Forgot your Huawei PIN or pattern? How to access your data

People searching for "unlock Huawei" usually end up at a completely different problem. Three cases are constantly confused, and only one of them concerns your data.

If your Huawei asks for a four-digit PIN when you switch it on and you can still reach the lock screen afterwards, that was the SIM. If it asks at the lock screen and you cannot reach the home screen at all, it is the screen lock. Only then is this article relevant to you.

Huawei has been on the US restricted list since May 2019. Since then, new devices have been released without Google Mobile Services. For your case, this specifically means that the route through Google's "Find My Device" recommended by every Android guide online does not exist on these Huawei devices.

Instead, Huawei offers its own device finder through the Huawei ID. It can locate a device, make it ring and erase it remotely. It cannot unlock it. And the erase function is the very button that ends your chances of data recovery.

• Google's "Find My Device" is not available on Huawei devices from 2019 onwards.
• Huawei's device finder does not unlock devices; it can only locate them, make them ring and erase them.
• Guides that promise otherwise refer to older models or other manufacturers.

Devices released before May 2019, such as the P20 and Mate 20 series, still have Google services. The standard Android route applies to them, provided you know your Google account details.

The software generation helps determine which technical approach is available at all. You can find it under Settings, About phone. Since you cannot access that right now, the age of the device provides a useful indication.

This classification is a guideline, not a promise. Only diagnosis can establish which approach is actually available for your device. Tell us the model and approximate year of purchase when you enquire so we can assess the situation in advance.

What matters is what you originally set up. The difference is not a minor detail—it is the difference between a manageable problem and one that is practically impossible to solve.

We can reliably unlock numeric PINs and swipe patterns because the number of combinations remains manageable. With a password made up of letters and special characters, the number runs into the billions. In those cases, we only tell you after diagnosis whether there is a way forward, and we do not sell you hope beforehand.

If you remember parts of your screen lock code, such as its length, a sequence of digits or the direction of the pattern, include this in your enquiry. Each of these details significantly reduces the search space.

Most cases we have to turn down fail not because of the technology, but because of something that happened beforehand. Each of the following steps overwrites the storage and cannot be reversed.

• Resetting to factory settings, whether through the menu or using the button combination in recovery mode.
• Erasing the device remotely through Huawei's device finder or a linked account.
• Installing new firmware or forcing an update through HiSuite.
• Unlocking the bootloader. Huawei has not officially allowed this since 2018 anyway, and the tools circulating online often damage the device.
• Continuing to guess. After several failed attempts, the system increases the waiting times, and some configurations erase the storage after a set number of attempts.

If someone online or in a shop recommends one of these steps and your data matters, decline. Put the device aside and leave it switched off until the case has been assessed.

We work in Bonn and accept devices from across Germany via insured shipping. The process is the same for every lock-related case and ends with a clear assessment before any costs arise.

1. 1You describe the case: model, approximate year of purchase, type of lock and what has been tried so far.
2. 2We tell you in advance whether sending the device in makes sense at all.
3. 3The device arrives at the workshop. We check the software generation, encryption and condition of the logic board.
4. 4You receive an assessment with a binding price. Only then do you decide.
5. 5After successful decryption, we back up the data and return it on an encrypted USB drive.

The price for unlocking is around1.000euros and depends on the model, encryption and condition. This is not a fixed price, and we only provide a binding amount after diagnosis. If recovery is unsuccessful, only the processing fee of 29,90 euros applies.

If you would like to address the issue now, book a diagnostic assessment directly via Password unlocking. There you can see the process, how much the diagnostic assessment costs and how shipping works.

We would rather give you an honest refusal than accept a job that will fail. In these cases, we do not accept a Huawei in the first place.

• The device has already been reset to factory settings. This means the data has been overwritten.
• The data was accidentally deleted and the device works normally. We cannot recover deleted data.
• Someone without experience has previously worked on the device and damaged the logic board.
• The issue is a SIM lock or network unlocking. That is your mobile provider's responsibility.

A fixed price also does not apply in cases of severe water damage, a bent or broken logic board, or previous repair attempts by others. We charge for these cases based on the work involved, and we tell you this in advance too.

If your situation is different, these articles may help: Forgotten Xiaomi PIN covers the additional hurdle posed by the Mi account, Forgotten Honor PIN explains why the year of manufacture determines the approach for Honor, and Forgotten Google Pixel PIN discusses the Titan security chip.

If your Huawei no longer starts at all, the problem is not the lock but the hardware. For more on this, see Smartphone data recovery. You can find an overview of all cases under Data recovery.