If you have a broken Android phone with a broken screen, don’t despair! There are still ways that you can enable USB debugging so that you can access your data.
An accidental broken Android phone screen doesn’t have to mean the end of your phone. You can still recover your essential data from it by enabling the USB debugging developer option.
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In this blog post, we will walk you through the process of enabling USB debugging on an Android phone with a broken screen. Keep in mind that this process may vary depending on your specific device and Android version. Let’s get started!
What is USB Debugging?
USB debugging is a developer option that allows you to connect your Android phone or tablet to your computer so that you can access and transfer data between the two devices. When USB debugging is enabled, you can do things like copy files from your computer to your device, use ADB commands, and more.
Apart from that, USB debugging also allows you to root your Android device, install a custom recovery, and more. In other words, it’s a pretty powerful tool!
Why Would I Need to Enable USB Debugging on Broken Phone?
If your broken phone contains valuable data that you cannot recover in the usual way, you may need to enable USB debugging on your device and connect it to a computer so that you can access the data stored on your phone.
For example, if you have important photos or videos that you want to retrieve from your broken phone, you can do so by connecting your phone to your computer and transferring the files over.
In addition, if you need to factory reset your phone but can’t do so because the screen is broken, you can use ADB commands to perform a factory reset via USB debugging.
Apart from that, enabling USB debugging might also help you to fix the black screen issue, if it is a software error and not caused by a broken screen.
So, if you’re in a situation where you need to enable USB debugging on a broken screen, read on for the detailed instructions!
How to enable USB Debugging on Android with Broken Screen?
There are a few ways that you can enable USB debugging on your Android phone with a black or broken screen, depending on your specific device and Android version.
Let us discuss them one by one.
Enable USB Debugging On Android Black/Broken Screen Using OTG Cable And Mouse
If the touchscreen of your Android phone is damaged, but the phone is still functional, you can use an OTG cable and mouse to enable USB debugging on your device.
USB OTG, or USB On-The-Go, is a feature that allows smartphones with Type C or micro USB ports to connect any gadget such as a USB flash drive, mouse, keyboard, and so on.
If you have a USB OTG cable, you can use it to enable USB debugging on your Android phone with a black screen. All you need is a working mouse that you can connect to your phone via the OTG cable.
Please note that some Android devices might not support the OTG cable. In that case, this method will not work for you.
To enable USB debugging using an OTG cable and mouse, follow these steps:
- To begin, connect your phone with a USB mouse and an OTG adaptor. If you have a controller, you may also use it because many people have connected an Xbox/PS3/PS4 USB wired controller to their phone and set up USB debugging successfully.
- Using your mouse navigate to the Settings -> System -> Developer options
- If you don’t see Developer options, go to Settings -> System -> About Phone and click the build number seven times.
- Under the Developer options, scroll down and look for the USB debugging option. Toggle the button to enable it, if it is not already enabled.
- Now, use the USB cable that you use for charging your phone to connect it with the PC.
- Check your phone notification, and tap on the USB settings item for more options.
- Under the Use USB to setting, select the Transfer files option.
- Now, check your Windows PC File Explorer and you will see that your Android phone is listed under Devices and drives, allowing you to copy and paste the data from or to it.
- Open your phone drive and take a backup of your whole phone or selective files or folders.
Enable USB Debugging on Android with a black screen from the Computer
This is another method that you can use to enable USB debugging on your Android phone with a black or broken screen.
In this method, we will be using the ADB commands to access our Android phone from the computer and enable USB debugging.
Please note that this method will only work if your phone is still functional and can be turned on.
To enable USB debugging using ADB commands, follow these steps:
- On your computer, download and install the ADB tool.
- ADB needs to communicate with a phone that has USB debugging enabled. Because your malfunctioning phone does not have USB debugging enabled, you must boot it into ClockworkMod Recovery mode.
- Launch the ADB tool on your PC and connect the broken screen phone to it via USB when your phone is in recovery mode.
- Launch Command Prompt and type this in the command line window and hit the enter key: adb devices.
- Now to backup data of the broken phone use this command: adb pull / data / media / clockworkmod / backup ~ / Desktop / Android-up
Enable USB Debugging on Broken Screen by taking Screenshots
This is another method that you can use to enable USB debugging on your Android phone with a black or broken screen.
In this method, we will be taking screenshots of the phone and transferring them to the computer. Using the screenshots you can navigate to the USB debugging settings and enable it.
Recover Broken Android Phone Data using Recovery Software
If you are unable to enable USB debugging using any of the above methods, then you can take the help of Android data recovery software like FonePaw Broken Android Data Extraction.
This is a professional Android data recovery tool that can help you to recover data from Android phones with black or broken screen.
It can recover data like photos, videos, contacts, text messages, call logs, WhatsApp messages, etc. from Android phones with black/broken screens.
Conclusion
There are many ways that you can use to enable USB debugging on your Android phone with a black or broken screen. In this article, we have listed three methods that you can use.
We hope that this article was helpful and you were able to enable USB debugging on your Android phone with a black or broken screen. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask in the comments section below.
You can not enable USB debugging on a locked Android phone. You need to unlock the phone first and then you will be able to enable USB debugging on it. If your phone is locked and you don’t remember the password, you have to reset it in order your enable USB debugging.
To enable USB debugging on your Samsung Galaxy S20, go to Settings -> About Phone -> Software Information and tap on the Build Number seven times. This will enable the Developer options. Now go to Settings -> Developer options and look for the USB debugging option. Toggle the button to enable it.
There are many ways that you can use to access your Android phone with a broken screen. In this article, we have listed three methods that you can use.
Peter is an Electrical Engineer whose primary interest is tinkering with his computer. He is passionate about Windows 10 Platform and enjoys writing tips and tutorials about it.
