Broken, but data is more important than the glass

The most frustrating thing isn't the crack on the screen. The most frustrating thing is when a broken display prevents you from tapping the right spots, the phone won't unlock, and you have a year's worth of correspondence, vacation photos, or work contacts inside. People bring us phones like this regularly.

The good news: in most cases, data can be saved even before the repair. The main thing is not to panic and not to make a few typical mistakes, which I will talk about below.

Why data is at risk in the first place

A broken display is one thing. But after an impact, things can get worse: the touch sensor stops working, the phone doesn't respond to touches, the screen goes dark completely, or it starts acting on its own—tapping by itself. In such a state, you can no longer go into settings and make a backup.

Here is a real-life example. Someone brought in an iPhone 13; they dropped it in the hallway, and the screen was split in half. The phone turns on, everything works—only the glass is shattered. Face ID works fine. That person was lucky: they managed to make a backup themselves right at our counter. But it's not always that simple.

What to try yourself while the phone still responds

1. iCloud — the fastest way

If the phone responds at all and is connected to Wi-Fi, go to Settings → [your name] → iCloud → iCloud Backup and tap "Back Up Now". It will take from five minutes to half an hour depending on the volume. There is 5 GB of free space in iCloud; if it's not enough, you can quickly buy a monthly subscription for 50 GB and then cancel it—it costs pennies.

2. Finder or iTunes on a computer

Connect the iPhone with a cable to a Mac or Windows PC. On a Mac, open Finder; on Windows, open iTunes. The phone will ask you to trust the computer. If the screen responds, confirm with a tap. If not, sometimes connecting to a computer the phone has already trusted before saves the day: the prompt won't appear then. Select "Back Up Now"—contacts, messages, photos, and app settings will end up on the hard drive.

3. Photos separately — via AirDrop or Google Photos

If iCloud is full and there is no computer nearby, send the photos via AirDrop to a Mac or iPad. Or turn on synchronization in Google Photos: it works in the background and does not require active actions on your part.

When you can no longer handle it yourself

There are situations where it is better to go straight to a technician:

  • The screen does not work at all—no image, no touch
  • The phone turns on but won't pass the lock screen: Face ID doesn't see your face, and the PIN digits on the broken screen won't register
  • The device doesn't turn on at all after the impact
  • The sensor is acting on its own—tapping somewhere by itself, preventing you from accessing the necessary place

There was a case: someone brought in an iPhone 12 Pro that fell off a bar counter. The screen was shattered, and the sensor didn't work at all. The owner spent several hours trying to hit the emergency call button—thinking they could at least unlock it somehow. It didn't work. We connected the device to a stand via a hardware input and special equipment—in the end, we recovered everything. But the longer such a phone sits idle, the higher the risk: the battery may swell, and memory degradation will begin.

What you definitely shouldn't do

Do not try to disassemble the iPhone yourself if you want to save the data. Inside, there are flex cables that tear with one clumsy move. One torn display cable, and the chance for a backup disappears. And don't hand your phone over to the first technician you find without discussing data safety—ask in advance if they know how to work with a partially non-working screen.

If nothing helped — come by

At IClub Service on 35 Kommunisticheskaya St., diagnostics are free. We will check the condition of the phone, assess the real chances of saving the data, and tell you honestly what can be done. We work with everything from iPhone 6 to iPhone 16 Pro Max—we have the experience and the tools.