Forgot an iPhone Passcode? How to reset the iPhone passcode
Jan 16, 2011 - 64 Comments
If you forgot your iPhone passcode you can bypass the lock screen completely and reset the passcode by using iPhone recovery mode.
Warning: This will require you to restore your iPhone or iPod touch, this means you’ll lose all data on the device and be back to factory settings.
Bypass & Reset the iPhone Passcode
- Disconnect the USB cable from the iPhone, leave the other end connected to your Mac/PC
- Launch iTunes
- Press and hold the Home and Power button on the top of the iPhone to turn off the device
- Press and continue to hold the Home button while you reconnect the USB cable to your iPhone, this will cause the iPhone to turn on
- Continue to hold the Home button until an alert message in iTunes appears that an iPhone in recovery mode has been detected
Now that the iPhone is in recovery mode, you must restore the device:
- From iTunes, look under the “Summary” tab
- Click on the “Restore” button within iTunes
This will wipe all files, settings, and apps from the iPhone, including the passcode. When the restore is finished, the iPhone will be at the factory settings. At this point you can choose to start from scratch or to restore the iPhone from a backup.
This tip came from an iPhone repair shop, where it’s common for people to bring in a phone for fixing and then forget to provide the passcode.
There may be a way to do this without wiping the entire iPhone, any ideas?
I’m pretty sure this is the only way, but after doing this you can just resync your music and apps from iTunes to get your iPhone or iPod back to how it was before resetting the password.
I can definitely resync to restore apps & music, etc. But, will I lose my contacts, call history, text history, etc?
its ok u can get them again just be thankful, it works
awsome good to no
Just keep entering the wrong password and it will take you to iforgot and then you can have the pw emailed to you. You will not lose any data.
can it really? mine just says connect to itunes
i changed my password on my ipod touch and i forgot it, it said connect to itunes. but i dont know what to do …..
You seem to be on the wrong topic. This is about iDevice lockscreen passcodes, not Apple IDs.
any one know how to unlock ihpone without wiping the whole thing??
@TJ…
Not really. Especially with the iphones built in password lock. I have a jailbroken iphone and I’m using the android lockscreen and SBsettings. This is good because if I ever forget my password I can use SBsettings to bypass my lockscreen and disable my android lockscreen/password.
[...] If you have forgotten your iPhone passcode, you can reset it but you will lose data on the iPhone. This works on all iPhone and iOS [...]
this did not work on my iphone 3
Will your messages be deleted?
Does this work for the ipod touch also? I have a friend who thought his 2G touch was toast since he forgot his PW.
or you can take it to actionleak and they will fix it for chceap price
dont work on iphone 4 tried 3 times.it connects & starts downloadig 30 mins later asks for password which i dont have?!!
i have an iphone 4. i forgot my 4 digit passcode. its my phone. i have all reciepts. i tried to restore and it says it doesnt work still. i need to restore. how do i get this passcode removed???
Follow the instructions in the article, it tells you exactly what to do. Or you can take it to Apple.
Just get rid of the iphone card ?
[...] that it’s more secure, just don’t make it so confusing that you forget it and have to reset the passcode – resetting means you’ll lose all the data on your [...]
[...] enough that it’s more secure, just don’t make it so confusing that you forget it and have to reset the passcode – resetting means you’ll lose all the data on your [...]
once you have done this, can you retrieve your stuff again if you have recently ‘backed up’ your iPhone or iPod? x
oooooopsiess! it saayys there!
oo x
is there a way to just restore the iphone and not update the darned thing? please let me know. my email is usviituten20 at yahoo dot com
It’s 5 am Estn time and I’ve been trying to figure out how to retrieve the passcode for the passlock (on) in my settings, and I STILL can’t figur this out! PLESE HELP ASAP
P.S. This is for Iphone 4
Hi, I forget my iphone 4 passcode while on holiday. Have done a complete wipe and restore and then did a restore from backup. However the restore from backup brings the iphone passcode. Is there any way I can restore from backup and change the passcode? I need to keep all my txt messages etc. I could just say new and resync but I would lose all my txt, calls, app data etc… not ideall…
hi, i have not had my iPod touch for 2 weeks and , my mum gave it back to me last night, so i try to put my pass code in and it doesn’t work, which means i have forgotten it
i have the iphone 4 & this isn’t working to unlock my phone at all .. is there any other suggestions or should I just take it to the apple store
I have the iphone 4 also and this didnt work either…
I have my password and user ID for my iPhone 4, but it has been compromised and I want to get a new password put in without doing a factory restore. How do I do that?
