My phone has locked me out. Can i back up the information without being able to access the device?

[AC Question]

During the night something changed on my phone and now my password does not work. Is there a way to get the information off my phone without having to do a factory reset and loose all information?

 

[rcrc001]

Unlock your Android device using Android Device Manager (ADM)

As already mentioned, the following method only applies to devices that have Android Device Manager enabled.

On a computer or other mobile phone, visit: google.com/android/devicemanager
Sign in using your Google login details that you also used on your locked phone.
In the ADM interface, select the device you need to unlock (if it isn’t already selected).
Select ‘Lock’
In the appearing window, enter a temporary password. You don’t have to enter a recovery message. Now click ‘Lock’ again.
If it was successful, you should see a confirmation below the box with the buttons Ring, Lock and Erase.
On your phone you should now see a password field in which you should enter the temporary password. This should unlock your phone.
Now, before you go on with your life, go to your phone’s lock screen settings and disable the temporary password.
That’s it!

 

[rcrc001]

Find My Mobile: https://findmymobile.samsung.com/

 

[B. Diddy]

It should be noted that ADM will only let you create a new lockscreen password if the phone didn't have a screen lock set in the first place. If it already has a screen lock, then ADM will just tell you that the phone is already locked, and therefore doesn't need a new password. I've seen this crop up many times on the forums.:-\