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Phone Data Recovery in Columbus, Ohio
The phone is dead, and the photos of your kids are on it. This is the repair we take the most seriously — board-level recovery for phones that won't turn on, done entirely in-house on E Main St — your device never gets mailed anywhere.
What we can recover from
Phones that won't power on after a drop. Water damage — pool, washing machine, toilet. Phones stuck on the logo in a boot loop. Devices with broken charging circuits that died and never came back. Even phones other repair shops have looked at and declared dead. As long as the memory and the core processor survive, the data is usually reachable — the trick is repairing the board around them long enough to get the phone to boot and back up, and that's precisely what a microsoldering bench is for.
Modern phones encrypt storage, so recovery means reviving your board — the chips can't simply be read out elsewhere. That's why shops without board-level capability say "it's gone." Often it isn't.
Pricing
| Situation | Price | Turnaround |
|---|---|---|
| Bench evaluation (any device) | $49 — credited to recovery | 1–3 days |
| Dead phone — standard recovery | from $149 | 2–7 days |
| Water-damaged device | from $199 | 2–7 days |
| Complex board damage / previous repair attempts | quoted after diagnosis | varies |
Every job starts with the $49 bench evaluation, credited toward the recovery price — you get an honest read on the odds and a firm quote before committing to anything more.
What to do right now
If the phone got wet: do not charge it. Don't put it in rice, don't try to turn it on — every power-on attempt with water inside risks the exact corrosion that makes recovery harder. Power it off if it's on, and bring it in as soon as you can. Time matters with liquid damage; corrosion spreads by the day.
If the phone died after a drop or just stopped turning on, it's stable — no rush that risks anything, just don't let anyone "try a cheap fix" on the board before the data is out.
Frequently asked
Another shop said my phone is unrecoverable. Is it worth a second look?
Often, yes. "Unrecoverable" usually means "beyond what our tools can do." Unless the memory chip itself is physically destroyed, a board-level bench can frequently revive the device long enough to pull a full backup.
Do you need my passcode?
Yes — encryption means even a revived phone only gives up its data with your passcode. We'll ask for it at drop-off, use it only for the backup, and recommend changing it after pickup if you prefer.
What do I get back?
Your choice: the working phone if the repair holds, or a complete backup transferred to your new phone, a USB drive, or your computer — photos, videos, contacts, messages, and app data where the platform allows it.
Is my data private?
Yes. Recovery happens in-house at the E Main St shop — your device never gets mailed anywhere — and we transfer data directly to you, then remove any working copies.