How To Unlock A Locked Android Phone

Android phones might become a bad rap, but they're really quite secure. Or at least they can exist.

With a fiddling piece of work, your Galaxy, Pixel, or OnePlus phone can exist a veritable fortress, almost bulletproof to hacks, attacks, and bad apps. So whether y'all're looking for a little extra security or a complete lockdown of your telephone, here'southward everything you need to keep your data from falling into the wrong hands.

Android security: Default protection

Even if y'all skip the entire set-up procedure and ignore every safeguard prompt, your Android telephone still does plenty to keep your data rubber.

Play Protect

Google has built a malware scanner right into the Play Store called Play Protect. First and foremost, information technology runs a rubber check on apps before yous download them, simply more chiefly, it also checks your phone for whatsoever apps that may take gone amiss since you lot downloaded them. If it finds any, it will warn yous via a notification and in extreme cases delete them from your device on its ain. You can bank check your Google Play Protect settings and see the apps information technology scanned in the Updates tab inside the My apps & games section of the Play Shop.

Encryption

Ever since Android 5 Lollipop, Android has offered total-device encryption past default, equally long every bit you ready some kind of an locking method on your telephone (blueprint, pin, or password). In Android seven Nougat, that switched to file-based encryption, just the terminate result is essentially the aforementioned: The data on your telephone is protected past 256-scrap AES standard encryption as soon as its locked, then unless someone knows your passcode, they can't see anything.

Android security: Bones protection

Y'all don't need to be a paranoid android to put a basic layer of protection on your device, you just need to change a few settings.

Gear up a password

While newer Android phones offer numerous biometric methods for unlocking, every telephone still requires one of three traditional locking methods: design, Pin, or password. They're not created equal, though. A pattern (fabricated on a 9-dot square) is easiest to remember but the least secure. A 6-digit pivot is far better, but the best of all is a random password. Only even if you lot choose a string of alphabetic character and numbers, you should set a reminder to change one time every 6 months or then. And brand certain it'due south non the same every bit the one that protects your primary Google account.

Plow on ii-step verification

No matter what you employ your phone to do, your Google business relationship is central to everything that happens. As the name suggests, with 2-footstep verification, yous're adding an actress layer of protection, so even if someone steals your countersign they still won't be able to get into your account. Hither'due south how it works. After yous're prompted to enter your Google password, a code volition be sent to your default phone via text or telephone call which will need to exist entered in order to grant access your account.

While this won't necessarily protect your phone against theft, it volition protect what's on it. For example, if someone tries to remotely log in to your Google business relationship from another device, you'll know via the ii-footstep message on your telephone. And so you can take the appropriate action and change your countersign.

Install Find My Device

Google offers a handy tool to rail a lost or stolen phone right in the Play Shop. Chosen Find My Device, information technology lets you track, lock, and erase your handset from wherever you are with just a tap. Later on downloading, you lot can sign in using your Google account and allow it to access your your device's location. From then on, you'll be able to log into Google's Find My Device site and instantly locate where your phone is if you lose information technology. Y'all'll also exist able to remotely lock your device, display a message or phone number for whomever finds information technology, or completely erase all of the content on your telephone.

Stay updated

Google releases monthly security updates for Android that well-nigh newer phones distribute in a relatively timely manner. You don't need to check for them—once one is available, your phone will automatically permit you know. But don't filibuster, considering it's easy to forget about them. Set or schedule an update to be installed as soon as your telephone lets you know it'southward bachelor. Information technology only takes a few minutes and it could make all the divergence.

Android security: Moderate protection

Now that the basic stuff is out of the way, allow's work on putting an even stronger lock on your Android phone.

Set up up fingerprint unlock

A password might be a strong way to secure your phone, only it tin can't beat your fingerprint. And if you bought your Android phone within the past two years, in that location's a skillful gamble it has a fingerprint sensor either below the screen, on the back, or built into the power button. Find it and head over to your security settings to register one or more fingerprints. It but takes a few seconds to enact a very important layer of protection.

Numerous phones also offering face unlocking, but unless you accept a Huawei Mate xx, y'all should skip these. That'due south because most phones use the 2D front camera to scan your face rather than a 3D map like with Face ID on the iPhone or Huawei's depth-sensing photographic camera, and so they're very easy to spoof with little more a picture.

Foreclose unknown downloads

Ane of the greatest benefits of Android is likewise one of it'southward biggest risks: downloading apps that aren't on the Play Store. When you install an app from outside Google's store, y'all're losing out on Play Protect and opening your phone upward to possible malware. To proceed a lid on any potential trouble, Google has built a fashion to close off whatsoever accidental or unintentional downloads. In the Special app admission settings, y'all'll discover an Unknown sources or Unknown apps tab, which lets you shut off the installation of apps from a non-Play Store source, such as Chrome or another browser.

Depending on your phone, the mechanism is a niggling different. Up until Android Nougat, at that place was a single toggle that permit you either block or install apps from unknown sources. In Android Oreo and later, permission is granted on a per-app basis, so you tin can allow Chrome or Slack to install apps while blocking others. It'south a good habit to visit this setting every once in while to make certain there aren't whatever malicious apps that are allowed to install software behind the scenes. If y'all discover whatever that are, tap the name and turn the toggle off.

