Forgot your Android PIN or pattern? How to get back in
2 min read · 7 steps · Updated 2 October 2026
There is no way to read out or bypass a forgotten PIN, pattern or password on a current Android phone. You have to erase the phone, either from another device with Google's Find Hub or with the phone's buttons, and set it up again with your Google Account and your backup.
Google is clear about this: the options for a locked phone erase everything stored on it, including apps, photos and music. What is saved in your Google Account comes back afterwards. Be careful with apps and websites that promise to unlock a phone without losing data. They do not work on current phones, and many are scams.
Menu names below are from Google Pixel phones on a recent Android version. Samsung, Xiaomi and other brands rename some of them. The pictures are simplified diagrams of the screen, not screenshots.
Step by step
Try calmly first
After several wrong attempts the phone makes you wait. Use the pause to think about PINs you use elsewhere. On a Samsung phone that was registered with a Samsung account, check Samsung's own find service, which may offer other options.
Check what is backed up
On a computer, sign in to your Google Account and look at Google Photos, Contacts and Drive. What you see there is safe. Photos that were never synced are lost with the reset.
Erase the phone with Find Hub
On another phone or a computer, open google.com/android/find and sign in with the Google Account that is on the locked phone. Select the phone and choose the option to factory reset it. This works when the phone is switched on, online, signed in to the account and has Find Hub turned on.
Or erase it with the buttons
Every phone can be reset from its recovery menu with the power and volume buttons. The exact combination differs by maker, so look it up on the maker's support site for your model. Google recommends getting help with this method. Charge the phone before you start.
Sign in with the same Google Account
After the reset the phone asks for the Google Account that was on it before. This theft protection cannot be skipped. If you have forgotten that password too, recover the account first at accounts.google.com/signin/recovery.
Restore your backup
During set-up, choose to restore from your Google backup. Google notes that some backed-up data is encrypted with the old screen lock and can only be restored if you know the PIN or pattern from the time of the backup.
Set a lock you will remember
Choose a new PIN, and add your fingerprint or face. The phone still asks for the PIN from time to time, so that it stays in your memory.
Good to know
Very old phones with Android 4.4 or earlier had a Forgot pattern link that let you sign in with your Google Account. Current versions do not.
To be prepared next time: how to back up an Android phone to your Google Account and how to turn on Find Hub so a lost Android phone can be found.
The reset when you still know the PIN: how to factory reset an Android phone.
In short: No bypass. Check your Google backup, erase with Find Hub or the buttons, sign in with the same Google Account, restore, set a new lock.
- Android Help: Can't unlock your Android device
- Pixel Phone Help: Can't unlock your Pixel phone
Rules and prices change. Check the official source before you act.