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Recently I dropped my iPhone 4 and when I picked it up the screen was all black but the sensor was still on. I called Apple and basically they said they can try to repair it or just buy a new one. So, I'm buying a new phone.

As I want to still have all my information, I'm trying to make a backUp, but when trying an error prompts asking me to unlock the iPhone, which is something I can no longer do as I can't see the screen nor does the touch screen work.

So is there anyway to get around that or another way to unlock?

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    You say "the sensor was still on" and "nor does the touch screen work." Which sensor do you mean in the first sentance?
    – Hand-E-Food
    Commented Mar 15, 2013 at 0:26

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
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I think your best bet is to to run your iphone side by side with another iphone that is also set to lock. Now, by using the two phones side by side, you should be able to enter your passcode 'blind' using the position of the keys on the working phone as a guide.

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  • As cleaver as that is, the question states the touch screen does not work.
    – Hand-E-Food
    Commented Mar 14, 2013 at 22:32
  • He says that the sensor is still on. My understanding is that you can touch the screen and register the touch, but not see the results. Although I'm not sure how you would tell...
    – Sherwood Botsford
    Commented Mar 14, 2013 at 22:42
  • I thought I didn't another phone but putting them side by side actually worked. Thanks, backing up now, hoping fix for screen won't be too costly...
    – Jonno
    Commented Jun 29, 2014 at 14:37
  • briliant! good thinking
    – Macmaniman
    Commented Mar 8, 2015 at 1:47
  • Fortunately we had another phone that was also not trusted by the computer yet. By plugging both phones in and taking careful note of when it wanted the passcode, and when and where to press the "Trust" button, we were eventually able to get iTunes and the phone to trust each other.
    – Bampfer
    Commented Mar 13, 2020 at 0:58
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Unlikely, as what's the point of password-protecting it if anyone can get the data by plugging it in, but have you tried Apple Configurator? https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/apple-configurator/id434433123?mt=12 or PhoneView? http://www.ecamm.com/mac/phoneview/ Other than that, it isn't cheap, but data recovery services support iPhone now, although your particular need is possibly harder for them to assist with http://www.drivesaversdatarecovery.com/devices-supported/apple-iphone-data-recovery/

It would be more to the point to just (carefully)replace the screen, with a part like they sell at http://www.ifixit.com/iPhone-Parts/iPhone-4-Display-Assembly-GSM-ATT/IF182-003

iCloud offers relatively small space for free, but the auto-backup you can configure every time its plugged in would be saving your bacon right now, hindsight 20/20… Good luck, Allister

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I did exactly what Sherwood's answer said with my iPhone 5 that died on me yesterday.

The trick totally worked, after the Apple Store told me that there is NOTHING that can be done and that I would lose almost 1 year worth of data! If you want to check if the screen is still touch sensitive, either call your number and see if you can answer the call by hitting the area that would have the "answer button", or see if you can power the phone down by hitting the top button and do a "swish" where you would normally see the "slide to power down button" at the top of the screen.

Once you start it back up make sure you do another swish on the bottom of the screen where the "slide to unlock" button would be (I forgot about that one initially.)

I found that I was not able to unlock the phone while I had it connected to my PC/iTunes. So unlock the phone first and then connect to ITunes to get a full backup. Hope this helps!

Note that you can also use the accessibility options to help you. I activated the VoiceOver options (http://help.apple.com/iphone/7/#/iph2062e901c) while my phone was plugged into my computer through itunes to help me figure out what I was touching on my black screen, and select the appropriate buttons. Do this somewhere you won't be embarrassed to have your phone read to you though.

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