Uninstall apps

Speaking of wayward apps, one of the best means to keep your system prophylactic is good, old-fashioned business firm cleaning. Simply leap into your app drawer and simply uninstall apps that you haven't used in a while. Information technology'll gratuitous up storage and it'll brand sure they don't plough into potential risks.

Check app permissions

It's also a good idea to check in on your app permissions every now and once more. When you download an app from the Play Store and launch it for the first time, Android asks you if information technology tin can take admission to things like the microphone, photographic camera, phone, etc. A lot of times nosotros only tap away access without even realizing what they're asking for, but y'all can always of back and revoke information technology afterwards the fact. Caput over to the Permissions tab inside Apps in Settings and y'all'll be able to see which apps are allowed to practise what—and turn off anything that looks suspicious.

Android Security: High protection

If you lot came here to learn how to turn your Android phone into a vault, here'southward what you need to do.

Smart Lock for Passwords might be convenient, merely if you lot desire to lock down your phone, you're going to need to handle your passwords on your ain. And that unfortunately ways turning off Smart Lock for Passwords. Hither'south why: Google'southward method doesn't use any kind of authentication on a per-site or business relationship basis like password managers practise, so subsequently signing in to your business relationship for the outset fourth dimension on your device, all of your passwords will be bachelor. That evidently could be a problem if someone swipes your phone.

Yous'll find the toggle inside the security settings for your Google account, not within the Security tab in Settings. Once you get there, tap on Security, and then ringlet down to Signing in to other sites, and tapped Saved Passwords. You'll encounter ii toggles: Offer to save passwords and Machine sign-in. If you don't want to plow the whole affair off, you tin as well select sites that ignore motorcar sign-in. We recall a much better solution would be to require biometric authentication every time a password is entered (which Apple does on the iPhone), then until that happens, you lot should switch it off if you're paranoid.

Download a password manager

If you lot're turning off Smart Lock, the but way to keep your passwords safe and organized is to lock them upwardly inside a password managing director. Stronger and more secure than the Smart Lock countersign sync Google offers, a password manager encourages unique, complex passwords, lets you lot organize and manage multiple logins, and stores sensitive notes, credit card information, and annihilation else y'all want to go on in a digital locker. And it's all protected by a countersign or a fingerprint, whichever you choose.

Since your password mananger is a separate service, you'll exist able to access your passwords on whatsoever device or browser, so fifty-fifty if someone steals your phone your virtually personal data will notwithstanding be protected. And with Android Oreo, you'll even be able to incorporate some of them into Autofill on your phone (fingerprint-protected, of grade).

Our favorite countersign manager is LastPass, but there are plenty of cracking options out there. You lot'll need to pay an annual fee, just it'south worth it. Check out PCWorld'due south guide to the best countersign managers for everything yous demand to know.

Employ a VPN

No affair how many safeguards you lot add to your telephone, it's inherently vulnerable every time you lot visit the web. Why? Because the data yous ship tin can be stolen and spied on with lilliputian effort, especially if you're using a public Wi-Fi hotspot. If yous use a VPN service, your information is encrypted earlier information technology hits the airwaves, so your data is fully protected from everybody except the VPN provider and whatever website you're visiting. Fifty-fifty if someone manages to steal it, it'due south protected.

In that location are numerous VPNs in the Play Store, and so brand sure you lot bank check out the rankings and user reviews earlier making your pick. Our recommendation for starting out is TunnelBear, which is costless and super simple. If you lot're looking for something more than avant-garde, you tin can download OpenVPN for Android and experiment with Mullvad, the top PC option in our roundup of the all-time VPN services.

Use an Authenticator app

We've already discussed how important 2-stride verification is for your Google account, merely you should also be using information technology for whatever service that offers information technology: Twitter, Facebook, Dropbox, etc. But if you want to take it one footstep further, y'all can use an authenticator app to generate unique codes right on your phone rather than sending them over SMS text messages, which tin be riskier. Google makes its own authenticator app for your Google account and many other sites that's costless in the Play Store, so nosotros recommend checking it out.

Become a physical security key

If yous want the ultimate protection for your accounts, nothing beats an NFC security key. Roughly the size of a wink driven (so you can attach information technology to a keychain) and completely phishing-proof, a security key dispenses with codes and stores all of your authentication on a physical device. So it's basically incommunicable to go into any of your accounts without the key, even if someone manages to steal all of your passwords. The $50 Titan Security KeyRemove non-production link bundle (which includes USB and Bluetooth security keys) is a great pick from Google, but there are likewise less-expensive options from YubicoRemove not-production link.

Enter Lockdown mode

If all else fails, Google has added a new Lockdown option to Android 9 that lets you completely secure your telephone at a tap. Hold down the power push button for a second and you'll see a Lockdown option at the bottom of the listing. (If you don't, you tin enable it in the Lock screen settings.) Tap it and your phone will instantly lock, turn off the fingerprint scanner (so someone can't strength your finger to unlock information technology), remove all notifications from the lock screen, and disable Smart Lock. And it'll stay that mode until the next fourth dimension you lot re-lock your telephone.