Level 1.6: Donut

Question

Cannot login to phones.

Forum|Forum|26 days ago
August 17, 2026
12 replies
297 views

Hello,

I took over an IT department with numerous company owned phones. The previous IT department did not use an MDM and did not keep track of login information for the phones. They would create a new gmail account for each phone and allow the end user to create their own PIN. I need to access these phones and put them on the MDM.

Thank You,

Jason

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Kirk

Community Manager

Hi Jason,

Welcome to the community. That's a tricky thing to walk into.

We can’t personally access devices remotely ourselves but there are a few things for you to consider:

The first question is whether the phones are still with your end users, or sat in a drawer somewhere. If the users are still around and can unlock them, the cleanest fix is to have them remove the Google account in Settings first, then factory reset. Doing it in that order avoids Factory Reset Protection, which is what would otherwise leave you stuck on the setup screen asking for the old account.

For anything already reset, or where the user has left your company, do you know where the devices were originally purchased? Did they come through a zero touch reseller? Your reseller or the OEM support team will be able to confirm either way, and proof of purchase usually helps the conversation along.

In future it might be worth considering using managed Google Play accounts too.

Cheers,
Kirk

Casualty0815Author

Level 1.6: Donut

Hi Kirk,

The phones were scattered throughout an office that I cleaned and organized. The employees no longer work here and do not remember the PIN. I tried a factory reset and every gmail account that was left in a spreadsheet that I found in one of the old IT’s desktop. Every phone that I have had a chance to get my hands on is now managed by Intune and will no longer be an issue. They are all part of a big batch of phones that we purchased through T-Mobile and have no issues showing proof of purchase. T-Mobile says that they have no way to access the phones if they are signed in with a gmail account.

Thank You,

Jason

Moombas

Level 4.4: KitKat

Hi @Casualty0815

And same goes for Google or anyone else than the account owner.
You can most likely scrap those devices.

Also, to be sorry you have to use Intune (if you read around here in the community about it, you know what i mean).

And also to sorry you have to clean and wrap up that area inside your company.

It also makes a big difference in which way the devices are enrolled (BYOD, COPE, fully managed) and used in case of your possibilities. I guess you use COPE mode.

Also i could recommend to investigate to only allow managed Google accounts which you may can get hands on if employee left to unlock phones if needed.

Otherwise consider for future, if devices are handed out, that users have to sign something like a contract that if they provide the device back, it has to be unlocked and removed from their account, otherwise they get charged on their next/last payroll as this otheriwse can cost the company a lot of money.

Casualty0815Author

Level 1.6: Donut

Is there a way to get a password reset done on the signed in google account? Is there a way to release the phone from the signed in google account?

Moombas

Level 4.4: KitKat

You could try a password reset on the account via web but as i assume the account is in private use and you are not the owner you are not allowed to and don’t have the rquired equipment to do so.

You can release the Google account by removing the device from the Google account but as you don’T have access to it, no way possible.

How do you think otherwise theft protection would work?

Casualty0815Author

Level 1.6: Donut

Still don’t stop someone from stealing the phone. Just makes it into a parts phone or garbage.

Moombas

Level 4.4: KitKat

But one of the most valuable parts (main pcb) is still useless and most stolen phones are tried to be sold as one part, not in spareparts.

The better the protection is/gets, the less are stolen.

But thats a different topic. The mechanism you try to work around here is to prevent theft, so there’s no way around without account owner access.

Thats why I wrote the possibilities you have above already.

Casualty0815Author

Level 1.6: Donut

What if I purchase a phone and do not sign into it? I then have it stolen from me, and the person who steals it from me signs into the phone. I then find the person who stole it and get the phone back. Is the phone now theirs even though I have proof of purchase. The main question is? If I have proof of purchase, does the phone not belong to me?

Moombas

Level 4.4: KitKat

I never said that the account owner is automatically the owner of the device!

But i give you another example: Someone steals a company phone and then it gets somehow in some kind of mobile phone shop (i have heard this quite often now, so its not a tell) and they sell it (so somone else now has a proof of purchase as well). Is in your logic the newer proof of purchase now proofing the new owner or yours?

But in your example, you would most likely go to police to do a police report on the theft. Together with your proof of purchase you could most likely reach out to Google to get the phone removed from that account. Everything else would be goodwill from Google side if they say, your proof of concept is enough.

A second example for theft to show it from other perspective: Someone buys a new phone (so has pop) and then sells it to you without a pop because of private selling (and gets the money). Then that person raises this phone was stolen and uses his/hers pop to proof themselves as the owner. Then you lost the money and the phone even they betrayed you if the pop is the only thing showing the owner.

What i want to say is: It’s not that easy just working with the pop.
And just to rely on that is risky also you don’t want to reach everytime to Google you run into such an issue again and again.

And i can guarantee you, you will, if you don’t handle the accounts and/or devices strictly. This means one of the following, or maybe even other ones i don’t have in mind:

Best: Only allow managed Google accounts (so you can take advantage of the accounts)
Worst: Let them sign a contract, that they get charged if they hand you the devices back without unlinking them from their private Google accounts (that at least lowers the financial risk).
not an option normally: don’t allow any Google account
Don’t allow an handover without a test re-enrollment (wipe + online enrollment until home screen) to verify it’s open before they leave.
use BYOD instead
…

Casualty0815Author

Level 1.6: Donut

I don’t need help with best practices. The old IT department did. I have 3 Galaxy S24’s that we have carrier service on with the carrier that we purchased them from. Proof of purchase for the phones that I have to throw in the garbage. I am not worried about the numerous other phones that we have as I have an MDM to put them on. When I get my hands on them, I will have full control over them. I am currently working on getting old S9’s attached to the phone numbers and calling $2000 worth of phones scrap parts, which saddens me as IT as they are very good phones. It also flabbergasts me as we have everything needed to prove that we own the phones but still have to call them garbage. I don’t think I know three people that have had their phones stolen, but I do have three junked phones that may have well been stolen.

Kirk

Community Manager

Hi Jason,

Being straight with you, there's nothing we can do about the accounts on those devices from our side. It isn't something the community or Android Enterprise can unlock, and there's no route through us that gets you back into them.

The one avenue still worth a go, if you have not done so already, is Samsung directly. Take the proof of purchase, the IMEIs and the carrier details to their support team and ask them to treat it as a business customer case. As far as I understand it's not guaranteed and it may come back the same way T-Mobile did, but it's the last door genuinely worth knocking on, and it carries more weight coming from you as the owner than it would second hand from us.

Since there's nothing further we can offer here, I'm going to close the thread rather than let it run on and circle the same answer. That's not a reflection on you or on the question.

If you'd like to talk it through, send me a DM and I'll pick it up there.

Cheers,
Kirk

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