Galaxy S20 fingerprint issues

[7cats]

2 days ago I made a finger print to sign in and a day later when I went to use my phone, I was locked out. The message reads, " For your security, enter pin". What pin? This is a Galaxy S20 FE56 model SM-G781U

So, I'm locked out and can't recall any pin ever made for my phone unless it was one I made a year ago to get into my phone but that's not working. Please help, I'm locked out!! 

[usergzgdBdeC5Z]

Time to upgrade

[TipsyTrex]

You made a pin at the time or before you set up fingerprint. You cannot create a fingerprint lock without setting a pin, pattern or password as a backup unlock method in the event that something happens to your finger or the sensor.

[7cats]

I just set up the finger print on Monday and was never asked to enter any pw or code. I called Samsung and I had to do a complete uninstall of my phone. So I lost pictures and all. I am 65 years old and this technology was never taught to us old folks and it's infuriating when **bleep** like this happens

[realaud · Accepted solution]

Your pictures were likely backed up to Google photos, because you have to specifically disable it.  Open the Google photos app and see if they are there. Same with your contacts. If they had you reset your phone, they should have also told you to restore your backup.

65 years old is old enough that this technology has been around for enough of your adult life to understand how to work with it.

[7cats]

You were right as my photos are in my google account. Thank you for advising me of that. The Samsung support agent said I'd lose all photos. 

As far as my age goes, there are circumstances out of one's control making learning different for some.   

[realaud]

I apologize for the snark about your age. I get aggravated when people use their age as an excuse, as I have a few years on you and most of them and I have a clear understanding. From the early days of computing, I have noticed that it was not age, but laziness and being uncurious on how stuff works that prevented many (not all) people from being able to do the most basic troubleshooting. I have a friend that has a total inability to grasp anything technical even though they are quite intelligent.

In any case, not only should the tech support person have told you to back up anything important before resetting, they should have also told you to restore your backup after the reset. Even if you did not create a fresh backup, your phone backs up every night, so there should always be a backup available.  When you first start your phone after a reset and you log into your Google account, you should have been presented with the option to restore your Google backup. After a reset, on the first boot, is the only time you can restore a Google backup.  You can, however, restore a Samsung backup at any time after you log into your Samsung account.

[7cats]

No worries and I appreciate your explanation. I have a chronic spinal disease and the doctors have me on medication that basically controls my pain and movements but inhibits my perception of many things around me. It is frustrating when it's not apparent to others and they question my intelligence. I use to be great at figuring things out and enjoyed challenges. I miss those days..

I did find my photos in my google account and I use my laptop for most everything but the phone did scare me when everything was so different. I'll adjust to it and thanks again for your help

[7cats]

Could you give me some ideas for easier to use phones? I currently have the S20 FE 5G and I'm thinking it may be time for a new one. I do need a good camera on it..

[realaud]

I don't know if any one phone is "easier" to use than another, but ease use, I believe, directly correlates to how many features a phone has. If you don't need all the features of the S series, One of the higher end A series may serve you well. I have been happy with my A54. It has an excellent camera snd you can still utilize both Bixby and Google assistant - which may help you with some tasks.