Android phone destroyed by water. Are personal files recoverable?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by Andrew J, May 26, 2023.

  1. Andrew J

    Andrew J Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    South East England
    Hi,

    Mobile phone was destroyed due to liquid damage. I thought files were backed up but weren't.

    Sense of loss is mostly of various music ideas I had recorded over the past year (some which I have forgotten but were ones I wanted to develop) and a few photos.

    Does anyone know if it is possible for these to be recovered?

    It is really difficult to even take off the back cover and remove the battery, so I don't know which parts are damaged yet.

    I took it to be mended and was told it would take toool much time to reactivate and I would be better off getting another, which I did.

    Once I got the replacement, then there was the sinking feeling of realising the files hadn't backed up from the old phone.

    If anyone knows part of a Samsung Galaxy hardware stores files and data it would also be helpful. Did a,Google search bit can't find an answer.

    Thanks.
     
    Last edited: May 26, 2023
  2. Barry_NJ

    Barry_NJ Forum Resident

    Location:
    GSP Exit 165, NJ
    Try looking/asking over at XDA Developers forum, those guys live/eat/breath Android devices
     
    Andrew J likes this.
  3. Andrew J

    Andrew J Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    South East England
    Thanks for the advice Barry.
     
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  4. animaux

    animaux Bababooey!

    Location:
    Wisconsin
    Let it sit for a week or more to dry and and then try it. Some have put devices into ziplock baggies with rice to absorb the water faster, but, ultimately, it has to be bone dry before trying to power it up again.
     
    Andrew J and Rolltide like this.
  5. Henry Love

    Henry Love Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicagoland
    The bag of rice trick worked for me.
     
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  6. PineBark

    PineBark formerly known as BackScratcher

    Location:
    Boston area
    Depends on what you mean by "destroyed," and the kind of liquid.

    If it just fell in some fresh water, you should be able to dry it out with the rice trick and recover the data. But if it got corroded by sea water, or it got drenched by a firehose, or is was dunked in a pitcher of sugary soda, probably not.
     
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  7. motorstereo

    motorstereo Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ct.
    The bag of rice trick has worked for me on a few occasions with my droid. Sometimes we get caught in a horrendous downpour on the back of a paver. When that happened I'd get about as wet as a person can get as did my phone due to the rain coming down and the steam coming up.
     
  8. Andrew J

    Andrew J Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    South East England
    Thanks all. I don't hold much hope, as it was a few days back, but who knows?
     
  9. Carl Swanson

    Carl Swanson Senior Member

    I save up all those silica dessicant packets that come in various products. Might they be more effective than a bag of rice, perhaps if a number of them were used?
     
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  10. jfeldt

    jfeldt Forum Resident

    Location:
    SF, CA, USA
    I think the silica would be more effective than rice. One can also buy many pounds of it cheaply in the form of “crystal” kitty litter.
     
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  11. CKDC

    CKDC Forum Resident

    Location:
    Washington, DC
    It did not work out well for Rajesh Vishwas.
     
  12. HIRES_FAN

    HIRES_FAN Forum Resident

    Leave it in the oven at a low temperature, say 110F (not 450F!) for a few hours.
     
  13. anorak2

    anorak2 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    • Make sure it's totally dry before trying to turn it on again.
    • Files are in general recoverable, but it depends on the exact kind of damage how and how much it costs.
    • Obvious question: Are your data on the internal storage or on a microSD? If the latter, you're good :)
    • Does it boot and USB works? If so you can probably retrieve your files by attaching the phone to a computer.
    • Does it boot but the touchscreen doesn't work and the phone appears inaccessible? You might still access it from a computer in the same network using VNC and control it from there. This presupposes you had activated VNC on the phone before it broke.
    • Are you positive that it didn't backup itself to your Google drive? Did you positively check? In any case Android stores part of your data on Google, not on the device. That includes e-mails on your Google account, contact data, timetables and other things. So those will be there anyway.
    • If it appears dead and nothing works, chances are the data is still intact on the phone, but to get it out you need the help of a professional data recovery service. Those companies might recover data when the maker of the phone can't or won't. They exist in many places; their success isn't guaranteed but maybe worth a try. But they cost not an insignificant amount, up to you if your files are worth it.
     

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