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Richard
Richard, Engineer
Category: Electronics
Satisfied Customers: 58343
Experience:  Electronics Engineer
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I locked my phone remotely through 'Find my Device' because

Customer Question

Hi. I locked my phone remotely through 'Find my Device' because I thought it had been stolen. My phone was returned to me but I don't have a password ***** PIN to unlock it. Can you help?
JA: When were you last able to use your phone?
Customer: Saturday just gone
JA: Have you tried a Factory Reset? This will erase the phone's contents, but the Smartphone Expert can walk you through restoring your photos, contacts and other data from a backup (if you have one).
Customer: I haven't backed up my phone contacts and that's what I need most. I was told you could give send me a password.
JA: Anything else you want the Smartphone Expert to know before I connect you?
Customer: What else will he need to know?
Submitted: 3 months ago.
Category: Electronics
Richard
Expert:  Richard replied 3 months ago.

Hi there and welcome to Just Answer, my name is ***** ***** I look forward to helping you.

I’m sorry to hear you're having trouble. I know that can be frustrating. Hopefully, we can get this resolved quickly.

The only way to remove the pin is to reset the phone, which results in the data being removed from it. There is no way to avoid this sorry.

To do this

Go to http://android.com/devicemanager
Sign in with the account you used on the phone
Choose Erase phone
It will reset so you can set it up again

I then advise you install the app Dropbox on your phone as this will then backup your photos, films and files online so you can avoid losing this in the future.
You can also check if your photos where backed up on this link
http://photos.google.com

Just make sure to sign in with the same account you used on the phone
Let me know how you go please

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Customer: replied 3 months ago.
How do I set it up again after everything is erased?
Customer: replied 3 months ago.
No thanks
Customer: replied 3 months ago.
I've just paid £5 to be told exactly the same thing as I've already been told. So please be kind enough to send me instructions as to how to set it up again after everything is erased.
Expert:  Richard replied 3 months ago.

Hi there

Once you erase it it is like a new phone again, so you go through the setup procedure it leads you on like when you first received the phone.

All the apps, you will install from the play store again that you wish to have on the phone.

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Customer: replied 3 months ago.
Thanks. That makes it clearer to me. Sorry - I'm a novice in these matters! Is there any way of saving my phone contacts before I erase. I haven't backed them up.
Expert:  Richard replied 3 months ago.

It is no problem!

You cannot back up anything with the phone in this state but a lot of things like contacts are already online and should be returned to the phone when you set it up again.

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Customer: replied 3 months ago.
Thanks v much Richard.
Expert:  Richard replied 3 months ago.

You are welcome and thank you for allowing me to help you today. My goal is to give you the best experience possible! I hope I have earned a 5 star rating! Please remember to rate my service by selecting the 5 stars at the top of the screen then submit before you leave today. If you need more assistance, please use the reply box and let me know.

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