random factory reset, full data loss?

Was out earlier today, all Was fine with my phone, and never had an issue before. Then next thing I know I take my phone out of my Pocket and everything is in chinese, and apps gone, same widget setup as it came from the factory. I tried rebooting and changing the language to english. Also noticed that terms/privacy policy Was not already checked as usual (I got the phone from Taiwan a few months back and havent put a sim in it yet, just using on wifi, so it asks me for language/terms every time I reboot, but it has never been a problem in the past)

Everything is gone now, pics, videos, apps, and all data, even files I saved in folders I created myself in internal storage. I dont think I could havent "butt dialed" that sequence of commnds, especially since you have to select an extra setting if you want internal storage to be wiped during factory reset (I think). Possible but not likely...anyone else seen this? And more importantly is there anything I can do to get my data back?? I lost all pics from the vacation we're on and a ton of pics of my kids and family... I'm hoping its just some profile switch function IM not aware of, but I doubt it since storage space is all free now

One other interesting thing, google loaded and havent searc results in chinese, even after I selected English. phone UI did change successfully, but for same reason google still thinks I want chinese.

Mr.R™ said:

You don't want to flash anything if you want any chance of getting your data back, you need to stop using it and run a data recovery program as soon as you can, more chance of getting some of your data back

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Thanks, that's what I was thinking. Outside of the initial investigation, I pretty much stopped using the phone altogether and shut it off. I'm still on vacation so I haven't tried any recovery apps yet. My phone is not rooted currently, does anyone have any recommendations on the best recovery tool to use in that case? The first one I checked out was Dr. Fone, as well as an app based tool, but that one required root access. I'm hoping the most effective tools don't require root, as I don't want to mess up my chances of getting my data back during the rooting process.

Mr.R™ said:

As long as your computer recognises it you can use any recovery tool that supports flash memory via your pc

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Ah that's good to know, thanks. I tried using a few android specific ones last night. Dr Fone connected to my phone and started installing drivers I think, then just crapped out. The other one (Tenoshare i think) made it all the way to scanning (it said it didn't recognize my phone model, but let me continue anyeway), but the process hung during the scan. When I restarted it, it told me I needed to root my phone, which is weird since it let me scan before...

I'll keep digging around, hope I can find something that works!

EDIT:
Finally decided to root it since I was having no luck, and that did help for a few of the apps. Unfortunately it seems the only recoverable data is the stuff I had already backed up to the card. No photos or videos taken after that come up, which also seems very strange to me... I have no idea what happened, one minute everything was normal, the next it was like I just picked it up fresh out of the box : /