Manufacturers strive every year to launch new models more spectacular than the previous ones, with top quality finishes and materials, although 99% of users, end up using a cover to avoid that before any fall, it suffers some damage.
However, the covers do not work miracles, so we must also use a screen protector to protect it from any fall. If your terminal screen is still broken, here are the steps to follow to recover data from your mobile with a broken screen.
What is USB debugging
USB debugging is the method that Google makes available to developers so that they can test the operation of their applications in a more controlled and closed environment than simply doing it. via an apk (format of the applications that are installed in Android).
In addition, it is also used to transfer files between the PC and the Android device and vice versa, in addition to allowing to delete applications installed natively on Android devices. In order to prevent any user from accessing the system, Google only offers this functionality when the developer options have been activated.
This option will be shown when we repeatedly click on the build number of our Android version. Within that menu, there is the USB debugging function.
When activating it for the first time and connecting it to our PC, the device it will show us a registry key that authenticates that the PC to which we are connecting is known, so if we give it permission, it will be able to access all the content stored on the device and thus be able to extract any data of our interest.
USB debugging is not activated natively on all Android devices that reach the market, therefore, if we have not previously activated this function, we will never be able to access the terminal through this method.
However, all is not lost, since depending on various factors, we can still recover data from a mobile with a broken screen.
Recover mobile data with broken screen
Recovering the data stored on a mobile whose screen has stopped working is possible depending on various factors.
Connect your smartphone to a monitor or TV
Without a physical screen to interact with, it is impossible to enter the access lock code or pattern to access the content on the device. Terminals with a micro-USB port, depending on the manufacturer, offer the possibility of power connect the device to a monitor or television via the USB connection.
Depending on the manufacturer, it is likely that we previously have to configure some option within the system menus, but, in most cases, it is not necessary, this method being the best that we can use to access the data stored on the device and power like that copy them to the SD card or upload them to the cloud.
When interacting with the device, we only need a mouse connected to the same cable, cable that can offer two connections: USB and HDMI, since otherwise, this function can be of no use if we are forced to have the smartphone physically close to take advantage of this functionality when the screen is on.
This type of cables are called OTG y are available on Amazon for about 15 or 0 euros, depending on the manufacturer. If you are not sure the manufacturer of your device offers support for this functionality, before buying the cable, look for information online with the words OTG and the model of your device.
If your terminal has a USB-C connection, no need to look for information about the compatibility of your terminal with OTG cables. The USB-C connections are designed to transmit both audio and image as well as allowing the device to be charged. In this case, what we need is a USB-C hub that incorporates at least one HDMI connection and USB port (they usually have between 5 and 7 types of connections). The USB-C hubs are available between 15 and 25 euros on Amazon.
From microSD card
If you have become accustomed to using the memory card of your mobile device to store all the content generated through it (photos, videos, documents ...), you just have to remove the memory card from your device and insert it in another terminal in order to have access to all stored content.
While the access speed of a memory card is true it is not as fast as the internal memory of the device, It is an excellent option to consider if we do not want to lose all the data stored on our device, either because the screen has been broken, it has gotten wet, it has gone to purgatory ...
Connecting it to a computer
If the screen of our smartphone has stopped working but we are lucky that our device is still in operation, we can connect it to our equipment, as long as we have previously used this function and that the Android device associates that being connected to a computer, allow us to access the data stored inside, in the physical memory of the terminal and on the microSD card.
If we are lucky enough to access the device, the first folder that we must copy to our PC is DCIM. In this folder, all the photos and videos that we have taken with our smartphone are stored, the most important content for all users that does not hurt especially if we lose it and do not have a backup.
If we connect the smartphone to a computer managed by Windows, no need to use any app, since the equipment will show us its storage units (internal and microSD) in the form of a unit, which we can access as if it were a normal hard drive.
If we have a Mac, we must download the application Android File Transfer. This application, created and maintained by Google, allows us to access all the content stored in the internal and external memory of an Android smartphone. The operation is the same as Finder, allowing us to copy all the information that we want to keep to other units.
Google Drive
If when you launched your smartphone, you activated the backup in Google Drive of all the content stored on your device, you do not need to access your device, since all the content is stored in the Google cloud.
To access it, you just have to restore the backup in the new terminal that replaces the previous one. Backup copies are generally made when the terminal is charging (to prevent the battery from draining during the day), so you will only be able to lose the data that you were able to manage on your device during the hours prior to the accident that caused the screen to break.
Google Photos
Let's be honest, what matters most to us to recover when our smartphone has stopped working, are the photos and videos. If you use Google Photos (although now it no longer offers unlimited space), as if you use Google Drive to make backup copies, you don't have to keep worrying, since in this Google service you will find each and every one of the photographs that you have taken until the last time you connected to a Wi-Fi network, at which time the device takes advantage to upload the photos to the cloud.
Retrieve contacts, calendar, notes ...
In a native way, when we configure a new smartphone, Google activates the automatic synchronization of the agenda and calendar. Thanks to this functionality, any modification that we make both in the calendar and in our contact list, toIt is automatically synchronized through our Google account.
While is true that we can disable this functionality, it is not recommended to do so, since it will force us to make a backup copy of our contacts by exporting it to a file on our microSD card.
Retrieve emails
The Gmail application, like all those that we can find in the Play Store, are a mirror of our mailbox, that is, they do not download the emails we receive to our terminal. These are still stored in Gmail until we proceed to delete them.
Due to this operation, we will never have the need to retrieve emails electronic stored in Gmail, we only have to access via the web to access them in the same way that we can do with the Gmail application for Android.
Applications to recover data
On the internet we have at our disposal different applications that allow us to automatically retrieve all stored content on a device whose screen has stopped working. These applications perform the same tasks that I have shown you in the previous section in exchange for an amount of money, since none of them is free.
Although it is true that they can be downloaded for free, when it comes to recovering the content, it limits us to a small amount of data and invites us to pay one license that costs between 30 and 40 euros on average. As a general rule, these applications are limited to use with a single device, so the idea of buying a license among several friends to make it cheaper is not feasible.