If there is something that makes us tremble from top to bottom at any time and place, beyond the moment of receiving the electricity bill, it is when, by accident, our mobile phone breaks. The drama comes when you realize that your entire personal life is housed in that little device that now doesn’t even turn on.
Luckily, when this happens, not everything is usually lost. In the worst case, it is likely that the motherboard, processor or battery of the phone has been damaged so much that the mobile does not turn on because of it, but in most situations we can still be able to see the contents of the phone. mobile on a computer or access it in other ways.
Therefore, before trying to find solutions, it is appropriate to know the origin of the problem because, based on this, we will be able to use the smartphone from a PC more easily.
Broken mobile doesn’t mean dead
Usually, when a smartphone does not turn on, it does not mean that the terminal has been completely broken, but that it is the screen that is unable to display an image. In other words, the mobile is turning on normally, but we are not able to see anything.
To clear up doubts, turn up the volume to the maximum, if it is not muted, and check if the phone makes a sound. In the same way, try to get closer to the screen to see if you see something and rule out that the problem is in the backlight of the panel. You can also try connecting the charger to see if any charging led lights up.
If you find that it is the screen that is failing, this is a problem that is not covered by the manufacturer’s free service repairs unless you have purchased a special warranty or insurance plan that covers the damage. Then you will have to go to the nearest technical service and replace the broken screen of the phone.
Can you use the mobile from the computer?
If you can see something, connect the unlocked phone to a PC with a compatible cable (USB-C / MicroUSB depending on the mobile) and in the notification that appears at the top select the transfer mode as you can. Then browse your phone on your computer using the file explorer and find the folders you want to save your data from. Make a backup of all the necessary files on your hard drive.
In the worst case, not only is the screen completely damaged, but the phone also has physical damage, and as a result, the touch functionality has also been lost. In such situations, recovering data is extremely difficult without going to a specialized repair center.
Luckily, there is something we can still test.
If you surf the net you will find several solutions that claim that your phone can be accessed using a screen mirroring tool called Vysor and turning on USB debugging. It is something you can try, but there are users who complain, with all the reason in the world, that this does not work when working on Android 10 or Android 11.
In addition, for the phone to work with Vysor, it is necessary to enable USB debugging from the developer options that are activated by clicking on the build number of the operating system 7 times. How do you do this without being able to turn on the phone? Even if they were activated, you still have to grant permission on the mobile screen so that when connected to the computer it functions normally.
The only possible option, connect the mobile via HDMI and cross your fingers
Most of today’s phones offer support for the MHL standard. This is a technology that allows smart devices to connect to an external display using an HDMI cable. In normal cases, you can easily do it using a standard USB to HDMI adapter but in our case, since the screen is not working, we also need to connect a mouse to the smartphone (using a USB hub ) so that we can access and interact with the on-screen menus.
When you connect your phone to a TV with the HDMI cable, you will see the lock screen appear immediately after the connection is established. Now you can use the mouse cursor to easily unlock the phone by looking at the TV screen, access the menu, and then activate USB debugging to connect the device to the computer and extract its data.
Other solutions
Unfortunately, if you have come this far, it is because the mobile is completely broken or because the panel has been damaged. If this is your case and you need to recover the data, yes or yes.
The most feasible solution, which does not mean that it is the cheapest, is to fix the screen and for this you should go to any repair center in your city so that they can take care of replacing the display with a new one and check that no other component has been damaged. They will also be in charge of accessing the information on the phone and, as far as possible, keeping it safe.
If you have a warranty extension plan that covers these screen flaws, now is the time to make use of it.
Avoid reaching this situation
As we have indicated at the beginning of these lines, we carry all the content of our life stored in a device that fits in our pocket and is too fragile. But today there are so many tools to safeguard this content that it is absurd not to take advantage of them.
Making a backup copy in Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, Google Photos is essential today so that our files are not lost in case the mobile is unusable. You can also connect your smartphone, from time to time, to your computer to make a backup copy of all your files and always keep them safe.
If you follow these instructions and one day your phone gets damaged, the only thing you’ll worry about is knowing how much your new device is going to cost you.
