- The pattern lock screen (in Swedish)
On Android phones you can activate a feature called pattern lock. This feature can be compared to a Windows computer asking for password after the screen saver kicked in, only instead of a password you use a pattern. You get a screen with 9 dots and you draw a pattern of your choice with 4 of them. If you forget your pattern (or have kids that likes to play with phones) you will after 3 faulty attempts be unable to use the pattern to unlock it. Instead you are asked for your Google account and password (that is setup with the phone of course). This is where the problem starts.
For many, many users providing the username and password won’t change a thing. For some people changing the password via a computer has worked but that is uncommon. Most people ends up with a very expensive paperweight. Have no fear, there are solutions to almost everything!
Update
Just read about a possible work-around. So before going ahead with the factory reset below try this: Here’s the solution to unlock without losing your data:
Type you gmail username and in the password field type “null”. You will then be prompted to enter a new pattern and your phone will be unlocked.
End Update
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 3-rd party application. Example on things you will lose: Call logs, text messages, application settings.
This is your 3 step solution
- Factory reset your phone (links to Android device manuals can be found below, it differs between devices)
- 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!)
- Restore any manual back-ups and install your previous applications from the My Downloads list.
How do I factory reset? HTC leads the way and put this information in their manuals, other manufacturers should learn from this!
HTC Hero manual: http://member.america.htc.com/download/web_materials/Manual/HTC_Hero/091201_Hero_HTC_English_UM.pdf
HTC Magic (a.k.a. My Touch) manual: http://member.america.htc.com/download/web_materials/Manual/HTC_Magic/090507-HTC-Sapphire-UM.pdf
HTC Tattoo manual: http://member.america.htc.com/download/web_materials/Manual/HTC_Tattoo/091009_HTC_Tattoo_English_UM.pdf
HTC ERIS manual:
http://member.america.htc.com/download/Web_materials/Manual/DROID_ERIS_Verizon/DROID_ERIS_Verizon_English_UM_11_5.pdf or:
- With the phone turned off, PRESS and HOLD Volume down and Send buttons CALL buttons (the manual says SEND and with that they obviously mean Call)
- Press the END/POWER button. You will see a screen with three Androids at the bottom of your screen
- Follow on screen instructions
Samsung Galaxy: 1. Turn off your Galaxy.
2. Hold volume_down+call+power button.
3. After boot, press menu button to start recovering.
Motorola Droid (a.k.a. Milestone): 1. Turn the Droid off. If it won’t turn off, take the battery out then place it back in.
2. Open the keyboard and press the X key while pressing and holding Power. The device will power on. Keep holding the buttons down until a yellow triangle appers.
3. Press the Camera and Volume Up buttons at the same time to get to the menu.
4. Use the direction pad to the right of the keyboard to select the Format option.
Nexus One:
1. Turn the phone off. If it’s frozen in the on state, pull the battery.
2. Press and hold both the Home and Back buttons simultaneously.
3. While continuing to hold the buttons, press the Power button.
4. Release Home and Back.
5. Follow the instructions on the screen to complete the hard reset.
T-Mobile Pulse
If you want to do a Hard Reset but can’t do it through the menu, please use the update from T-Mobile UK website: T-Mobile – Help & Support
But use the file from the “Android updates” section and the following piece:
November 2009: T-Mobile Pulse software
This software update should be used ONLY when your T-Mobile Pulse has been security locked and you do not have a valid password.
- If you right-click on your mouse here and select the “Save target as..” option – it should take about 2 minutes to download depending on your internet connection speed.
PLEASE NOTE: Installing this update will remove all existing data on your T-Mobile Pulse. - Then in your pc format the SD card. then copy the folder dload to your new formatted SD card. So the folder with the two files will be on there.
