Google's September Pixel update is a lock screen nightmare for some owners

Pixel 10 Pro XL owners are among a small group of users who got locked out of their phones after installing Google's September 2026 update. Some can't finish drawing their pattern, while a Pixel 8a owner saw their PIN rejected after one digit, which is a rough look for what we consider some of the best Google Pixel phones around.

The September Pixel update is rejecting patterns and PINs

The first report came from a Pixel 10 Pro XL owner on Reddit, who explained that the pattern resets after just two dots, no matter which dot they start from. They tried restarting, Safe Mode, cleaning the screen, a USB mouse through an adapter and even sideloading the same Android build, but nothing worked until a factory reset.



However, a PIN isn't a guaranteed escape either, since a Pixel 8a owner reported their phone throwing a wrong PIN error after the very first digit, and a new report points to a Pixel 8 Pro doing the same.

Why a locked Pixel usually ends in a factory reset

What makes a lockout worse than most bugs is how Android protects your data. According to Android's own documentation, most of your files live in what Google calls Credential Encrypted storage, and the key to it is derived from your PIN, pattern or password.

In plain words, your lock screen doubles as part of the key that unlocks your files, so nobody (Google included) can simply skip it to pull your photos out. That's why Google's own support page points locked-out owners toward erasing the phone, with the only silver lining being that anything backed up to your Google Account can be restored afterward.

As for Galaxy and iPhone owners, this one is purely a Pixel firmware problem, so there's nothing to worry about on your end. Our Pixel 10 Pro XL review scored its software an 8 out of 10, just under the 8.2 average for its price class, and a streak of bugs like this one won't help Google close that gap with Samsung and Apple.

Should you hold off on the September Pixel update?

For now, this looks like a rare bug that isn't hitting every Pixel, so I wouldn't panic if your phone already updated and unlocks normally. But if the September update is still waiting for a restart on your phone, make sure your photos and files are backed up to your Google Account before you tap install.

Here's what to do if your Pixel won't unlock

1. Stop guessing and let the "Too many attempts" timer run out, since that's what got the Pixel 8a owner back in.
2. As a last resort, turn the phone off, hold Power and Volume Down until Fastboot Mode appears, then choose Recovery Mode.
3. From there, hold Power and tap Volume Up once, then pick "Wipe data/factory reset" and confirm with the Power button.

The one Pixel feature an update should never break

I understand bugs slip through, especially when the same build rolls out to everything from the Pixel 6 series to the Pixel 10 family. However, the lock screen is the one part of the phone we can't work around, and when the only way past it is wiping everything, the stakes are much higher than a laggy animation.

I'm hoping Google pushes a fix before more owners run into this, and I'd personally love to see it add a safer way to recover from a broken lock screen without losing a year's worth of photos.

More on Pixel updates and the Pixel 10 Pro XL:

• How Google handled the March Pixel bootloop
• Everything we know about the Pixel 11 Pro
• Google Pixel 10 Pro XL

• Follow me on X and Threads

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