How to Unlock Android Tablet

Unlock Android 4.4 and earlier tablets

Enter the wrong PIN or pattern 5 times. If your tablet runs Android 4.4 or earlier, you can use the built-in bypass mechanism to open it. This feature is no longer available on Android 5.0 (Lollipop).

This method requires the tablet to be connected to Wi-Fi.

Click the Forgot PIN/pattern/password button . If this button does not appear after 5 incorrect attempts, the device does not support this feature.

Enter your Google address and password. This must be the Google account you're signed into on your tablet.

Click Sign In .

Open Gmail on another device or computer. You will receive an email to reset your tablet's password information.

Open the email received from Google. This email may be in the Updates tab.

Click the link in the email. You will be taken to the new unlock code generation form.

Create a new PIN, password or pattern. This will be the new temporary unlocking process of the tablet.

Unlock your device with a new pattern. It may take a few minutes for your tablet to update to the new unlock method.

Set new code. After unlocking your device, you can set a new code or pattern from the Lock Screen menu in the Settings app.

Unlock Samsung device

Open a web browser on your computer or other device. If your Samsung tablet is signed in to your Samsung account, you can use the Find My Mobile online tool to unlock the screen.

Visit the Find My Mobile website .

Log in to your Samsung account. We need to sign in to the tablet using the Samsung device you were prompted to create when setting up the tablet.

If you don't have a Samsung account, you can try one of the other sign-in methods mentioned in this article.

Click Unlock my screen . This option is on the left side of the Find My Mobile website.

Click Unlock .

Wait for the screen to unlock. It may take a few minutes for the unlock signal to be sent to the tablet.

Proceed to restore factory settings

Press and hold the tablet's power button. If you cannot unlock your device then the only option is a factory reset. This process will erase the password and also erase all data on the tablet. You will be able to restore all emails, purchased content, downloaded applications and settings by logging in to your account after resetting your device.

Tap Power off . The Android device will be powered off.

Press and hold the volume down button while the tablet is turned off. The device will be returned to Recovery Mode. The key combination to access this mode may vary depending on the device.

Hold down the power button while you are holding the volume down button. For many devices, this will take you to the Recovery Mode launcher.

Continue holding these buttons until the Start menu appears. If the Start menu does not appear and the device boots as usual, we need to use another button combination to access Recovery Mode. Search online for the keyword "recovery mode" + the Android tablet model you are using.

Press the volume down key until Recovery mode appears. The volume up and down buttons cycle through the menu options.

Press the power button to select Recovery mode . The power button selects the currently highlighted menu item.

Select wipe data/factory reset (erase all data/reset factory settings). Use the volume down button to highlight and the power button to select.

Select Yes . The reinstallation process will begin and erase all data.

Wait for the device to reset. This process takes about 20-30 minutes.

Start setting up your new tablet after reinstalling. After resetting the device, you will go through the setup process as if you had just purchased the device. During this process, you will be able to log in to your Google account, restore purchased content, and configure settings.

Marvin Fry

Update 22 May 2024