- Insert your SD card in the phone
- Then when your phone is off, do the following:
Vol + key & “hang up button” – keep them both together pushed and then turn on the phone. Then the update will start automatically. Once the update is finished it might hang to long in the “phone will restart automatically”. If so, take out the battery again and turn the phone on normally. then it all will go as normal. - Once the update is done, you will have to configure your phone again, which also means you can choose the language again.
T-Mobile Pulse instructions from “inge75″ in the Android forums.
Sony Ericsson X10 -mini, pro etcetera
- Go to: www.sonyericsson.com
- Click the support tab and then Download Software
- Download the Update Service application
- Run the application as administrator, choose your model and follow the instructions.
Hi i have a T-mobile Pulse and have been locked out because of to many pattern unlocks gone wrong. i dont know how to unlock it and i was wondering if you would know how to reset it because im not quite shore. Thanks.
Hi there, T-mobile really makes it hard for you but this is one solution I’ve found that seems to be working for everyone:
“If you want to do a Hard Reset but can’t do it through the menu, please use the update from T-Mobile UK website: http://support.t-mobile.co.uk/help-and-support/index?page=home&cat=SOFTWAREDOWNLOADS
Use the file from “Android Updates”, the following piece:
November 2009: T-Mobile Pulse software
If you right-click on your mouse here and select the “Save target as..” option – it should take about 2 minutes to download depending on your internet connection speed.
PLEASE NOTE: Installing this update will remove all existing data on your T-Mobile Pulse.
Use the link where it says “here” and download it.
Then in your pc format the SD card. then copy the folder dload to your new formatted SD card. So the folder with the two files will be on there.
Insert your SD card.
Then when your phone is off, do the following:
Vol + key & “hang up button” – keep them both together pushed and then turn on the phone. Then the update will start automatically. Once the update is finished it might hang to long in the “phone will restart automatically”. If so, take out the battery again and turn the phone on normally. then it all will go as normal.
Once the update is done, you will have to configure your phone again, which also means you can choose the language again.”
Hi and many thanks for a informative site.
You Rock!!!! thanks!! Dawnie
You are very welcome, thanks for commenting :)
hey, my htc magic is blocked due to too many unlock pattern attempts a friend tried n i now the only thing i can do with it is to receive a call. i tried the factory reset procedure that is the gmail address and the null as the password but was told my address and the password is invalid
Hmm…I’m not sure I follow you, you tried a factory reset as per instructions in the manual? Or did you try the password “null”? What didn’t work?
Oh My God!!!! thank you this helped me a lot i spent hours on the tmobile website trying to find a way to unlock it. NOTHING on there helps. Thanks!
Glad I could help!
Hey, this was the only place I found the suggestion for the ‘null’ password, and it worked great on my wife’s droid eris. I was trying to avoid a hard reset, and you are the only resource with this solution. Thanks tons!
Interesting to hear that it worked! You are very welcome
hey it didnt work on my eris
@Gabe, so what happens? Did you manage to boot in recovery mode (with the three Androids at the bottom) or does it just boot like normal?
Strange this post is totaly unrelated to what I was searching google for, but it was listed on the first page. I guess your doing something right if Google likes you enough to put you on the first page of a non related search. :)
OMG…null worked!!!!!! I thought I would have to do a factory reset and I was almost in tears because its my business phone…..THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
Glad to hear and thanks for commenting!
nevermind i figureed the my touch out, press the end call\power button and the home key (shape of a house) at the same time you will see a phone with a triangle and a yellow exclamation mark in the triangle, hit the end call key and the home key again at the same time and it will bring up some blue prompts scroll to which one applies most likely factory reset thats what i did and bam its unlocked
So does this work for the mytouch also or do you have any advice for the mytouch screen is ocked t\due to too many wrong attempts
For my T-Mobile Pulse, the username@googlemail.com and ‘null’ as a pass word worked for me. Nice save!
Great to hear! Not just a little weird but as long as it helps someone :)
I was wondering how i would unlock mine bacause i got mine from Ebay and the person that i got it from didnt tell me her google email. Is there any way to unlock it.?
