Home / Phone and Tablet Data Recovery
On a modern phone the data is encrypted to the phone's own board, so it can only come off through that same board. When the phone dies, we repair the board far enough to power up, unlock and copy your photos, messages and files off. Drop it to our staffed office in Bundall, or post it in free from anywhere in Australia.
With an old computer, a dead machine and a dead drive are separate problems: pull the drive and read it somewhere else. Phones stopped working that way years ago, and knowing why saves people from paying for the wrong repair.
Every recent iPhone and iPad encrypts its storage with keys held in the security hardware on its own board, combined with your passcode. The memory chip read anywhere else is unreadable. The original board has to run, and the phone has to be unlocked, for the data to come off.
Almost every Android phone sold in the last several years, Samsung, Google Pixel, Oppo and the rest, encrypts its storage with a key protected by hardware on the phone's own board and tied to your PIN, pattern or password. Recovery works the same way as an iPhone: get the original board running.
Some older Android phones, from before encryption became standard, store their data unencrypted. On those, if the board cannot be repaired, the memory chip can sometimes be removed and read directly. Tell us the exact model and we will tell you which kind you have.
This is why a board swap or a replacement handset ends your data. When a phone is fixed by replacing the main board, or swapped for a new one under warranty or insurance, you get a working phone with none of your data on it. That is a perfectly good outcome if everything is backed up. If it is not, decide about the data first, because once the old board or handset has gone, so have your photos.
A surprising number of people find their photos were safe all along. It costs nothing to check, and if everything is there, you may not need us at all.
Sign in at icloud.com on a computer, or check Photos on another Apple device using the same Apple Account. If iCloud Photos was on, your photos and videos will be there. Messages and other data may be in an iCloud backup, which can be restored to a replacement phone.
Sign in at photos.google.com with the Google account the phone used. If backup was on in Google Photos, your pictures will be there. Samsung owners should also check whether the gallery was syncing to OneDrive.
WhatsApp backs up to iCloud or Google Drive only if it was set up to. If it was, the chats restore when you sign in on a new phone with the same number. If it was never set up, the only copy is on the dead phone.
Plenty of the phones we cannot help with were made worse after they failed, not by the failure itself. A little restraint keeps your odds where they are.
The symptom does not tell us the fault on its own, but it narrows it down, and it tells you whether your data is likely to be in danger.
No screen, no vibration, no response to the charger. Usually a failed power or charging component, or a short somewhere on the board. This is the most common job we see, and the storage itself is very often untouched. The fault has to be found and repaired so the board can run again.
Pool, toilet, surf or a drink spilt across it. Even if it kept working for a while, residue under the components keeps corroding until something gives out. The sooner the board is cleaned and assessed, the less damage there is to repair. Every day it sits matters.
A phone that restarts every few minutes is often reacting to a faulty part, such as a charging port or sensor cable, rather than a failed board, which is good news for the data. A phone that never gets past the logo can be a board fault or failing storage, and needs a proper look.
If it still rings, vibrates or connects to a computer, the data is very likely fine. The problem is getting the phone unlocked so it can be backed up. That can be far simpler than a board repair, and it is worth finding out before assuming the worst.
Impact can crack solder joints and components on the board, or break the board itself. Tell us how it happened. It points straight at where to look, and a damaged board is often still repairable far enough to get the data off.
A swelling battery is a fire risk. Stop charging it and keep it away from anything flammable. Please do not post a phone in this state, because damaged lithium batteries cannot go through the mail. Call us and drop it to Bundall instead.
Same process as every job we take, with the board work in the middle.
Tell us the make and model, what happened and what it is doing now. Often that conversation is enough to tell you whether it is likely to be a board job, a screen fault or something simpler. If it is worth bringing in, drop it to our Bundall office or post it in.
You get a confirmation once it is logged. It then goes securely to our own workshop, where the board repair equipment is.
The board is examined and measured to find what has actually failed, and whether the processor and memory are intact. A diagnostic fee applies to this stage and is quoted to you beforehand.
We tell you what failed, what the repair involves, what it costs and how likely it is to get your data back. If the processor or memory itself has failed, we tell you that plainly, because on a modern phone that is one of the few situations nobody can recover from. Nothing proceeds without your approval.
The fault is repaired at component level, far enough for the phone to start. You unlock it, or give us the passcode, and your data is copied off while it is running, then checked before we call it done.
You get your data on new media or by secure download, along with your phone, and a straight answer about whether the phone itself is worth keeping. Allow two to three business days after payment before collection.
Getting a board to run long enough to copy your photos off is a different job from making the phone a reliable daily device again. Both are possible, but they are priced and approached differently, so it helps to know up front which one you need.
The repair is aimed at one thing: getting your files off safely. This is the right choice when the phone is old, badly damaged or being replaced anyway, and it is often possible even where the phone is beyond economical repair.
If your data is already backed up and you just want the phone back, say so. It changes what we recommend, and sometimes the honest answer is that a replacement makes more sense than a repair.
If the phone is covered and the data is backed up or does not matter, go through the warranty or your insurer first. We would rather point you there than sell you a repair you do not need. If the data does matter, talk to us before the phone is swapped.
Phone recovery is surrounded by big promises. Here is where the real limits are, so you can decide before you spend anything.
Once the board runs, the data is unlocked by your passcode. We do not offer passcode bypassing or phone unlocking. If you have lost the passcode, call before you send the phone, so you do not pay for a repair that cannot end in your data.
Modern phones encrypt files and clear deleted ones quickly, so deleted photos on a working phone are usually gone. Check the Recently Deleted album on an iPhone, or the bin in Google Photos, which hold deleted items for a limited time.
Most dead phones have a repairable fault and intact storage, and we put real effort into every board. But nobody can honestly guarantee data off a phone they have not examined, and we will not either.
Good communication. Had a few things go wrong along the way with hardware faults that took time, but they carried on and kept me updated as it went. All my files have been restored. Legends.
I highly recommend Nelson and his team for their professional approach and a fantastic outcome. The timely updates gave me hope of recovery, which they achieved after much persistence.
I had my 3 year old screaming while I was on the phone to him and he was nothing but patient and understanding. He provided honest feedback and guided me in the right direction.
Rated 4.9 out of 5 from 118 Google reviews. Read them on Google
Data on a dead MacBook works the same way. See MacBook and Apple Data Recovery. For a failed hard drive see Hard Drive Data Recovery, or the full list of what we recover.
Tell us the model, what happened and what it is doing now. A five minute phone call usually establishes whether your job is worth pursuing, and there is no charge for that conversation.
1, Lvl 15/2 Corporate Ct
Bundall QLD 4217
Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
Please call before dropping in.
Tell us what happened and we will come back to you with a plain answer about whether it is worth pursuing. If it is urgent, ring us instead on 1300 532 935. A phone call is nearly always faster.
While you wait to hear back, leave the phone alone. Keep it off the charger, do not reset or restore it, stop guessing the passcode, and if it got wet, do not switch it on. The condition it is in right now is the best chance you have.