Samsung J7 Pro (SM-J730G) - Recover Files with Dead Screen

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conorseed

15 posts

Geek

#271698 22-May-2020 21:19

Hey there :) I've done some searching and trying things, but can't seem to find a solution. I'd love your help!

I have a Samsung J7 Pro (SM-J730G) with a dead screen, and I'm wanting to get all the photos/videos from it as well as contacts too. If it was my phone I would have had it all backed up to the cloud, but it's a friends phone who may be learning a hard lesson....

Anyway, it works fine (it's on loud, so I can hear it receiving notifications etc), I just can't see anything because the screen's dead. USB debugging wasn't turned on which removes most options. I've tried:

- connecting to PC via USB (just charges phone and doesn't give file access)
- downloading Samsung Smart Switch, but it requires the phone to be "unlocked" before it will give access. As the screens dead, there's no way to unlock it
- a couple android data recovery tools, most of which require usb debugging to already be enabled
- looking for usb to HDMI cable to mirror the screen, but the J7 doesn't allow for HDMI output over the usb (or so I'm told)

Does anyone have any other ideas? Thanks for your time <3

Hiamie

354 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2489931 23-May-2020 08:44

If the phone uses an LED screen, and it is the backlight that has failed, you may still be able to see a faint screen image by shining a bright light on to the screen from above.

If that works you can unlock it and access the files using a computer connected to the phone.

Good luck!

SATTV

1648 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2489947 23-May-2020 09:32

The contacts will be in the google account that was used to set up the phone, also check google drive for the photos and videos as they may be there too.

You might be able to disable the phone security from the google login but I am not sure, you might be able to install an app from the app store to recover files or emulate the screen.

What lots of people forget is that you can install apps on Androids from your google account and it is all done remotely.

John

I know enough to be dangerous

webwat

2036 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

#2490248 23-May-2020 22:08

Im guessing that being a J7 they aren't planning on replacing the screen so they can keep using it.

Time to find a new industry!

conorseed

15 posts

Geek

#2491509 26-May-2020 08:28

Thanks everyone for your responses :) Some good ideas in there.

Hiamie: If the phone uses an LED screen, and it is the backlight that has failed, you may still be able to see a faint screen image by shining a bright light on to the screen from above.

If that works you can unlock it and access the files using a computer connected to the phone.

Good luck!

Tried this on the weekend. Doesn't look like it's a backlight issue :( I was hopeful haha.

SATTV: The contacts will be in the google account that was used to set up the phone, also check google drive for the photos and videos as they may be there too.

You might be able to disable the phone security from the google login but I am not sure, you might be able to install an app from the app store to recover files or emulate the screen.

What lots of people forget is that you can install apps on Androids from your google account and it is all done remotely.

John

RE Contacts - Yeah that was my thought but unfortunately, it looks like most of the contacts were saved to the phone 🤦

I'll look into installing an app / disabling security remotely later. My guess is that after installing an app, I'd need to somehow open it and accept all the permissions before it works properly though.