Absolutely! Perform a factory reset following the instructions above for your device. when turning the phone back on you just set it up with your Google account instead.
Thank you so much!!! U solved my problem!
thanks very much the null thing worked for me! i was afraid i had lost everything but i didnt thanks to you!
Hi, i have a my touch 3g and it’s been locked for like 3 days now.I forgot my username and my password, now i figure out what my username is and i create a new password but i still can’t unlock the screen. I have so many important information on there i dont want to reset it so i wont lose all of them. I’ve be looking online for a solution and i couldn’t find any help at all. This looks like it’s more helpful out of all the website that i went on. I would really appreciate it if someone can help me out. Thankssss!!!!!
@Ken, have you tried with null as password?
If that doesn’t work you are running out of options. But before reseting you can try this:
Call your mobile from another phone, answer.
Without hanging up, press you home-key. This should take you to your homescreen where you can go into settings and turn the pattern-lock off. Let me know how it turns out!
Hey ET, i just tried with null as assword and also try to call my phone from another phone and i answered, pressed the home key botton it still didnt change anything from the screen. Well thanks for trying to help me out i really appreciate it. If you have other ideas feel free to throw them out there cause it wont hurt me to try them. Once again thanks a lot!!!
Hey Ken, I have a Mytouch 3G and it was locked due to too many attempts. I didn’t want to lose my things but I had to to get my phone back. I turned off the phone, waited two minutes. Pressed Home and back key at same time and with them still pressed I hit the end call (power) button. This brought up the master reset (Clear Storage). After almost 5 minutes it took me to he home screen. I then turned the phone back off and then on again and it took me to the setup screen with the touch droid.
AWESOME !! I am out in the stix and purposely sent my phone into LOCKED HELL ! just to see how well it works ….. well….. I tried 20 time to unlock it with my google email account and I guess I couldn’t get enough signal to do it (even walked out into the yard ) …. also it wont unlock over wireless either .
YOU SAVED MY PHONE !!!!!
Thanks again
Thanks for the update ”null” does it for the password and the phone is redeemed from the Hard Reset. Thanks a mill once again for sharing.
THANK YOU THANK YOU. The update worked just fine. Ofcourse that means there’s no way to secure it anymore :)) but i dpn’t care!
thank you!
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Hi!
I am having a major problem with my galaxy! It’s not accepting my google username/password! I I have tried ‘null’ as a password but no luck I just keep getting ‘incorrect userename or password’. Can anyone help me!!!!!!
Many thanks
omg….omg….omg…. THANK YOU SOO MUCH for the answer to this question!!!! The ppl that work @ Best Buy and Cust Support for Boost Mobile have no idea what they are talking about…!!!! thank goodness i finallly stumbled into this answer……been working on unlocking my phone for like 5 days!!!! xoxo!!!
Thanks a lot… the “null” trick worked! saved me hours…. great!!
Hiii, i have a my touch smart phone and i accidently clicked forgot pattern and it wont let me go back to the pattrns . And i dont know my email address for my phone, can i just use my yahoo? I tried the null thing useing my yahoo email but it didnt work . PLEASE HELP ! MY PHONE IS MY LIFFFFEEEEEEEEE ! ): ): ):
Thanks a lot
“null” worked
Spending an hour googling and nothing seems to be working.
The null password has solved my problem, so glad I found your website.
Many many thanks.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!
Thank you so much!!! U solved my problem with my motorola droid
Hi all,
I have an SE X10i. I didn’t see any advice for this phone! Any of you have experience on this?? Please help me!! Many thanks!
Nguyen, I haven’t tried this myself since I don’t have access to a SE X10i but multiple users have reported it working:
1, Go to: http://www.sonyericsson.com
2, Click the support tab and then Download Software
3, Download the Update Service application
4, Run the application as administrator, choose your model and follow the instructions.
The phone will hard reset and then you’r all set!
