If you’ve ever cracked open your phone to find the screen is broken, you know how inconvenient it can be. You can’t see the screen to type an email or look something up in an app, so you’re forced to take out your phone, wait for it to charge, and then try to do it all over again.
Fortunately, recovering data from a broken screen on your Android device isn’t difficult at all. All you need is a few tools and a bit of know-how. Follow these steps to learn how to do android broken screen data recovery.
What Causes a Broken Screen on an Android Device?
A broken screen on an Android device is likely caused by a drop, heavy contact with liquid, or some other external force. It’s not uncommon for a broken screen to happen from being in your pocket. This can happen if you have anything metal in your pocket that could scratch the screen or if you keep your phone in your back pocket and sit down.
Take Apart Your Phone to Recover Data
To recover data from a broken screen on your Android device, you need to take it apart. This is the best way to get access to everything inside and check for any damage.
To open up your phone, use a pry tool, like the one you see below.
The tool is coated in plastic to protect the phone’s screen when you’re taking it apart. This will help prevent scratches while also helping you pry off the phone’s casing and get to its guts.
Some phones have screws holding them together, but many newer models don’t — instead, they rely on adhesive that holds everything together tightly. If there are no screws or if your phone doesn’t come apart with a little pressure, carefully heat up the back of the phone using a blow dryer to soften the adhesive and make it easier to pull apart. Hold down one corner at a time and work your way around until the whole thing comes undone.
Use a Data Recovery Program
The first thing you’ll need to do is download a data recovery program. There are tons of apps available for Android devices that are designed for this very purpose, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find one. We recommend using data recovery programs like DuosPDA or MobileGo as these will allow you to recover data from a broken screen on your Android device with the least amount of hassle.
Once you have the app downloaded, open it up and connect your phone to your PC via USB cable. Follow the instructions in the app and proceed with the following steps:
1) On your phone, tap Settings > Security > Encryption and turn off encryption if it’s turned on. This will make it easier for you to perform a scan through your device’s memory.
2) Enter the password or PIN code if requested and confirm you want to disable encryption. You’ll then see an option at the bottom of the screen that says “DELETE ALL”. Tap this button to begin wiping your device’s memory clean before attempting anything else.
3) Next, tap File Manager followed by Device Storage or Internal Storage (whichever appears). This will bring up all of the files saved on your phone’s internal memory, which is where all of your email, text messages, pictures, videos and other types of files are stored. Find and select those files that need recovering from a broken screen on your Android device and copy them over to a safe location such
Connect Your Phone to a Computer
The first step to recovering data from a broken screen on your Android device is to connect it to your computer. You can do this in two ways:
-Take the broken phone and open the back panel, exposing the USB port
-Connect the broken phone to a power source such as a charger or an AC adaptor.
Once you’ve connected your device to a computer, you’ll be able to access all of its files through any file explorer. When you open these files, they’ll be in their original formats, which means that you should be able to view them even if your screen is busted.
In Windows, Install a USB Driver
If you’re using Windows, install a USB driver. When you plug your phone into your computer, if you don’t have a driver installed, it will show up as a storage device and not an external drive which is the desired result.
Visit your phone’s manufacturer’s website and download the latest drivers for your model of the device. This can take some time to find the right one for your phone, but it will be worth it when you’re able to access all of your data again.
Extract and View the Android File System
The first thing you need to do is extract and view the Android file system in order to find the files that you would like to recover. One way you can do this is with an app called ASTRO File Manager. This app allows you to view all of the folders on your device, even if it’s broken. All you have to do is download and install the app from either the Google Play Store or by visiting www.astrofilemanager.com
Next, open ASTRO File Manager and navigate to Settings > Root Access > Mount File System Read/Write > Turn On Root Access. Once this option has been enabled, reboot your device and then go back into ASTRO File Manager and locate your SD card in the list of available storage devices on your device (it will be called “mount” or “sdcard”). Finally, click on it and navigate through it until you find the folder(s) that contain data that needs recovering.
Conclusion
Recovering data from a broken screen can be a challenge. But with the right tools and knowledge, you can get back all your data files. The most important thing to remember is that you can’t connect to your phone wirelessly or through a cable. You will need to take your phone apart and connect it to your computer using a USB cable. You can then use a data recovery program to extract the file system on your device and view your files.
You have a few different options for data recovery programs. Connecting to a Mac is the easiest way to recover the data, but if you are on Linux or Ubuntu, you will need to install drivers for Android SDK on your computer first.
