A fall to the ground can usually leave one with a broken screen or a non-functional display. A display is the primary way of interacting with one’s phone and the mentioned outcomes are something that every user dreads.

Retrieving one’s data or backing it up are usually the first steps anyone would take, but with a broken screen, that is not possible. Hence, this article is going to tell you about ways to unlock your Android phone with a cracked screen.

Because of its open-source concept, an Android phone is more accessible than an iOS device. It allows a user to download a software to bypass the lock-screen whereas a programmer can use the ADB shell to gain access.

Below we have mentioned a three ways to unlock your Android phone with a broken screen.

Also read: How to access your PC remotely from your phone?

Using an on-the-go adapter with a USB Mouse

This is one of the simplest ways out there to unlock your phone but requires you to have specific items and a compatible phone. You will need an OTG Adapter and a wired mouse for this to work.

Plug the adapter into your phone’s USB port and connect the mouse to the adapter. You should now have a mouse pointer on your phone’s display. The pointer can be used to enter the pin or draw the required pattern.

Make sure that your phone has enough charge as a wired mouse can drain quite a bit of your available power.

Using Android Debug Bridge

This method has a prerequisite to it, which is, you need to have USB debugging enabled on your device. If you do not have it enabled, you can skip this step and continue reading the article for another way to unlock Android phone with a broken screen.

As the software’s name suggests, the Android Debug Bridge acts as a bridge between a PC and your mobile device, this can then help you unlock the device.

Below are the steps to use it:

• Download Android SDK package on your PC. You can download it for Windows here. Extract the ZIP file on your PC.
• This step requires you to download the drivers required for your respective device. The drivers can be usually found on your device manufacturer’s website or on popular developer sites like XDA.
• Now you need to open Command Prompt on your PC to change the location of the ADB file. The following command needs to be used for this – cd C:/android/platform-tools
• Connect the device to your computer using a USB cable. Enter the command “adb device”. Numbers corresponding to your unique device will show up if it is recognised.
• Next, type in the following commands in quick succession. The second command has to be entered right after the first. The numbers 1234 (below) must be replaced by your own password.

adb shell input text 1234

Shell input keyevent 66

The above steps should now have given you access to your phone and you can proceed to back-up your data.

Using Google Remote Unlock

This is a feature which uses your Google account but leaves you with no data on your phone. For this, you need to use Android Device Manager, which is mainly used to locate and find your phone if lost.

However, this can also be used for unlocking your phone when your screen is broken. This is achieved by restoring your device to factory settings. Also, for this method to work, you should have activated the Android Device Manager with your Google account.

Below are the steps to use this method:

• Go to Google’s Device Manager from your browser.
• Sign in with the Google account used on your phone and let it search for your device.
• Click on Erase button to wipe out everything including your PIN, Patter or fingerprint lock.

The above-mentioned methods are some of the simplest and safest available to unlock your phone.

Also read: Was removing the headphone jack a step in the right direction?