Just keep entering the wrong password and your iphone will take you to iforgot and you can have it emailed to you. You will not lose any data.
Is this for real Carolyn??? If so, how many times are we talking?
thank you so much! so far i think it worked.. it is updating on iTunes now! thank u
omg, amazing. saved my life
Hi,
This worked and am now able to use my phone.
i forgot my password…..and am trying what u say carloyn….but each time i try its giving me 5mins moore and more….it is not taking me in to iforgot..so what can i do? pls
Read the instructions
I have replied to Carolyn above.
Carolyn has mistakenly referred to the password resetting of an Apple ID, not an iDevice passcode.
iForgot is a way to have your password emailed to you if you forget your Apple ID (the one that you buy apps/music with).
The only way currently to remove your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad passcode (without jailbreaking/hacking) is to restore your device.
iforgot is for resetting your apple id password, not your ipod/iphone passcode. You have to restore your device to reset your password.
I have one question though, if you backup your ipod with the password and then restore from the backup, will it keep the password?
I have forgotten my pasword and email, and the only way i can get back it to it is wipe out data txt messeges apps and contacts but i have a lot of new txtx and i dont want to wipe them out!!!!!
my computer got wiped so now i dont have the itunes my ipod was last synced with. what can i do now to restore it?
I bought an i phone4 and it was locked i tried those steps multiple times and an error sign keeps appearing and i believe its because i do not have a sim card. Do you need a sim card to be present when launching those steps?
i forgot to add that the 3194 error keeps appearing after i try this. someone please help.
I kept being asked for passcode 20 minutes into the restore process. How can I work around this? Why is it asking me for the passcode during restore?
****Hi! For people struggling, please read****
The article written is a bit missleading. What I mean by missleading is that some of the steps aren’t properly written.
Follow these simple steps (FOLLOW THEM EXACTLY):
[Make sure your internet is enabled]
Step 1: Disconnect the iphone (If connected) and launch iTunes.
Step 2: Once your iTunes has loaded, make sure your iphone is turned on. Proceed to Connect your iPhone to your computer.
Step 3: A message will pop up stating that your phone is locked and that you need to enter a password (a problem many users here have experienced), IGNORE this by closing out that popup (do not close itunes, only close the popup) by simply clicking cancel.
Step 4 (Final): AFTER you have recieved the message for entering the password, Hold both, the action/home button and the Lock button simultaneously until your phone shuts off (this should take about 6-10 seconds of holding down the buttons)
When your phone has shut off, Release the lock button but keep holding the action/home button!
Another window will pop up in itunes just like before, except this time it will say that your iPhone has entered ‘Recovery Mode’.
Congratulations!
From here on, you can release the action/home button, and proceed to Restore your iphone via iTunes.
The restore option can be found by clicking your iphone, under “Devices” in the left hand bar.
After you have restored, you will be given two options: to either restore to a previous point, or to Set up as a new phone.
Hope this helped you guys and will put a smile on some people’s faces. Good luck!
=)
-Henry
Thanks Henry
Can this be done on any iTunes or PC that has not been auth’d?? I only have access to a friends PC and have already authorized 5 pc’s which I dont have access to. Thanks
Hey everyone,
My bf is a douche, we had a huge fight and before he left (while i was in the bedroom throwing his belongings out the window), he put a friggin password on my phone. Im pissed! I have followed ever single step in this entire fourm to a T. BUT, even after doing the restore it loads the apple icon, and then asks me for my password still. I dont get it, i did everything right, and ive tried it like a 1000000000000 times. Ive been at this for like 6 hours. I dont have any of the files backed up onto my desktop, but yet for some reason it keeps restoring it. I dont get asked if i want to restore to a previous state or start new. I just dont understand. This is driving me crazy. Ive tried it with the sim card in and out, and nothing is working. Ive tried entering random wrong passwords like crazy and nadda. everytime i do the restore thing, it will say in the top screen of itunes that it is downloading iphone software updates but mid way through that the apple logo shows up and it goes to the password page again. Ive called the jerk a 100 times asking for the password, and no response. SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!!!!!!!
