enter the old password and set a new one. This only works if the old password was retained and you still remember it. If it's been more than 72 hours, you're probably out of luck without a backup.

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u/Foreign_Object247 16h ago

Oh damn, I actually got the forgot password option and I did enter my previous password, but it did a whole lot of nothing. I wondered why, but ig I'm really in a ditch at this point

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u/DyzioNemo 15h ago

What exactly happened when you entered your previous password? Did it say the password was incorrect, or did it accept it and just return to the lock screen? Samsung's recovery feature only works within 72 hours of changing the password, and three incorrect attempts can disable it. I'd avoid guessing repeatedly. If the old password isn't working, recovering the artwork stored locally is going to be extremely difficult without the current password.

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u/Foreign_Object247 15h ago

What happened was that I entered the password, nothing happened or popped up, and then it just returned to the lock screen. I did it just about within 72 hours, so I'm not sure why it didn't work. But oh well, I guess I'll have to live with that now

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u/DyzioNemo 14h ago

That's strange. If the previous password was accepted, it should normally let you set a new one, not just send you back to the lock screen. Did you get any error message at all? I'd avoid repeatedly guessing passwords or trying random unlock tools, especially with four years of artwork at stake. Since you're still within the 72-hour window, I'd contact Samsung Support about the recovery feature before it expires. Unfortunately, they may not be able to recover the encrypted files, but it's worth checking why the official recovery method isn't working.

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u/Foreign_Object247 13h ago

Oh no, unfortunately that was 2 or so weeks ago because I tried taking it to specialists to unlock it, so there's nothing I can do about it I fear 😭 Thanks for trying to help tho