Android’s hidden Developer Options menu is full of useful shortcuts and tools. However, there is one thing in particular that can really help you get out of trouble. I hope you never need it, but if you do, you’ll be glad you spent 5 seconds activating it right now.
The setting I’m talking about is the innocuously named “USB Debugging”. You might think it’s only for people who want advanced mods on their phones, but that’s not all it’s good for. USB debugging allows you to access your phone when it’s not working properly and can be quite important when it comes to data recovery.
UBS debugging is a hidden backdoor to your phone
Access your phone when you can’t access your phone
In general, USB debugging is one of the most widely used Developer Options. This allows the computer to communicate with your Android phone. Once the two devices are connected, you can control your phone by entering simple commands through Android Debug Bridge, also known as “ADB”.
Why is this useful for the average person? Imagine dropping your phone on a hard concrete pavement and getting a nasty crack on the screen. The phone is still on but half the screen is black and the touch screen is broken. You have tons of photos, videos and other important personal data stored on the device, but there is no way to access it.
Now, connecting your phone to a computer will give you access to those photos and videos, but for anything else, you’ll need more advanced tools. If you took the time to enable USB debugging before disaster struck, you can use ADB to gain full access to your phone from your computer. There are several ways to do this.
How to Enable USB Debugging on Android
It’s a piece of cake
Enabling USB debugging is a pretty simple process, so let’s jump right into it. First, you need to open the hidden Developer Options menu. Open your phone’s Settings, go to “About phone” and look for “Generated number”. “You are now a developer!” Tap the build number repeatedly until the message appears.
Having eliminated this, go back to the main Settings and go to “System”. You should now see a new “Developer options” section – go there and select “USB Debugging”. That’s all there is to it, but don’t skip the next step.
To access your phone from your computer, you must give it access. This only needs to be done once, but it should be done while you can still use your phone. Connect it to your computer and select “Always allow from this computer” when the pop-up appears.
Get information from your phone through your computer
Say hello to Scrcpy
The easiest way to transfer data from your phone is to just use your phone, right? Since this may not be possible, the next best thing is to use your phone remotely. This is the name of an incredibly beautiful instrument “Scrcpy.” It streams your Android device’s screen to your computer, where it can be controlled with a mouse and keyboard.
See, even if the physical display and touchscreen are broken, Android is still not visible when the phone is turned on. Scrcpy lets you see it on your computer screen. You don’t even have to install it beforehand – everything can be done from your computer after the Bad Thing happens on your phone.
Find instructions here To download and install scrcpy. Once you’ve set all that up, there are plenty of options to recover your data. With Quick Share, you can send files to your computer, transfer data to a cloud storage app, back up the device, or do whatever else you want with the device if it’s working.
Prepare for disaster
The biggest takeaway from this article is to take the time to enable USB debugging and trust the computer until you want to. Everything else can be done after that, but these two steps must be completed before your device is usable. Hopefully you’ll never have to worry about using it, but if something bad happens to your phone, you’ll be glad you took the time.