You’re not doing anything wrong. When you start the restore process, the Downloads tab in iTunes should show the Software Update downloading. Even if the download appears to have stopped (the Apple Logo shows on the top bar), the download should still be in progress. When the download is complete, follow these steps.
1: Go to the page with your iPhone showing all the details. If iTunes is asking you to unlock your device first, go into recovery mode as stated in the article. There should be a picture with a USB cable and the iTunes logo. iTunes should let you restore now.
2. (If you have a Windows PC) While holding the Shift button, click Restore. A window should pop up asking you to point to a file. Head to “Users\\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates” and choose the restore file. It should be named something like ‘iPhonex,x_x.x_xxxxx_Restore.ipsw’ The x’s replaced with numbers of course. Open the file and follow the prompts.
(If you have a Mac) While holding the Option key, click Restore. A window should pop up asking you to point to a file. Head to “~/Library/iTunes/iPhone Software Updates” and choose the restore file. It should be named something like ‘iPhonex,x_x.x_xxxxx_Restore.ipsw’ The x’s replaced with numbers of course. Open the file and follow the prompts.
Good luck!
(If you restore successfully, remember to set a passcode yourself so this doesn’t happen again.)
P.S. Sorry, when I replied, the website deleted some of my text.
The location for the file on a Windows PC is ““Users\’your username’\AppData\Roaming\Apple Computer\iTunes\iPhone Software Updates”
If you can’t see this directory, make sure you enable hidden files in Windows Explorer.
Press the Start key, type Folder Options. Click on the View tab and choose “Show hidden files, folders and drives”
You’re the best! I was having trouble until I followed your instructions.
To those of you still struggling:
When you get a pop up window saying the software cannot be upgraded/downloaded due to the passcode, you have to close the window, go to the DOWNLOADS tab on your left hand column (under “STORE” heading I believe) and when you see that the download has failed, you have to get it going again by clicking the refresh button on the far right.
AFTER it’s been done, all will go accordingly… or after the download is finished, you can follow Infernova’s instructions over here.
You MUST get the download going and completed- otherwise you’ll be getting the error endlessly!
pls i lost my iphone and is lock can they open it
I tried all the steps, but will the update/restore thing work even without the phone being synced to the same pc. I have a PC at home and I am in office trying to reset the password, will it still work?
with an iphone 4, does iForgot pop up at any point or not? my phone is currently disabled for another 60 min– do I wait for iForgot (and for how long) or should I reboot it??
hi ,
I have a jailbroken iphone 4 and i installed this new theme on my phone but the lockscreen of that theme is very small and so are the numbers on the lockscreen due to which i cant get through the lockscreen though I remember what my password is .Is there any way to get it sorted without having to restore my phone and lose all the data??
please help
that was realy helpful i was freaking out but it worked
this sucks i dont have sim card so it didnt wok i spoke to soon but it worked
[...] a pass code on his iPod Touch and to just as quickly to completely and utterly forget it. After following a few steps I was able to wipe the iPod Touch, restore it to factory settings and use the iCloud [...]
my iphone 3 has been unlocked from UK to be used for simcards in india. now i’ve forgot my passcode and my phone is now disabled. now if i restore with the methods mentioned above will it be usable in indian sim cards?? pls help.
do you have to reactivate you phone again using your service provider?
My iphone4 is jb, I dont like to sync my iphone to itunes or icloud, the reason is i hate backuping rubbish into the itunes backup, and also because itunes backup all the things n do not tell me what do i backup at first place,
is there any other third party software similar to itunes n can do all the things that itunes can do manually? I’m currently using ifunbox to backup my photos n apps, excel contact to backup my contact n itunes to manage my musics… But message, note n others cant be backup manually n i dont want to use itunes to backup those as i say it does not show them on my laptop, noted that im using windows os…
This worked pefectly! Thank you!
Thank you!!! This helped my daughter’s iphone. I keep telling her to stop putting passcodes because she will forget in the long run.
Easier than going through iTunes. My daughter couldn’t remember her password, tried 4 times to push all the buttons and hook to my computer to restore to factory settings. Each time it said couldn’t connect because it was locked and I need to enter pass code. I called apple. They said do the same thing. Didn’t work. I asked them about wiping it clean through the find I phone app I had on my iPad that enables you to wipe an apple product if lost. She said I have never heard of that, but it may work. Sure enough I tried it and it took 5 seconds to wipe it back to factory settings through find I phone app. Wish I had figured that out prior to the 2 hours trying the computer way.