Correct Google password not accepted to bypass lock screen on Android 4

[Android Central Question]

I have an LG Lucid 2 I haven't used in years. I believe it's running Android 4.4 or a little below that. I'd like to get some data off it before selling it, but I forgot both my lock screen pattern and my PIN, so I'm stuck at the lock screen. That leaves entering my account name and password, but that's not working -- it's telling me the info is invalid.

I have tried both my current Google password (which I have verified is correct) as well as the Google password I used when setting up the phone. I have tried with and without "@gmail.com" for my account name. From the icons at the top, it appears the phone is still connecting to my wifi, as it should be (it wouldn't be connected to a cellular network, of course). I have checked my e-mail to make sure Google isn't sending me something related to 2-step authentication.

Any ideas? Is there some registration step that I may have never completed that would have been needed in order to use my Google account to unlock the phone? (I certainly used Gmail on the phone, so I assume the phone was associated with my Google account, but maybe not in the right way?)

Thanks for reading!
--Allen

 

[mustang7757]

Hi, welcome to Android Forums

I'd like to recommend creating a account so me or other members can assist you, as guest have limitations in replying here and if we need further Information to communicate with you.

I'll provide a link to register, please come back to your post so we can further assist you . Thank you


https://forums.androidcentral.com/showthread.php?t=409154

 

[mustang7757]

There's really no way around it , if you forgot your pin , password and Google authentication your out of luck. It's Android security feature to prevent anyone stealing your device.

 

[allenmcbride]

Thanks for your response! I have registered as requested. I understand there's no way around the lock screen if I forget all those things. It's a good security feature. But the issue is that I do remember my Google authentication. I'm trying to figure out possible reasons why the lock screen is telling me the info is invalid anyway. A problem involving 2-step authentication on my Google account? A failure on my part to complete some registration step in the past, even though I used the phone in the typical way?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Did you get the phone used, or brand new from the store? If it belonged to someone else before you, it might be asking for that person's Google account/password.

If you go to https://myaccount.google.com/device-activity, does that phone show up there? If not, then that would suggest the Google account that's associated with that phone is not your current Google account. You'd have to dig a little deeper and figure out which older Google account you may have used (if still active).

 

[allenmcbride]

Thank you, B. Diddy. I got the phone new from the store. It doesn't show up at the website you linked, but that page says that it's only listing devices currently logged in or logged out in the last 28 days. This old phone I haven't used in years, so I'm not surprised it doesn't show up there. (I've only ever had two Google accounts, and I'm trying all steps using both accounts.) Maybe Google just drops devices after a few years of inactivity, and then you can't bypass a lock screen from them anymore?

 

[B. Diddy]

For me, the device page still shows devices that I haven't used for the past 8 months at least. Since I never removed my Google account from them, I'm still technically logged in, so I would guess that's still the case for you.

You could also try Google's Find My Device site and see if the device shows up there.

 

[allenmcbride]

Thanks again. "Find my phone" seems to use the same device list as the one you linked before, unfortunately. Maybe the most likely thing is that at some point I explicitly logged the old phone out, from Google's device list page. I would have thought I'd still be able to authenticate from a device I'm not currently logged in on, but perhaps not.