*HELP!* Locked out of phone after factory reset

[Brandwin]

So I wanted to do a factory resrt on my phone. I am going through set up and I get to the point where it asks for login. So I sign in with my gmail account. I get an error that says “please sign in using the owners account for this device” I google for advice and apparently if I recently changed my password (which I did yesterday) I am going to have to wait a 72 hour period before I can access my phone? I guess it’s in place for security measures against a thief? But how would I have known this? Now I have to wait up to 3 days before I can use my phone? I don’t have a backup phone. WTF!?!?!

 

[theonecid]

So I wanted to do a factory resrt on my phone. I am going through set up and I get to the point where it asks for login. So I sign in with my gmail account. I get an error that says “please sign in using the owners account for this device” I google for advice and apparently if I recently changed my password (which I did yesterday) I am going to have to wait a 72 hour period before I can access my phone? I guess it’s in place for security measures against a thief? But how would I have known this? Now I have to wait up to 3 days before I can use my phone? I don’t have a backup phone. WTF!?!?!

Whattt, that is really ****ty. I've never heard that before and it doesn't make too much sense...

 

[anon(847090)]

So I wanted to do a factory resrt on my phone. I am going through set up and I get to the point where it asks for login. So I sign in with my gmail account. I get an error that says “please sign in using the owners account for this device” I google for advice and apparently if I recently changed my password (which I did yesterday) I am going to have to wait a 72 hour period before I can access my phone? I guess it’s in place for security measures against a thief? But how would I have known this? Now I have to wait up to 3 days before I can use my phone? I don’t have a backup phone. WTF!?!?!

Don't Change Your Google Password Before Factory Resetting Your Android Phone - You Might Trip A 72-Hour Security Lockout

there is no other way

 

[Brandwin]

Apparently its 24 hours now, if so, I made my password change yesterday afternoon I should be good to go this afternoon. I may try to give them a call.

 

[dty06]

As an IT person, this is one of those moments where security really becomes an inconvenience. That said, I completely understand the reasoning for it. Sorry to hear you're going through it, though. I hope anyone who steals my phone in the future will have a similarly terrible experience (though admittedly I have other security in place for that potential circumstance).

 

[hallux]

A situation that COULD be avoided with a slightly different process to reset the phone, I believe. I believe if you sign out of any logged-in Google accounts on your device before hitting the factory reset button, it's as if it's an out of the box device. You could at least bypass the login screen and use the phone as a phone until you can sign back into your account.

 

[Brandwin]

On the Google forums I was told this, so hopefully by this afternoon I am back in business.

It should be 24 hours from the time of your password change - so hopefully you'll be able to log in within a few hours.
To avoid this in the future, be sure to initiate the factory reset option from within Android (Settings > Backup & Reset > Factory Data Reset). Since you have to authenticate to your device first (by unlocking your lockscreen), the phone knows that it is you requesting the reset and will unbind the device from your account. As you found, resetting the phone from recovery trips the Factory Reset Protection to prevent a thief from being able to easily wipe and use/sell your device.

 

[PaulQ]

That said, I completely understand the reasoning for it.

Is it just so someone can't quickly use or sell your phone? Or is there more to it?

 

[Brandwin]

I am back up and going. 24 hours exactly, I was able to log back in. Whew, was a long day!

 

[dty06]

Is it just so someone can't quickly use or sell your phone? Or is there more to it?

Basically, if your phone is stolen, the thief can simply reset the phone and go about their way. However, if you reset your password, any phone associated with your account can't be reset and linked to another account - which gives you time to track the device (if you're enrolled in a tracking service, like the "Find my Phone" offer from Google or any other service) but it also means that the thief can't sell the phone. In essence, yes, it's to prevent someone from selling the device quickly, but forcing someone to hold onto stolen property (especially property that can be tracked) means you're more likely to find the missing phone.

Still, it's a major inconvenience for people who change their password frequently and also like to tinker with their devices (new ROMs, regular resets, etc. - it *is* a Nexus, right?). That trade off (and finding the right balance) is a pretty big part of my every day job.

 

[Kevin Leicht]

I have a similar problem with a Blackberry PRIV, however it's not a password reset that's causing the problem. We have done a factory reset on a PRIV to give it to a new user but when it comes up, it asks for the old user's Google account to login to verify the phone. However, we've tried all the possible accounts associated with the phone, and it just keeps returning us to the screen asking us to login. With Apple iphones, we have had similar issues when a user (who leaves the company) has registered the phone with their icloud account. In that circumstance, it's a huge pain, but we provide proof of purchase to Apple and can get the phone unlocked. What's the process to bypass this on an Android? Is it something that can be done through the manufacturer (Blackberry says know) or Android or the carrier? Any help is appreciated as we have a very expensive phone which we legitimately own that we can't use, and if there's no solution, it will definitely affect our future purchasing plans. Thanks in advance,

 

[hallux]

Not intending to be snarky, but if it was easy to defeat it would defeat the purpose of the protection. It may well become a paperweight, but I don't know that it should be a significant factor in purchasing decision but it COULD help to drive some changes to the process to exit an employee. If the employee is leaving on good terms, it should be easy to work with them to remove their accounts from their work device so that it can be re-used for their replacement or some other new employee. Just one more thing for the exit interview checklist, it only takes a minute.

You might try reaching out to Google but I'm not sure what help they'll be.