How to factory reset samsung s6 edge without password

If you forget the password or PIN for your Galaxy S6, S6 Edge, S6 Edge+, or any other Samsung Galaxy phones, the only way to unlock the phone is using Samsung’s Find My Mobile. The latest guide can be found here.

Google Android Device Manager (Find My Device) can only lock or erase your phone with your Google account.  It is not able to unlock your Android phone with a Google account any more.

Update: In most regions,  you can use Google account to unlock Galaxy S6 again if you forget your PIN or password or backup password.  The guide was added below (link to this part). Please notice the two requirements: internet connection and main Google account.

Why Samsung Galaxy S6 does not accept my password and fingerprint?

It is usually recommended to set up lock screen security for your Galaxy S6 or S6 edge if you have any concern on your personal data on the phone and possible loss of the phone.

As detailed in this page, there are different levels of security you can set for Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge.

However, maybe suddenly, your password or fingerprint is not accepted by Galaxy S6 or S6 edge.

You are locked out of Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 edge. 

Rebooting Galaxy S6 or S6 edge is useless. This is the purpose of the screen lock: if someone steals your galaxy S6, they cannot access your data on the phone if it is locked.

But if you are locked out of your own phone, it is hard for you to calm down. Most owners may blame the “stupid” lock screen policy.

Anyway, the stupid unlock policy is here to protect your data from unauthorized access.

There are a couple of ways to unlock Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge even when your password or fingerprint is not recognized:

1. You can reset the phone. All personal data and files will be erased, and you have to set up the phone just like a new one. Please follow this guide on how to reset the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge.
2. If the fingerprint is not recognized, you can still use the backup password. The problem is Samsung enforce a security policy on backup password length and complexity, and many owners forget it very quickly.
3. If you use pattern lock, after a few fails, you can use your Google account to unlock Galaxy S6 or S6 edge. But Google account does not work if lock screen security is set as PIN or password or fingerprint.
4. You can visit local Samsung service centre. In some regions, they can help you unlock the phone if you can be identified as the owner. But this is not a standard service: most Samsung service centres will insist on resetting the phone.
5. You can use Google Android Device Manager.  This used to work for almost all Android devices. Now, an Android device can only lock your device if it is locked. If it is locked, you can only erase the device, but not unlock (reset the lock).
6. You can use Samsung Find My Mobile service. I will show you later. This is currently the only working method to unlock Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge when you are locked out of your device.
7. Update! You can use Google account to unlock Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge if you are locked out of the phone. In the past, this does not work if lock screen security is set as the fingerprint.  But now, this works for all lock screen security settings including fingerprint in most (not all) regions. The requirement is your phone must connect to the Internet.

As for why Samsung Galaxy S6 does not accept my password and fingerprint, nobody knows.

Samsung will blame you although you can swear the password or backup password is correct. Don’t waste time to argue with them. It won’t help.

Android Device Manager does NOT unlock your Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge any more

I used to recommend Android Device Manager when someone is locked out his own Android devices.

Actually, on this page, I also mistakenly recommend Android Device Manager.

But the sad truth is that:

• Android Device Manager can ring your phone.
• Android Device Manager can lock your phone if it is NOT locked yet.
• Android Device Manager can erase your phone (reset).
• Android Device Manager can change the lock screen of your phone.
• Android Device Manager will NOT unlock the phone and will NOT reset the lock.

So, basically, Google removed the most valuable service from the Android Device Manager. I cannot track back when it was removed.

After clicking the lock in Android Device Manager, you can type new password and messages to be shown on the lock screen as shown below.

But,  if your phone is already locked (that’s why you are reading this page), you will get a splash message like (as shown below):

Since Google has verified that a screen lock is already set, the password you entered won’t be used.

This means Android Device Manager will NOT reset your screen lock. The password you typed in New lock screen page will NOT be passed to the phone at all.

In other words, Android Device Manager only helps you lock the phone if it is not locked but does not unlock the phone or reset the lock password for your Galaxy S6 or S6 edge.

So, currently, the best way to unlock Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge when your password and fingerprint are not accepted is Samsung’s Find My Mobile.

Samsung is often teased as the king of bloatware. There are some half-baked features, some nobody-will-use features in previous Galaxy devices since Galaxy S4.

But Samsung actually has provided some nice services for a long time. Find My Mobile is one example. Samsung has this “Samsung Dive”  mobile tracker even before Galaxy S.  Now it is re-branded as Find My Mobile with more features.

