Pixel 2 is (partially?) dead. Any way to recover text messages and other data?

[ilyaz73]

I have a Pixel 2 that's about 2 years old. Has been working fine until last night. Was taking lots of pix and texting them when at some point the screen froze. I was able to power it down but now I can't restart it. The screen is dark, no signs of life. When I connect it to a PC via USB, the PC makes a sound like it noticed an external device, but nothing more. When I went to a local repair store they told me that it's drawing about 1/2 of the normal current (around 0.5A instead of about 1A).

My photos and contacts are backed up on Google, but not SMS or MMS messages. Is there any way for me to recover them without damaging the phone? Verizon is sending me a free replacement but they will charge me $300 if I send them back a damaged phone.

If I need to replace the screen -- which will likely damage the phone -- that would be Plan B.

TIA!

 

[B. Diddy]

Have you already tried leaving it plugged into a wall outlet and letting it charge undisturbed for at least 6 hours, and then pressing and holding Power for about 20 seconds to see if anything happens?

The Backup feature in the system settings should have been backing up your SMS messages to your Google account (so if you get a new phone and restore from your Google account, those SMS messages should show up). But I don't think MMS messages are backed up. https://support.google.com/android/answer/2819582?hl=en

BTW, I moved this from the Pixel forum to the Pixel 2 forum.

 

[mggm100]

Mine did something similar about a month ago. It turned out to be a dead motherboard and not worth repairing. I replaced it with a Pixel 4 and was pleasantly surprised that it is so much better than the reviewers would have you believe.

But I have some good news if you have to get a new phone. The SMS came back to me with a regular restore from the system settings. The previous poster is correct about MMS messages. They did not come back this way.

... edited for clarity