How to recover data from a phone with a broken screen but still works for $20. Note 8 in video.

This was recorded on a Samsung Galaxy Note 10+. See written instructions and product link below. I'm not affiliated with Samsung or whatever company made the hub. It was cheap and had what I needed. Please share the video, as I searched for a solution on youtube and didn't find anyone else suggesting this fix. It won't make your phone work as intended again, but you can keep it plugged in and use it like a Chromecast or something. The Note 8 was in an otterbox defender with the bottom plastic broken off when it was run over, but I'm still genuinely impressed it survived being run over by 4 cars (impressed enough to get the newest model of Note, anyway).

As a side note, I wouldn't recommend upgrading from a Note 8 to a Note 10 unless you really wanted to. I had the Note 8 for just under 2 years and had no plans on replacing it as the Note 8 showed no signs of slowing down or forced obsolescence outside of Samsung stopping Android support for it at some point, which could be remedied by rooting and loading a custom firmware, since it would be out of warranty anyway. The Note 10 is faster, has better cameras, and great battery life (hard to compare to a 2-year-old battery), but the Note 8 was still perfectly functional and I figured I'd get another year or two out of it had this not happened.

If you are using a RAM mount X-Grip on your motorcycle, don't get complacent like I did; make sure your phone is secured flush with the base of the mount. This was my fault, not a failure of the mount.

Step 1: buy or order a USB multiport hub that matches your phone. It needs to have an HDMI and a USB port. It's a less common item, so it may not be sold in stores.

Step 2: connect any USB mouse or wireless dongle to the hub's female USB port.

Step 3: connect HDMI cable from your TV or monitor to the HDMI port on your hub.

Step 4: connect the male USB end of the hub to your phone.

Step 5: if any prompts come up like in the video, just click around. It may take a few seconds for the phone to be ready to work. I've been told the prompts may go away on their own, but have not personally confirmed.

Step 6: sync your files or upload them to your Google drive or other cloud storage. Download or restore from cloud storage to your new device.

Step 7: make sure you set your new phone to sync everything nightly so you don't have this problem again.

Step 8: lots of people complain about the phone being too bulky in a case. I think it's the only thing that saved mine. Buy a case and protect your investment.

Step 9:. Don't listen to phone repair shops if you think they're wrong (or anyone, for that matter). I knew there was an easier way and every shop I called said they HAD to fix the screen and there was no other way. They just wanted the money and saw an opportunity for a big service charge and tried to take advantage.

Below is a link to the exact model I used in the video.

[bw]

OMG! You just saved my life! I have the Samsung Galaxy S21+ and the screen just went black on me after I attempted to hang up a call. It never came back on. I called the insurance and they told me that I would have to get my phone replaced. I found your channel & went to Walmart to purchase the hub. A Walmart employee who works in electronics told me that he repairs electronic devices and that this method would not work. He said he never even heard of it. I took the hub home, connected all of the components, and my phone was immediately mirrored on the phone. I was able to backup all of my data. And now I will get that replacement in the morning. Thanks!

[caseybrown]

Holy crap 25k views! I'm super glad this helped everyone! I just wanted to make a video that shows every step of the process that anyone can understand and sort of expected it to fade into obscurity.

Some extra notes that I've considered since posting this. If it doesn't work with your phone, it may be more damaged than mine was. I had mine in an Otterbox when it was crushed, so I guess that helped it survive the damage. If your phone wasn't in a case, the damage is probably a lot worse because it didn't have a exoframe to help support the weight of whatever crushed it. It's also entirely possible that your USB port is damaged, which would mean you're probably screwed.

Samsung DEX would have also fixed this problem if I'd had it set up; I could have connected straight to a computer and transferred the data. The reason I couldn't do this anyway was because I couldn't use the screen to switch the mode to data transfer through the pull down menu, like when you plug it into a computer normally (i.e. photo transfer, charging, data transfer, etc). I've been told that DEX would run automatically, so it's entirely possible that when I was clicking around and tapping the screen when DEX was displayed, the phone was just initializing DEX and went away on its own.

Windows 10 now has an app called Your Phone that can also aid in some data recovery, as it saves copies of photos and text messages on your PC by default (basically syncing).

Don't forget to make incremental backups!

[Aldiwitch]

Thanks man - this happened to me and I was ready to give up on my lost data but this actually saved my bacon. Can't thank you enough!

[emusaurus]

Note to everyone! Do not let your battery die if possible and don’t restart it. I think this is why many can’t get past the lock screen, because on restart it requires the password and can’t be activated by Touch ID.
I think I’ve blown my chances by holding down the power button trying to restart it

Edit. Ended up just getting some guy to fix it for $150. It was worth it to get photos of my cat.

[CodeWithTom]

Thank you so much. I hadn't even considered using a USB-C -> HDMI adapter. Worked a charm. Was able to get my phone into USB File Transfer mode and backup my stuff. 🙏

[benkse]

Bro you just saved my buddy 350 bucks. He says "love you long time". Fuck man you came in clutch. I had used Dex before but completely forgot about it until I saw this video.

[CancerCleric]

Thanks so much - This worked for my Samsung Galaxy s20 FE. Tried so many useless programs (that require Dev Mode on) and mirroring tools.

[MattMcGraw]

Only works if your phone allows HDMI output over usb-c. Pixel phones do not.

[killdracula]

im actually going to cry thaknk you sm i had like 5 years worth of photos on my phone and you helped me save it!! thank you so so so so much <3

[Luke_totally_luke]

such a great idea. same thing happened t my Galaxy S20 Ultra. left it on top of my buddy's car and we drove away. found my phone about 20 mins later in the street RIP who knows how many times it was ran over :, (

[mihaiflomusic]

You need the Oscar, i recovered my files from my broken p20 pro!!!

[ZerOv]

I can't thank you enough for saving the day brother!

[mohanpugaz]

Wow thanks a lot. This helped me restore my Google auth account. There is no other way to recover it. I cant thank you enough for sharing this idea.

[shermgerm]

That phone looks like it was shot by a whole firing squad

[arunmahider]

u a shining knight u know that huh.. u r wonderful.

[MementoDespair]

My phone still works just the screne is destroyed like yours but it won't connect to my tv or monitor I have everything you have, but nothing happens.
It's an alcatel 3V Phone, also it won't with with my other newer phone as well.
I am using a Tuwejia brand Multiport adapter

[SudAshra]

This method did not not work with my Pixel 4a (broken screen). TV remained blank (no signal). Just in case it was the Pixel 4a that was more broken than just the screen, I tested the same method with my old (working) Pixel 2. Same result; blank screen. So it appears that this method does not work on Pixel phones ... cheers Google ... very helpful.

[dosmastrify]

except other phones show only a lock on the external display so you cant see the pattern to use to
s10 and s21 being examples I just tested.

[benmaine]

Bro thank you so much everyone like 500 dollars to fix

[aletheaaffandi]

Thank you thank you thank you!!!! You're really a life saver 😭😭😭😭