Find My Mobile is NOT a new service. If you ever tried the Samsung Dive, it is just the new version of Samsung Dive.

Samsung Find My Mobile provides all functions and features Android Device Manager offers, and many other features.

Of course, you can unlock Samsung Galaxy S6, and S6 Edge with Samsung Find My Mobile service without resetting Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge.

To use  Samsung Find My Mobile service, you need:

1. a Samsung account. The webpage requires you to log in with your Samsung account.
2. Enable Find My Mobile on your Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 edge. If you added a Samsung account on the Galaxy S6, by default, this is enabled.
3. Internet connection on the Galaxy S6 (the unlock command can only be reached Galaxy S6 or S6 edge through the Internet). This means at least one of  WiFi and mobile data is turned on before you are locked out. 

Please note, there is no way to change the phone settings when Galaxy S6 is locked. This is the purpose of the screen lock.

Step 1: enable Samsung Find My Mobile service on Galaxy S6 or S6 edge

To enable Samsung Find My Mobile service on Galaxy S6 or S6 edge, go to Settings— Lock screen and security.

Tap Find My Mobile, as shown below. It will ask you to provide your Samsung account. It is a bit annoying that it will ask you for this every time when you try to open Find My Mobile settings even after you add Samsung account to Galaxy S6 or S6 edge.

In the Find My Mobile page,  you need to make sure Remote control, as shown in the screenshot below, is turned on (switch is on the right side). By default, it should be on.

Please note, there are a few other security settings. You should NOT enable them if you do not fully understand them.

Step 2: unlock Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 Edge with Samsung Find My Mobile

You can now visit https://findmymobile.samsung.com/login.do to unlock  Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 edge.

You need to sign in with your Samsung account, as shown below in the left panel.

Once logging in,  one of the registered devices will be listed, as shown below.

The registered devices mean any devices with your Samsung account. You can click it to see all of your devices with your Samsung account. Click any of them to make it active.

Make sure your Galaxy S6 or S6 edge is listed and active.

You also need to make sure the Connection and Remote controls are on. If your Galaxy S6 or S6 edge has no internet access, it will be shown as OFF.

Scroll down and expand Unlock my device as shown below.

Now you can unlock Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 edge by clicking Unlock my screen as shown below.

You will get the feedback on the screen:

The screen is unlocked. Setup screen lock on the device.

Now, your Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 edge should be unlocked. The lock screen security in Galaxy S6 pr S6 edge will be also be reset as a swipe.

Step 3: Set up new screen lock on Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 edge

In your Galaxy S6 or S6 edge, you will find a notification of Screen unlock via Find My Mobile as shown below.

Once Find My Mobile unlocks Samsung Galaxy S6 or S6 edge, it also reset the lock screen security to swipe.

So, you probably want to set up a new screen lock.

Don’t forget your password or backup password again.

Updated!! How to unlock Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge when your password and fingerprint are not accepted with Google account

Following recent updates, you can now unlock Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge with Google account when the backup password and fingerprint are not accepted.

This can be an alternative method to unlock Galaxy S6 with Samsung’s Find My Mobile.  It is very useful for owners who haven’t set up a Samsung account on Galaxy S6 or S6 edge.

After trying to back up password incorrectly more than 5 times, the Unlock via Google option, as shown below, will be offered now.

Tap Unlock via Google will allow you to unlock the lock screen with Google account, as shown below.

The lock screen security will also be reset as Swipe. So, you can reset the lock screen security as you want later.

Please note, there are a few requirements for this method of unlocking Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge with Google account:

1. Your Galaxy S6 or Galaxy S6 edge must connect to the Internet.  In other words, you should not turn off both WiFi and mobile data before you are locked out. Please note, you cannot enable mobile data or WiFi when the screen is locked. I am not sure why Galaxy S6 or S6 edge must connect to Google server and does not use locally saved credentials.
2. You can only use the main Google account on Galaxy S6 or S6 edge.  If you have multiple Google accounts on the phone, only the main Google account (which you added first) will work. If you use other Google account, you will get invalid account/password info.

Do you know how to unlock Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge with Samsung Find My Mobile, if you forget the screen lock password (and your fingerprint is not accepted either)?

If you have any questions on using Find My Mobile to unlock Samsung Galaxy S6 and S6 edge or to reset the Samsung Galaxy S6 screen lock, please let us know your problems in the comment box below.

The community will try to help you.

For other features of Galaxy S6, please check Galaxy S6 online manual page.

For detailed guides on how to use Samsung Galaxy S6, please check Galaxy S6 how-to guides page.