The typical smartphone user keeps a great deal of sensitive information stored on his or her phone. We rely on our phones for banking and for making online purchases. We use them to sign in to a number of websites, and most of us will allow our phones to save our login information. Our phones also contain private documents, photos, and text conversations.
All this considered, making use of your phone’s locking mechanisms is a good idea.
PIN-Locking: Pros and Cons
When you have your Galaxy S9 or S9+ PIN-locked, you can rest easy. If your phone gets lost or stolen, no-one can abuse your personal data. And you also don’t have to worry about nosy coworkers or friends seeing something they shouldn’t. PIN-locking is also a good choice for parents who want to keep their young children from using the phone without supervision.
However, there’s an obvious downside to consider. Unlike fingerprint-locking, this security method requires you to memorize a short code.
It might seem easy to remember a four-digit PIN. But keeping your accounts truly secure means remembering a different password for each one. Considering the many codes you have to keep track of, it’s easy to slip up sometimes. In times of stress, you might suffer a momentary lapse of memory.
What can you do if you’ve forgotten the PIN you use to unlock your S9 or S9+?
Using Your Samsung Account
If you’ve got Samsung’s Find My Phone option set up, you can access your phone remotely without entering a PIN. You can simply use a different phone or a computer to open the Find My Phone feature. Then, use your Samsung account details to unlock the phone.
Find My Phone is a versatile and useful feature. If someone places a new SIM card into your Galaxy S9/S9+, Find My Phone can track their new number. You can also remotely keep track of dozens of recent calls, and you can delete or restore all the data on your phone from another device. Most importantly, it can give you the location of your phone if you lost it.
To set up this feature, follow these steps:
Go into Settings
Select “Lock Screen and Security”
Select “Find My Mobile”
Add Account
Now, enter the login and password of your Samsung account. You’ll need to use the same information to access Find My Mobile from a different device.
If you decide to use this option to unlock your Galaxy S9/S9+, your phone will delete your old PIN. Additionally, it will forget your biometric information, such as your fingerprints.
A Final Word
What if you haven’t set up Find My Mobile, or you can’t access your Samsung account for some reason?
In these situations, you can perform a factory reset. This means returning your phone to the way it was when you first bought it. Data that hasn’t been backed up will be gone forever.
To avoid this stress, it’s best to plan ahead. Connect your phone with your Samsung account and make sure you remember that account’s login information.
Additionally, you should write down your PIN in a safe place, and make sure to remember where that place is. Do this immediately, even if you’re sure of your ability to remember the number. You’ll find that having a backup can bring considerable comfort.
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