The security of mobile devices is a major concern of users, because of all the sensitive data they contain. To make the device safer, Google introduced with Android 5.0, known as Android Lollipop, a new security measure called Factory Reset Protection (FRP). If you’re familiar with restoring your Android devices to factory settings, you’ve already figured out what FRP is. The Factory Reset Protection secures the smartphone data safe in case the device is stolen. It does this by requiring authentication after a factory reset to make the device usable. But sometimes it may be useful to bypass Factory Reset Protection on your phone.
Imagine this scenario: you lost your device or it was stolen. Now, the first thing a thief will do is reset the device to a factory so you can use it personally or sell it to someone else. But since you’ve connected your device to the Google Account and you’ve set up a security option (PIN, password, etc.), the thief will not be able to restore the settings from the factory. He will have to do it by default recovery (which is a very simple procedure).
Once the factory reset has been done and the device setup process begins, it will ask you to enter the password of the Google account to which it was previously connected. This is the Factory Reset Protection. If the password is not entered, the device can not be used by the thief.
What if, instead of losing your device, you forget your Google account password? You’re blocked; you can not even make it usable by factory reset of the device (because of FRP). You already know that, in order to activate FRP, you need to connect a Google account to the device, set a security option and perform device factory reset via the recovery stock menu. If you happen to have a Samsung device (probably a recent Galaxy S6 / S6 Edge, S7 / S7 Edge, Note 5, etc.) with Factory Reset Protection active, this can be bypassed with a series of steps.
Here is the guide to bypass Factory Reset Protection on Samsung devices. This guide is compatible on Samsung smartphones that have installed any version of Android.
It is important to note that with this procedure it is not really easy to bypass Factory Reset Protection on Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus. If you have one of these devices, I suggest you follow the procedure in the following guide:
Bypass Factory Reset Protection on Samsung
Requirements to perform the procedure
- An active SIM card.
- A Wi-Fi connection.
- A PC.
- A USB cable.
How to bypass Factory Reset Protection on Samsung devices
First phase
- Turn off the phone and make sure that an active SIM card is inserted.
- If you are not in the smartphone configuration screen, format your device completely. You can do this by installing an official firmware via Odin.
- When formatting is complete, proceed with the first configuration by selecting the language.
- Connect to a Wi-Fi network when prompted, and then click Next.
- Accept the terms and conditions and move on.
- At this point the screen that forces you to verify your Google account will appear.
Second phase
Now the second phase begins. The following operations must be performed on your PC.
- Download to your PC RealTerm 2.0.7 and Android Samsung USB Drivers.
- Install both newly downloaded tools.
- Now connect the Samsung smartphone to the PC via the USB cable.
- On your PC, right-click the This PC or Computer icon (depending on the version of Windows installed on your computer) and select Manage.
- In the left bar select Manage Device ( Device Manager ) and then on the right select Modem (the arrow pointing to the right to expand the menu).
- Right click on SAMSUNG mobile USB Modems and then select Properties.
- Click on the Modems tab and note the port number (the words Port: COMX where in the place of the X there is a number, in my case COM4 ).
- At this point start the RealTerm program and make sure that at least two green lights are lit on the right.
- In the Display section, make sure that the Half Duplex entry is active.
- In the Port checks that besides the word Port is present the number you have stored previously. If not, enter it manually and then click on Change.
- Now go to the Send section. In the first field at the top you have to enter commands and then select the Send ASCII button after each inserted row. Follow this operation carefully. This is the first command:
at+creg?\r|n
- After entering this command in the first field, select the Send ASCII button on the same line.
- Do the same operation with this second command:
atd1234;\r\n
- After entering the second command and clicking on Send ASCII, a call will start on the smartphone. On the phone click on Create contact.
Many have reported the absence of the Create Contact button on their smartphone. Our reader Alessio solved the mystery and wanted to share the solution with all of us. If the key mentioned above is not present, it should be solved simply by ending the call by pressing the red key while it is in progress. Then other options will appear including the famous Add Contact. Thanks again Alessio for the report.
- Select the device as a memory in which to save the contact and from Teknologya as a name.
- Scroll down the page, click on the Other field, select Web address, enter www.google.com and finally save the contact.
- The phone will return to the account verification screen.
Third phase
- On the PC type this command:
atd1234;\r\n
- Click the Send ASCII button.
- You will receive a call back on the phone. Click on the button to end the call and then select View contact.
- At this point click on the button in the shape of the earth in the field of the web address and you will see the browser open with a page of google.com.
- Now disconnect the phone from the PC.
- From the phone browser, access this link: http://www.techoxygen.com/download-google-account-manager-latest-version-apk/
- Download the latest version of Google Account Manager for the operating system installed on your Samsung smartphone. I recommend, choose the version compatible with the version of Android on the phone, otherwise there may be problems.
- Now always in the browser go to http://www.techoxygen.com/download-quick-shortcut-maker-apk-latest-version/ and download the QuickShortcutManager.Apk file.
- Go back in your browser go to www.samsung.com/levant/apps/mobile/galaxyapps/.
- You will be sent back to the official Samsung website from which you have to click on the Samsung Galaxy Apps logo to start the Samsung store integrated into your phone.
- Now that you are inside the Samsung store, look for the ES File Explorer app and install it. You need a Samsung account to download it. If you do not have one, you can create it on the fly.
- When the installation is complete, open Es File Explorer and go to the Download folder.
- You will find the two apps previously downloaded. First click on Google Account Manager.apk (if you see a message telling you that you can not install the app, click on Settings, enable unknown sources and then go back to proceed with the installation).
- When the installation is complete, click on Quick Shortcut Maker and install it.
- Open the last installed application (at the end of the installation you are offered the Open button to open it) and in the search field type Google Account Manager.
- Select the first result to open the drop-down menu related to the app.
- In Google Account Manager, click on the Google Account Manager entry – Enter email and password.
- In the new screen select the Try button.
- At the top right select the three dots to open the menu (or the physical button on the bottom left depending on the smartphone) and then Access browser.
- At this point, sign in with a Google account of which you know your email and password.
Conclusions
After logging into your Google account, hold down the power button and restart your phone. Congratulations, you have successfully bypass Factory Reset Protection on your phone. At this point go to the settings -> Backup and Restore -> Factory data reset -> Format phone. The phone will be completely formatted.
When you proceed with the first configuration, enter the Google account you used in the last steps of the guide and you can use the smartphone without problems.
The procedure to bypass Factory Reset Protection is very long but it is worth following it to recover your smartphone. If you encounter problems, let us know via comments.
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