I just found an app in the market called MySettings — download this app and then you can unlock your pattern. It’s as simple as that as long as you already have access.
I hope this helps those that aren’t already locked out..
Have a great day and enjoy your Droid!!
That app is a simple toggle tool. Which among other things can disable the pattern lock. It does not however in any way affect a device that is locked due to too many pattern attempts. It’s just a shortcut to your normal settings.
its not working! plzzzz answer and help me i need my fone working! i’ve been looking up how to do it. i found ur null thing i tried it but its not working! and i’m not sure about what you wrote on the bottom of the page please help!
oh btw i have the motorola droid and i just got it like a month ago so please help!
If the workarounds like ‘null’ doesn’t work you’ll need to factory reset your phone. That means that everything you haven’t synced will be lost. Since most thing does sync that’s not a huge problem but for example text messages will be lost if you haven’t used a separate backup for that. This is the instructions to perform a factory reset on a Droid (Copy+paste from above):
Motorola Droid (a.k.a. Milestone): 1. Turn the Droid off. If it won’t turn off, take the battery out then place it back in.
2. Open the keyboard and press the X key while pressing and holding Power. The device will power on. Keep holding the buttons down until a yellow triangle appers.
3. Press the Camera and Volume Up buttons at the same time to get to the menu.
4. Use the direction pad to the right of the keyboard to select the Format option.
Good luck!
pls help me i forget my login and i dont know what i should do my mobile xperia x10
Samer, exactly the same as what I told Hung Nguyen to comments up.
Start with trying out the workarounds (null as password, calling yourself etcetera). If that doesn’t work, you need to factory reset like this (remember that all data not synced will be lost! The SD card is not affected though):
1, Go to: http://www.sonyericsson.com
2, Click the support tab and then Download Software
3, Download the Update Service application
4, Run the application as administrator, choose your model and follow the instructions.
The phone will hard reset and then you’r all set!
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I came across your blog when trying to fix my wife’s phone.
My baby boy had been “playing” with the phone, and inadvertently tried the unlock pattern too many times.
Logging in with my wife’s email details didn’t work, so I was almost resigned to a factory reset.
Then I noticed the part in your message about using a “null” password.
This works a treat, and removed the need to factory reset! Many thanks – now bookmarked!!
Glad it helped! Not sure if that means it will work again so “be careful out there” :)
TACK JAG ÄLSKAR DIG FRÅN DJUPET AV MITT HJÄRTA! Haha, nej men seriöst.. Du har nyss räddat mig från lite utbrott. (antar att du är svensk så tar risken och skriver på svenska..)
Tack tack :)
Kul att några svenskar hittar hit också, annars är det mest amerikaner!
i have a samsung galaxy model gt i7500 i just bought the phone off a friend of mine who got it from over seas i havent had time to even set up a gmail account on the phone so please help me. i just paid $200 for the phone and would hate to see all that money wasted.
Hi Jereme, then you need to do a factory reset. That will let you go through the initial set-up once again and you can set it up with your own Google Account.
See instructions in the post.
Good luck!
Please help:
My dad recently changed the pattern on his phone, and cannot remember what he reset it to. It’s a Galaxy S Vibrant from T-Mobile. We have tried to call T-Mobile and Samsung but both are saying there is nothing that can be done unless he does a hard reset. It is very important that he gets the information off of the phone, there are numerous pictures, contacts and videos that are very very important(unfortunately they were not saved to sd card) when you put the wrong pattern on to the phone it does not lock you out completely but it does say that it was the incorrect code and to try again. After 5 attemps it will tell you you have put the wrong password in however many times and to wait 30 seconds and to try again. Please if there is any help you may have let me know. Thanks a lot.
Hi ET/Osky,
I have motorola droid and have tried with a trick password “null”, but i dont have a success. Maybe i need a internet connection (3G or WLAN) during username and password typing Can you help me please? i dont want to lose my data on this phone with a factory reset.
