How to reset the lock on a device

Environment

• Knox Manage
• Android device

Overview

This article guides you on how to reset the lock screen of a device that’s enrolled in Knox Manage and has an active Internet connection through its modem or Wi-Fi radio.

Common potential scenarios where you’d need to reset the lock on a device include:

• The device user can’t unlock the device, because they forgot their PIN, password, or other manual unlocking method.
• The device user was an employee who has departed your enterprise, and you can’t unlock the device without factory resetting it.

The Clear Screen Lock command won’t succeed on an Android device if the device meets all of the following conditions:

• Running Android 9
• Fully managed
• Running Knox Manage agent 20.11 or higher
• Has file-based encryption
• Is locked

How to reset the lock on a device

Android 7

To reset a device lock:

1. The IT admin replaces the lock with a temporary password.
2. The device user unlocks the device with the temporary password, then sets a new lock.

Replace the lock with a temporary password

First, you must set a temporary password on the device:

1. On the Knox Manage console, click Device and select the device with a lock that needs resetting.
2. Click Device Command, then select the Device > Clear Screen Lock command. The Knox Manage agent on the device removes the user’s lock and sets an automatically-generated temporary password as the new lock.
3. Go to Device, then search for the device and click its name. The Device Details page opens.
4. Click Security > Temporary Password - Lock Screen. If you see a 4-digit password, then the command successfully reset the user’s lock.
5. Make note of the password for later.

Set a new lock

After the temporary password is set on the device, the device displays a custom screen that asks for the temporary password. Next, guide the device user to set a new lock:

1. Provide the device user with the temporary password and ask them to enter it.
2. After the device is unlocked, guide the device user to set a new personalized lock on it.

Android 8 and higher, Android 7 Legacy with a work profile

To reset a device lock:

1. The IT admin resets the lock.
2. The device user sets the new lock.

Reset the lock

First, you must reset the lock on the device:

1. On the Knox Manage console, click Device and select the device with a lock that needs resetting.
2. Click Device Command, then select the Device > Clear Screen Lock command. The Knox Manage agent on the device removes the user’s lock.

Set a new lock

Then, the device user sets a new lock on the device:

• The device immediately prompts the user to set a new personalized lock. They can’t continue operating the device until they set a new lock.