S21 phone: Black screen, doesn't turn on... Help!

[MCNYC]

My S21 phone, which I have had since Dec 2021, has worked beautifully until two days ago when it suddenly showed a black screen and wouldn't charge past 25% or turn on. Since it has been over 3 years and I had planned to get a new phone later this yr anyway, I went ahead and got the S22 since it fit my budget right now. However, I am unable to access my photos and files + complete setup since my old phone won't turn on. I tried soft reset, etc. I even changed the battery to a new one. Nothing.

Is there any way I can get it to turn on or complete setup? I have pictures of my children on the phone that are irreplaceable. I am kicking myself for procrastinating back-up. If anyone can help, I would so appreciate it. Thanks!

[AndrewL]

@MCNYC: If your Galaxy S21 is unresponsive, then you may wish to try connecting the phone to a home computer via USB cable, to see if you're able to establish a charge in this manner. If you see a charging symbol on screen, please allow sufficient time for the phone to charge, then press and hold the Side button for 3-5 seconds in an effort to power on the device. 

If the problem persists, then you may still be able to recover some of your personal data by registering the same Samsung and Google accounts to your new Galaxy S22. This should be achievable during the initial setup stage, however you can also head to Settings > Accounts and backup > Manage accounts > Add account, and add the accounts from here.

Swipe from the top of the screen to the bottom and make sure that 'Sync' is active, and connect to a Wi-Fi router via Settings > Connections > Wi-Fi. Now, any data that was backed up to the registered accounts will be synced to your new phone. 

Regarding your photos, swipe up from your Home screen > Select the Google folder > Photos, and you should hopefully find an archive of your photos and videos in this location. If you set up your S21 Gallery to sync with OneDrive, then you can also open the Gallery app > Tap the 3 lines in the bottom right > Settings > Sync with OneDrive, and follow the on-screen prompts to recover your photos in this manner. 

Let me know if this helps.

[Piper123]

Hey there and welcome to the Samsung UK Community Forum

Sorry to hear of your troubles.

Firstly, did you have a back up such as Google for your device and in particular the images?

Secondly, can you connect your device to a laptop and use the laptop screen to see if you can access your files?

In terms of trying to get the device to start up, have you tried pressing and holding on the lower button right hand side for up to 30 seconds to see if the Samsung Android logo appears? Worth also trying this after charging for a while too.

Good luck.