Thanks for your help!
Best regards
Hi Oliver, sorry for the late reply but I’ve been living my real life for a while :)
The “null trick” doesn’t require Internet connection, but it doesn’t work for everyone (after all the null thing is also a bug). So far I haven’t found any pattern in who it works for.
There are other things you could try, one that seems to work for quite many is:
call yourself from a different phone, answer. Without hanging up the call press your home button and then into settings and try to disable the pattern lock.
If you haven’t tried with your “real” password that might be worth a shot, although it seems to work only for a few. Resetting that password through the standard process (http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=12381) and then trying with the new password is also a possible solution.
After that I’m afraid my last resort is factory reset. If you’re synced with Google the data loss should be minimal. Mainly call logs and text messages will be lost, some settings as well. Your SD card will NOT be affected, that means that photos and such are safe.
Good luck!
i can not unlock my t-mobile my touch with google because i do not remember my password
shiesha, like the post says:
Try entering null as password. you can also try to recover your password through the normal process as explained here: http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=12381
Hi,
I have the same problem like many guys here. I changed the pattern on my T-mobile, Pulse and cannot get in now, as I don’t remember the pattern (stupid me)!
I can try limitlessly to draw the pattern, without block.
How is that ‘null’ solution working? Where shall I try that?
Thanks in advance,
Levy
you have to get it wrong so many times that it says wait like 25 seconds and on the screen there should be a button that says forgot pattern you want to press that and then it should have to little boxes that sayy gmai and password
Hi,
just like Oxii said (thx for chipping in Oxii!). Type in the wrong password a couple of times and you get a button in the lower part of the screen saying “forgot password?” or something similar. Select it and then you can try both with your google account and if that doesn’t work, null as password.
Dear Oxii and ET,
Thanks very much for your reply.
Unfortunately the thing is that things are happening in the same way as you described, except no option pops up for me, offering to type in my google account etc. Only a small button offering Emergency Call….but hey….who should I call???:)))
Anyway Guys, any other suggestions?? I am using an extremly old SonyEricsson:)…so you can guess I need some help!!!:)
Thanks again!
Levy
Now that was a new problem! No idea really…except the mighty factory reset that solves everything at the cost of your data. Have you tried the usual suspects like, “longpress” or “Menu”?
Hey ET/OSKY,
My friend locked my X10i and to my horror my gmail was not being accepted. I even confirmed my username and pass on the web. Then I google and yours was the frist site.
The null solution has worked for me.
Thanks. I wish luck to others, I have now disabled the patern
Wee, congrats! and thanks for the feedback :)
Please help:
My dad recently changed the pattern on his phone, and cannot remember what he reset it to. It’s a Galaxy S Vibrant from T-Mobile. We have tried to call T-Mobile and Samsung but both are saying there is nothing that can be done unless he does a hard reset. It is very important that he gets the information off of the phone, there are numerous pictures, contacts and videos that are very very important(unfortunately they were not saved to sd card) when you put the wrong pattern on to the phone it does not lock you out completely but it does say that it was the incorrect code and to try again. After 5 attemps it will tell you you have put the wrong password in however many times and to wait 30 seconds and to try again. Please if there is any help you may have let me know. Thanks a lot.
After your 5 attempts, do you have a “forgot password” button or so? It “should” give you the option to unlock it using your google account and password (and if that doesn’t work you can try with null as password). After that I’m afraid factory reset is quickly becoming your only option.
Photos and videos recorded with the phone should always be stored on the SD card…are you sure that it isn’t? If you have a card reader on your pc/mac you could remove the card and insert it there to see what’s stored. Contacts however will be lost if you haven’t synced them (check Google Contacts from your computer to see if they are there).
hey dude thanx for this great help and its reallly work, i locked my sony x10 for two days, and trying and trying to unlock the mobile, but still same, then i searching helping sites on net then i found ur site, ur this passward is really magic. thanxxxxxxxxx