It can be frustrating when your phone won’t turn on and you have important photos or other files stored on it that you need access to. The good news is that even if your phone won’t power on, there are usually still ways to recover data from it.
Quick Overview
Here are some quick answers to common questions about accessing data on a phone that won’t turn on:
- Use a USB cable to connect the phone to a computer and see if you can access the files that way.
- Try putting the phone in recovery mode and accessing the data through recovery software.
- As a last resort, remove the memory card and insert it into a card reader to access the files.
- Take the phone to a repair shop – they may be able to temporarily power on the phone to back up the data.
- Sync the phone to cloud storage like iCloud or Google Photos to access photos and other media.
Connecting the Phone to a Computer
The first step in trying to recover data from a phone that won’t turn on is usually to connect it directly to a computer. Here’s how to do that:
- Get an appropriate USB cable for your phone – usually the one it came with will work.
- Plug the USB cable into both your computer and your unresponsive phone.
- On a Mac, the phone may show up as an external disk drive. On Windows, you’ll want to open My Computer or This PC to look for the phone.
- If you see the phone show up as a drive, try exploring the folders and copying data off of it while it’s connected.
- If you have iTunes on a Mac or Windows, you can also try viewing the phone in iTunes to access photos and other media.
This USB method should work for recovering data from phones that are completely unresponsive. As long as the phone’s storage is still intact, you should be able to access it like an external hard drive.
Putting the Phone in Recovery Mode
If connecting the phone to a computer doesn’t work, the next thing to try is putting the phone into recovery mode and using data recovery software.
The steps to enter recovery mode vary by phone model but generally involve:
- Holding down a volume button as you connect the USB cable.
- Continuing to hold the button until you see the recovery screen appear.
- The phone will display a graphic indicating it’s in recovery mode.
Once the phone is in recovery mode, you can install phone data recovery software on your computer. Some options to look into include:
| Software | Details |
| Dr. Fone | Works on iOS and Android, recovers photos, messages, contacts, and more. |
| iMyFone D-Back | Recovers lost iOS data like text messages and WhatsApp history. |
| EaseUS | Affordable recovery software for iOS and Android. |
These tools can scan your phone while it’s in recovery mode and pull data from it even if the phone won’t fully power on. Just connect the phone, scan it with the tool of your choice, and it can extract photos, messages, files, and other data.
Removing the Memory Card
If your android phone has an external SD card where photos and other files may have been stored, removing the memory card to access data is another option. Here’s how to do this:
- Locate the SD card slot on your phone – often on the side or bottom edge.
- Carefully insert an unfolded paperclip or SIM eject tool into the tiny hole next to the slot.
- This will pop out the memory card tray – be sure not to lose the tray.
- Gently remove the SD card from the tray.
- Get an SD card reader and insert the card to access the files from your computer.
This method makes it easy to recover photos and videos if you’ve saved them to the external SD card. Just be sure not to overwrite the card once you’ve copied the necessary files off it in case you need to try other recovery methods.
Taking the Phone to a Repair Shop
If you’ve tried both connecting the phone to a computer and putting it in recovery mode without success, another option may be to take it to a phone repair shop. Some things shops can try include:
- Using specialized diagnostic and data recovery tools to access phone data.
- Temporarily powering on phones that won’t boot up so data can be backed up.
- Disassembling phones and removing memory chips that store data.
- Downloading firmware that can help override issues preventing powering on.
The success of professional data recovery depends on the specific issue preventing the phone from turning on. But reputable phone repair shops have more advanced tools that may be able to access data from phones in ways the average user can’t do at home. This option costs money but can be worth it for recovering irreplaceable data.
Syncing to Cloud Storage
If your phone won’t turn on and none of the previous options have worked to recover your files, there may still be hope if you had set up automatic cloud syncing:
- iCloud – Syncing to iCloud backs up iOS devices like iPhones and iPads.
- Google Photos – Android phones can auto-sync all photos and videos to the cloud.
- Google Drive – Files and contacts can be synced from Android to Google Drive.
- OneDrive – Microsoft’s cloud can also sync photos and files from mobile devices.
As long as syncing was enabled on the device before it stopped working, you should be able to access synced photos, contacts, documents, and media by logging into cloud storage services:
- Go to iCloud.com to find iPhone backups and synced photos.
- Open the Google Photos app or go to photos.google.com.
- Log into OneDrive at onedrive.live.com to access synced files.
Syncing data to the cloud acts as an online backup that you may be able to rely on to restore at least some data if you can’t physically access it on your device. Enable auto-sync on any new devices to prevent data loss if this ever happens again.
When All Else Fails, Look Into Data Recovery Services
If your phone still won’t turn on and you’ve struck out trying to recover data through the methods in this article, there are professional data recovery services that may be able to help:
- DriveSavers – Well-known recovery service for all device types.
- Kroll – Data recovery for mobile devices as well as desktop.
- Secure Data Recovery – Specialists in difficult smartphone data recovery cases.
These intensive services are expensive but can sometimes recover data when all else has failed. They use sophisticated techniques like repairing circuitry at the component level and manipulating flash memory chips.
Before sending your device for professional recovery, be sure to weigh the cost against the likelihood and value of success. But when desperate to recover photos and files from a dead phone, these advanced services can occasionally work miracles.
Preventing Data Loss in the Future
Having a phone suddenly stop working and being unable to access your personal data is a nightmare scenario. Here are some tips to avoid it happening again in the future:
- Always sync important data like photos to the cloud automatically.
- Manually back up your phone to your computer periodically.
- Save key files and data to external SD cards or drives.
- Encrypt your device in case it’s physically lost or stolen.
- Maintain backups of irreplaceable data offline.
- Learn your phone’s recovery mode process in case you need it.
Following best practices for backing up your mobile data offers some peace of mind. Even if your phone becomes unrecoverable, regularly backing up its data means the photos, files, and information will be safe.
Conclusion
When your phone won’t power on, it can seem hopeless to get your files and data off it. But in many cases it’s possible to access the data through recovery mode, cloud backups, removal of memory cards, or professional data recovery services.
Trying all the options methodically is key – don’t give up if the first few attempts don’t work. And going forward, be diligent about automatic cloud syncing and creating offline backups to limit your data loss if a phone ever stops working again.
