Forgotten password (details within)

[Ildon]

So I am not sure how this happened but I seem to have futzed up my lock screen password entry yesterday. I use a dedicated series of three passwords for my given phone and I have tried all of them without success, meaning I not only managed to somehow futz entry yesterday but also managed to duplicate this futz during confirmation without catching the mistake either time.

Being that I was also using fingerprint unlocking, I did not notice the problem until a restart today. Now I am locked out of the phone and only have 2 attempts remaining (with a 30-minute wait between them D before it is threatening to wipe the phone.

Having searched around, I saw it recommended to unlock with my Google account or Find My Mobile with Samsung. I didn't even realize the latter existed until just now (my first Samsung phone) and so while I can log in to my Samsung account just fine, the device is not listed and I cannot use this method until I get in to set the feature up.

I can log in to my Google account just fine and I do see the phone there, yet there isn't much I can do. I can force it to ring, but the trick involving replacing the password by forcing it to lock from Google with a new password isn't working. Whenever I do this, the expected screen pops up on the phone but on the Google end it is telling me that it did not use the new password because a password already exists on the phone.

Do I have any other options here?

 

[N4Newbie]

On the Google site, there is also a "Lock my phone" button (something like that, anyway). Click it and you will be given the opportunity to set a new password/pin for your phone.

Assuming your phone is online with an active data connection, you should be able to use the new password/pin within a few moments.

 

[Ildon]

As I noted above, this is not working despite it also being listed in the guides I've found here. It sees that a password already exists on the phone and will no longer replace it.

Another user suggested that a recent security update disabled this option for a lot of people, which may be why.

 

[N4Newbie]

Sorry about that ...

You have to go to Google's Android Device Manager page https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager and use the Lock button there. Apparently it doesn't work from the "find my phone" search page.

 

[Ildon]

Sorry about that ...

You have to go to Google's Android Device Manager page https://www.google.com/android/devicemanager and use the Lock button there. Apparently it doesn't work from the "find my phone" search page.

This is what I have been doing. I use the option to lock there, fill out this form http://puu.sh/os2fO/10d26ba0b8.png , and get http://puu.sh/os2V5/739e4cd207.png as a result.

EDIT: As I continue to search, I'm seeing quite a few people reporting the same problem over the past several weeks. If an update disabled this method to work around a forgotten password, the guides could probably stand an update to mention this as a potential problem.

 

[N4Newbie]

Sorry, I didn't pick up on what you were saying earlier.

This is the first time I have heard of this response to the password change request. I wonder if Google changed the functionality...

 

[Ildon]

Sorry, I didn't pick up on what you were saying earlier.

This is the first time I have heard of this response to the password change request. I wonder if Google changed the functionality...

Seems that way. And with Samsung's Find My Mobile having been killed by Verizon on their offering of the phone, it's a pretty frustrating state of affairs.

 

[N4Newbie]

Google seems to be going the "ultra security" route these days. There was a time, not so long ago, when after xx number of failed PIN entries, you would be prompted to unlock your phone using your GMail account name and password. That was dropped about a year ago...

 

[lterry913]

Yep I have had this issue with my daughters phone. A factory data reset is only option unless samsung dealer will help you out. Our provider, Verizon, would not help us out.