Transfer files from phone with broken screen possible?

Mr. Forager@lemmy.world to Android@lemmy.world – 45 points –

Hi there, I've had a broken phone lying around for ages, only kept it as I know there are some pictures and files I wish I could gain access to again. I've tried a variety of methods gaining access to the files, but it doesn't seem possible as I cannot actually use the screen to "allow usb transfer" etc.. Is there any methods I might have missed or something that could help me retrieve these files?

It's an Huawei Mate 10 Pro.

Any tips, tricks and recommendations are appreciated 🌻

26

If the screen is broken (not showing anything) but the digitizer (touch) is still working, you might be able to plug the phone to your computer and blindly unlock your phone to enable usb data transfer with trial and error. It's going to be hard to tap the correct button without seeing it, but you might get lucky. Alternatively, your phone might support hdmi. If you have a usb c to hdmi dongle, you might want to try connecting your phone to your tv/monitor.

If the digitizer is broken (touch not working) but the screen still working, you can plug a mouse with an otg cable to control the device and initiate data transfer.

If both the screen and digitizer is broken, you're probably out of luck unless you already have usb debugging enabled beforehand, or have a usb-c hub so you can use a monitor and mouse at the same time.

Thanks for this, will try what you mentioned accordingly. Don't have all of the stuff you mentioned, but shouldn't be to expensive I hope. Thanks for your input 🌻

If all else fails and you really want the data, you could replace the screen.

You could try to plug it into a USB C to HDMI adapter. The Mate 10 Pro supports HDMI over USB C. It even has a Desktop Mode simmilar to Samsung DEX.

Hi, almost all android phones support keyboard and mouse. You can use a USB-C adapter to plug them in. Ditto with screens. You can use an unofficial Switch dock to do the job.

Thanks yeah, I will try this after I got all the necessary parts 👍

Maybe you could use a USB keyboard or mouse connected trough a dock or OTG converter to allow file transfers.

This is something I should try indeed, also just read an article about using USB-c to Hdmi too, hopefully that could work!

I assume you don't have adb enabled? Or maybe even a custom recovery?

Otherwise the best shot would be a usb-dongle with hmdi and keyboard/mouse.

I never tried using an usb to hadmi dongle but I always assumed that unless you confirm sharing the screen from the phone itself then nothing would be shown. I doubt old android versions even allowed sharing the phone screen.

I only did once a long time ago, so... I dunno if you need confirmation or something more than just pluggin in.

With usb debugging on ? Doable but not guaranteed

Without usb debugging ? Almost impossible.

Of course, there's some softwares that use loopholes and exploites to extract data/unlock tge phone and other stuff ( basically what the police would use ) but they're not cheap so the price would be high, and even then it's not guaranteed.

Best thing to do is use an external monitor. You can connect the phone via whatever USB interface it has - there are cheap USB to HDMI adapters on Amazon which should do the trick.

Piggybacking off this question, what would be a safe way to extract data from a phone with a swollen battery 'cause you forgot lithium batteries gobble electricity up and go all Popeye the Sailor when they've been used awhile?

Don't touch it! I've been working at a repair shop for a while, leave it unplugged and write down the pin.

If you want more specific advice, let me know the model of the phone. Most phones should power on if the battery is removed and it's plugged in. I can talk you through data recovery if you want

It's a first gen Moto X, been kicking myself ever since I realized the mistake. If it's the sort that can power on with battery removed, that would be great! (I'd migrated the microSD card from it before the swelling, so it's the internal storage I'd be trying to get at btw.)

You could bring it to reapir shop and they could resolder the memory or attach temporary screen

If you have USB debugging on then yes. If not try to see if you can mirror display with USB and a TV/monitor. If that doesn't work a USB mouse will have to do if you know that layout of your phone. A keyboard could also work for the pin. I always suggest leaving USB debugging enabled and paired to your computer so in such cases you could just do

adb pull /storage/emulated/0(or another number if you have different users or work profile /path/to/desired/location

This way you'll pull all the data from everywhere and delete what you don't need. With USB debugging enabled you could also use SCRCPY, it's a neat tool that'll mirror your screen and you can control the phone with computer mouse and keyboard. If you do want to try and enable it'll be in Developer options/settings, if you have them enabled if you don't you gotta press on Build Number in your about phone section in settings.

Broken how? I work at a computer repair shop, and I've worked on dozens upon dozens of phones. I have different advice based on if it's the screen, digitizer, or whatever that's not working