Google Just Made Repairing Your Pixel Phone Much Easier

Just last week, my roommate went through what no one should ever go through: losing her phone’s entire data while getting it repaired after she dropped it in the toilet. Google just announced a solution for that. Well, to save your data. Not dropping your phone in the toilet.

In a recent blog post, Google introduced three new ways to repair your Pixel phone that are less of a hassle. These include adding a new Repair Mode, which protects your data while it is getting fixed, a number of easy manuals for you to try your hand at self-repair, and improved access to genuine Pixel parts and repair stores.

The Repair Mode ensures your data is protected and kept private during a repair. It has a double advantage: it ensures that you don’t need to back up your phone before a repair and that your repair technician can’t get their hands on your data while they’re fixing it. All you have to do is turn the mode on before you hand it to a technician and turn it back off when it’s in your hands again.

Google also updated its Help page to add a bunch of helpful stuff if you’re considering self-repair. You can see how to let iFixit—one of Google’s partner repair providers—help you with providing genuine Pixel parts. Also, incredibly helpful repair manuals are available on the Pixel Fold, Pixel 8, and Pixel 8 Pro. These hundreds of pages long, comprehensive manuals not only talk about how to replace a part but have full-fledged instructions on disassembling and assembling a Pixel phone entirely. It’s pretty helpful stuff, honestly.

You might want to properly diagnose your phone after a repair to see how it’s doing. There’s a cool new feature for that, too. Dial *#*#7287#*#* and follow the messages on the screen to see if your phone is functioning properly. When you run this diagnostic test, ensure it’s connected to the internet.

Google also made it easy for you to get your phone professionally fixed by partnering with multiple repair providers—iFixit and uBreakiFix—and enabling small, local repairers by providing them with resources. The company claims that “over 80% of people with a Pixel device are now within 10-20 miles of an authorized repair center”.