Statistics show that the vast majority of Americans own a smartphone nowadays, relying on them for both personal and business use. The most recent numbers show that around 77% of adults own a smartphone, using it for messaging, social networks, business and finance tasks and purposes, shopping, games, and for sports. With that in mind, it is fair to say that a huge amount of data is also saved on their smartphones such as photos, videos, files, and documents. In other words, people have become quite reliant on their phones.
So, what happens when your phone becomes damaged? It can be a rather stressful situation as you’re left worried, not just about whether your device will work again, but whether you’ve lost your data that was stored on the phone rather than in cloud storage. Here is some advice for dealing with a damaged phone.
Cracks on Phone Casing or Screen
Probably one of the most common things to happen to your smartphone is dropping it on a hard surface. Obviously, the worst-case scenario is that your phone screen smashes into a million pieces. Should this happen, you’ll want to power it down immediately. This can help prevent further damage from happening. From there, you want to take it to a professional repair shop or your phone provider/retailer.
Now, if you drop your phone and only minor dents, scratches, or a small crack occurs, you can go ahead and unlock the screen and try using it to ensure it still works. In most cases, minor damage won’t be enough to affect the phone’s operation.
Dealing with Water Damage
Another common problem is water damage. Unfortunately, the majority of models on the market today just don’t mix well with water, which means you want to be sure you have an action plan in place just in case. If your phone becomes submerged in water, remove it immediately and pat it dry. Next, you want to place it on a level surface so it can continue to dry out.
Make sure that your phone is turned off until it is completely dry. This can also be a good time to remove the SIM card if possible. Generally, you should expect your phone to take up to 48 hours to dry completely, and at that point you can turn it on and see if it works. If these steps still don’t work, consult a Water Damage Device Recovery service immediately.
In the future you may also want to think about going with a waterproof model.
Employ Professional Data Recovery Services
Sometimes the phone is in such poor shape that you may worry that your data is gone for good. Before you decide it’s a write-off though, you can look into professional mobile data recovery and secure forensics, such as the services offered by Secure Data Recovery. Services such as these use professional engineers to actually go through your damaged operating system and often recover data that you assumed was completely gone.
Damage Doesn’t Necessarily Mean It’s Ruined
The thing to keep in mind is that even though smartphones aren’t indestructible, not all damage leads to the phone being completely ruined. Often, if you act quickly and take the right steps, the phone and the data can be salvaged.