Have you unwittingly locked yourself out of a tablet and still finding it nearly impossible to recall the pattern or the password? Are you worried about the data stored in the tablet and not willing to part with it, while still being able to access the smart device?
Things get a bit trickier as most users cannot identify strategies that can help them bypass the security safeguards, without data loss. The desperation to unlock the device often overshadows the willingness to keep the data safe and individuals end up resorting to the run-of-the-mill options like Factory Reset.
However, at Autopano, I understand how important your tablet data, files, and content can be, and therefore, I have enlisted 4 guaranteed techniques that can help you unlock almost any password-protected tablet without letting go of the vital information that it stores within.
Contents
Methods to Unlock an Android Tablet
Before I start discussing each strategy at length, there are certain prerequisites that you need to take care of before following some or all of the mentioned ideas.
Prerequisites
- At first, it is necessary to activate the Google remote lock, erase, and locate feature, should you ever need to unlock the device without having the password handy.
- Secondly, your tablet should have an active data or Wi-Fi connection, to make use of the internet while downloading select recovery packages or resetting the password, remotely. However, I will explain this point later in this discussion.
- Finally, if you plan on acquiring tablet access by using a PC or any other system, it is necessary to activate USB debugging by accessing and triggering the developer options on the concerned device.
Therefore, without wasting any more time, I jump right to the pressing discussion at hand:
Method 1: Deploy the Google Account
Let me start with one of the straightforward ways to unlock your android tablet and hope you don’t have to look for other methods discussed in the article.
This particular method is suitable for every Android tablet whether you have a PIN, Pattern of Password-protected device.
Considering you have an active Google account on your tablet, you can simply try and unlock the device with random patterns, only to summon a ‘Forgot Pattern’ interface.

Step 2: Select Unlock Method
You will now be prompted to select the unlock method. Tap on the second option to enter Google credentials, which will unlock the device, without you having to access the built-in settings. However, at this step, you can even use the security answer to unlock the device, as illustrated by the image.

Step 3: Set New Pin/Pattern
The next step concerns signing in with the Google credentials, and once you get access to the tablet, you can set a pin or pattern.

However, I would suggest that you write down the pin and password this time to avoid untoward situations like these.
Method 2: Unlock Using the Device Manager
As the android platform allows you to find the device remotely, in case you misplace the phone, you can even rely on the Device Manager to unlock the tablet for you. However, for this to work, it is necessary to first log into the existing Google account.
Step 1: Locate your tablet
Access the following link i.e. www.google.com/android/find and locate the android device that you need unlocked. Once done, you will find a set of options for identifying, erasing, or remotely locking the device, to begin with.

Step 2: Set New Password
Once you click on ‘Lock’, you will be redirected to a new lock interface, prompting you to set a new password, optional number, and a recovery message if any.
Once the device is set to be locked remotely, you can use the same password to unlock the tablet.

Method 3: Using Android Debug Bridge
This is probably the most complicated step and needs to be understood and followed carefully. Also, I sincerely hope that you would have activated the USB debugging feature before getting locked out of the tablet.
Step 1: Download Android SDK on PC
Keep a PC or a computer system handy and download the Android SDK and the Android Debug Manager (ADB) on it for accessing recovery mode, holistically.
You can download the SDK for a Windows machine, or even the macOS or the Linux platform, depending on the system that you have in hand.

Step 2: Disable Antivirus on PC
Once downloaded, you need to disable the antivirus and Windows Defender on the PC before you can start playing around with these resources.

Step 3: Install and Extract the ADB device driver

Next, open up the download SDK platform-tools and extract the same into the C-drive of the system.
Step 4: Create new environment variables
Copy the installed or extracted folder path and paste it into the system settings as a new path by selecting environment variables.

Step 5: ADB command
Now when you right-click on any blank space, you get access to the command prompt, which is expected to come in handy later in this discussion.

You can type in the ADB command to see if the script is running successfully or not.
Step 6: Connect tablet to PC via USB Cable
At this point, you need to connect the device to the system via a USB cable. You can also cross-check the connection by typing ADB devices in the active command prompt.

Step 7: Remove Pattern/Pin/Password
Here comes the important part as you need to type in ADB Shell in the command prompt and then paste the requisite command for removing either the pattern or the pin and password from the device.

Follow the commands mentioned in the image or copy the below ones, and paste the preferred one after ABD Shell.
ADB SHELL RM /DATA/SYSTEM/GESTURE.KEY
ADB SHELL RM /DATA/SYSTEM/PASSWORD.KEY
After you paste and feed in the command successfully, you must restart the phone and set any pin or pattern of choice.
Method 4: Using a Third-Party Tool
Having a premium pattern removal tool can be handy if none of the other ideas work. However, you need to follow the steps to the letter for being able to access the tablet again, without losing any data.
Step 1: Install Third-Party Tool in PC
Connect the Android tablet to the system and install the concerned third-party tool. Once installed, select the Screen Unlock option from the list to bypass any pattern, password, or pin there is.

Once the device is connected and the interface shows up on the computer, you get the option to bypass several platform-agnostic options as well, including an android screen, iPadOS screen, Apple ID, and more.

Step 2: Download Recovery Packages
This idea concerns downloading recovery packages on the tablet and you must select the model name and establish compatibility before proceeding.

Step 3: Enable Download Mode
Here comes the tricky part as you need to set the tablet in the download mode by first switching it off and then pressing the power, home, and volume- buttons, at once. Once you enter the bios, press the volume up button for readily entering the download mode.
Once the tablet enters the download mode, it will automatically download the device-relevant recovery package

Step 4: Auto Recovery
Once the package is installed, you can expect an auto-recovery and should now be able to remove the pattern or lock without letting go of the tablet data.

In addition to the mentioned ideas, you can always use the ‘Find my Device’ functionality if you have a Samsung tablet to unlock the device by a curated platform, which is strictly interface-specific. However, if you are confused as to how the interface actually looks, here is an image where I am unlocking my Galaxy S6, via Samsung’s proprietary interface.

Frequently Asked Questions
As per my inference, unlocking the tablet using the Google account login credentials seems like the most hassle-free technique. It is particularly simple and straightforward as most users prefer personalizing the tablet while setting it up for the first time and they eventually end up setting up the Google account.
More or less as if you have USB debugging, a Google account, and internet access activated on the tablet, each of the mentioned steps is expected to work, regardless of the device you own. However, if none of these methods work, it is necessary to follow the third-party installation strategy and this is where you need to select the brand and model, for installing relevant recovery packages.
Not exactly as no iOS platform allows you to bypass security and keep the data intact, at the same time. However, you can take a backup by using the iCloud or iTunes services before attempting an unlocking using a third-party app or connecting with Apple support.
Conclusion
I understand that your first instinct is to go for a factory reset. But then, if the data residing on the tablet is valuable and you haven’t taken a backup previously, I would suggest that you take a look at each of the mentioned steps for unlocking a password or pattern-protected tablet, whilst keeping the data, files, and every piece of content, intact.
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