Android Locked Android phone of a deceased person

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baccilus

Skilled
A friend of mine has been trying to get the android phone of a deceased brother unlocked. He has access to the google account but doesn't know how to go about unlocking the actual phone. The phone is OnePlus 7 Pro. What is the way forward?
 
What does he need that for ?
  • If he want to use the phone ( device ) then reset it from recovery. But all data will be lost
  • If he want to get the data then there are few things he can do .. Unlocking would not be one of them
 
Ok.
He has the sim and access to google account.

  • On a PC
    • Saved Passwords
      • Install chrome / create a new profile and login to google.
      • May need the sim to verify the 2FA
      • Then go to settings > passwords. That should give his brother access to all saved passwords.
      • This will give access to the various websites
    • Photos/Videos
      • Go to photos.google.com
      • Get all saved photos and videos
    • Documents
      • Go to drive.google.com
      • Get all uploaded documents
    • SMS
      • Go to messages.google.com/web
      • Get the sms

  • On a temporary phone
    • Whatsapp
      • On a temporary phone
      • Login to google account.
      • Login to whatsapp .
      • Use the sim to validate.
      • Restore from web backup ( using the google account to access drive )

Should recover most of data.
 
Last edited:
He needs the Whatsapp data. It was never backed up to Google cloud, or anyplace else.

Kevin Lane said:
Takeaway : Your spouse or one of the children needs to know your passcode!
Click to expand...

That is true. Better, share your password to your password manager too. And also your finances, if you have any assets. Too many people keep that to themselves too.
 
baccilus said:
@mk76 any ideas on how to access WhatsApp data if that has not been backed up?
Click to expand...
If the phone's storage is not encrypted, you can access the storage inside phone (usually can be done by putting the phone in recovery mode). You can check Android/media/com.whatsapp/Whatsapp/Backups.

Copy the entire com.whatsapp folder to the temporary phone, and after verifying OTP, you can restore all the chats / media.
 
baccilus said:
@mk76 any ideas on how to access WhatsApp data if that has not been backed up?
Click to expand...
Unfortunately no other way that your friend can try on own.

I'm not sure if it works, but if recovering WA is necessary he can try purchasing https://drfone.wondershare.com/.
Again .. I'm skeptical of efficacy of such apps. Also be aware that such action carries a risk of wiping the phone. So use it as last resort.


kvn95ss said:
If the phone's storage is not encrypted, you can access the storage inside phone (usually can be done by putting the phone in recovery mode). You can check Android/media/com.whatsapp/Whatsapp/Backups.

Copy the entire com.whatsapp folder to the temporary phone, and after verifying OTP, you can restore all the chats / media.
Click to expand...
OP7 Pro ( or rather newer phones ) data partition will be encrypted by default once security measure ( pattern, pin, biometrics ) are set.
 
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