Cel phone frustration

[mschrisgo2]

So I was planning to replace my cel phone since it was several years old, not holding a charge very long even with a new battery, only had 16g storage so lots of apps weren’t able to update... then I dropped it on pavement and had no choice...

because the screen broke and is now black, I’ve not been able to retrieve my Contacts. Yes, I know I should have had them backed up, but I didn’t.

*** my question is- oh Tech Gurus- is there _ANY_ way to get to my Contacts on the old phone? It’s a Samsung J3.

The new phone is a Samsung A11, just over $100, pretty basic smartphone, though the camera is awful. But it will work for what I need— and would be even better if I had my Contacts.

[Alan]

It depends upon your phone and the version of Android you're running but it's possible that you could use your phones usb cable to connect to your computer and then perform a backup to your pc. If you are able to accomplish that, then you can probably retrieve data in the same manner to your new phone.

Another thing to consider is the use of Google contacts on your phone. If you used it on your old phone you could log into https://contacts.google.com and see them all there.

[rosarugosa]

When I switched over from my Samsung Rebel to my current Galaxy A10e, there was a transfer wizard program that pulled all my data including contacts and photos into my new phone. The process was not without the usual aggravation of following the steps, the steps don't work as described, chat with help a few times, etc., but I was finally successful. I buy my phones and service from Tracfone, so I'm not sure if the transfer program was a Tracfone thing or a Samsung thing, but I assumed Samsung. I am probably not the most demanding of users, but I love this phone and think the camera is quite decent.

[SteveinMN]

I'm by no means an expert on Android phones, but I find it interesting that Google's default is to not copy your data to their (cloud) servers. Or maybe being opted in is the default and mschrisgo2 changed that setting. iCloud backup is opt-in on iPhones, but that's a different model of ownership.

What happens if you log into your Google account?

There also are utilities sold (at least for iOS) that back up the phone and don't require interaction with the phone besides a login (if you have one set). That might be more of a last-resort option.

[jp1]

If all the advice so far fails I would expand on Steve’s advice. Take the old phone to the store where you bought the new one and ask for help. The phone is probably still functional, just without the screen, so you should be able to get data off of it.

[SteveinMN]

Good advice also, jp1....

[JaneV2.0]

Samsung has an app called "Smart Switch" that you can use to move information between phones. I've never used it, but it's cheap or free, so something you might consider.

[rosarugosa]

Samsung has an app called "Smart Switch" that you can use to move information between phones. I've never used it, but it's cheap or free, so something you might consider.

I believe that is what I used.