How to Backup iPhone with Broken Screen and Passcode

Backup iPhone with Broken Screen and Passcode

Q: How to backup an iPhone with a broken screen?

“I broke the screen on my iPhone 7 and I haven’t backed up any data from it. The phone is still alive. I can hear Siri if I hold the Home button, but it has a passcode and gets locked. So when I plug it in computer, iTunes is not able to recognize it. Is there any way to backup iPhone with broken screen and passcode?”

What’s worse than having your iPhone screen cracked? Yes, the photos, contacts, videos and other personal data are not yet backed up. In this case, it is urgent to get important data off broken iPhone and make a backup before repairing the device itself. How to backup iPhone if screen is broken? Have no idea what to do? Here we will browse through different situations to access iPhone with broken screen and get it backed up. Just read on the post and discover how to recover data from broken iPhone, including iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, iPhone 11 Pro Max, iPhone 11, iPhone XR, iPhone XS/XS Max, iPhone X/8/7/6s, iPad Pro, iPad Air, etc. running on iOS 13/12.

Situation 1: If Your Broken iPhone Have Trusted a Computer Before

If you have trusted a computer before your iPhone screen is broken or locked, then you are lucky. You can simply connect your broken iPhone to the trusted computer and use iTunes to perform a regular backup. Follow the steps below:

  1. Open iTunes and wait for it to recognize the broken iPhone, then click on the device icon on the top left of the screen.
  2. Select Summary from the left sidebar and choose “This computer” under Automatically Back Up.
  3. If necessary, check the box for “Encrypt local backup” to create a password to protect your backups.
  4. Now click on “Back Up Now” to start the backup. And the backups will be stored locally on your PC or Mac.
    How to Backup iPhone with Broken Screen and Passcode

How to Get Pictures and Data Off Broken iPhone with Passcode

It is really simple to backup broken iPhone with iTunes if you have trusted a computer before. However, it still has some limitations. For example, the entire backup data will be encrypted in unreadable formats. You can’t view the files in the backup unless you restore it to an unbroken iPhone or iPad. Don’t be upset! There is an alternative way to backup iPhone with broken screen and locked.

Gihosoft Free iPhone Recovery is a powerful tool that helps you to get data off broken iPhone to computer and save then in readable formats, including Pictures, Texts/iMessages, Contacts, Notes, WhatsApp, Viber, Voice Memos, Safari History, Calendar & Reminders, etc. Using it, you can directly backup iPhone with broken screen or extract data from iTunes backup files. Plus, you can preview the files in details and select your desired data before the backup & restore process.

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Steps to backup & recover data from iPhone/iPad with broken screen:

  • Step 1. Run the software on the computer that your broken iPhone/iPad trusted.
  • Step 2. Connect the cracked device to PC/Mac. Start to scan the device if the utility detects your iPhone. Or skip to select an old iTunes backup file to extract data.
  • Step 3. Preview and retrieve photos, contacts, text messages, videos, etc from broken iPhone or iPad and save them as backups on computer.
    Get Pictures, Contacts, Messages, etc Off Broken iPhone/iPad

Note: To use the iPhone data recovery program, it is important to connect your iPhone to a computer which it has trusted before, or your iPhone screen is not completely broken allowing you to tap and trust a computer. Otherwise, your iPhone won’t be recognized and the program will only show you the options of iTunes and iCloud backup recovery.

Situation 2: If Your Broken iPhone Have Never Trusted Any Computer Before

If unfortunately, you haven’t enabled the “Trust This Computer” option before on your broken device, then both your computer or iTunes won’t be able to recognize the iPhone. Though it is hard to enter password or trust computer on an iPhone with broken screen and locked, it doesn’t mean it is impossible.

Here are your options to access iPhone with broken screen and passcode for backup and recovery:

  1. Fix the screen and back up once the device lets you tap in the unlock code.
  2. Use a bluetooth keyboard (which was already paired) to enter the password.
  3. In case one small area of the screen still works and you can enable Voiceover mode:
    •  Hold Home key to turn on Siri and ask Siri to turn on VoiceOver
    • Swipe right/left until ‘Slide to Unlock’ is selected
    • Double-tap then the passcode page comes up
    • Swipe right/left to enter the passcode by double-tapping each number
    • If asked ‘Trust This Computer’, double-tap the ‘Trust’ button. Then you can backup & retrieve data from broken iPhone/iPad through method one.

Notes: It depends on the extent of the damage. If the broken screen is totally black, or your iPhone becomes completely dead, you’ll get it repaired first.


Extra Tip: Retrieve Pictures and More Files from iCloud, Google Drive or Dropbox

Some cloud storage like iCloudGoogle Drive and Dropbox provides a way to backup your important files to its cloud server. When you broken iPhone/iPad, don’t forget to check for lost data on their official site. Let’s take the iCloud for example:

  1. Open the web browser on computer and go to iCloud.com.
  2. Sign in to iCloud. There you can view pictures, videos, contacts, notes, reminders and the records of iCloud backup in Settings.
  3. You may simply be able to sync data back to another iOS device from the iCloud backup.
    Retrieve Pictures and More Files from iCloud/Google Drive/Dropbox

Last updated on by Leo

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