Forgot an iPhone Passcode? How to Reset the iPhone passcode

Jan 16, 2011 - 298 Comments

reset iphone passcode If you forgot your iPhone passcode you can bypass the lock screen completely and reset the passcode by using iPhone recovery mode. This will get around a locked down iOS device that is stuck on the password screen, but there are some important considerations to take before proceeding.

We’ll cover the requirements, the considerations, and exactly how to reset a forgotten or lost passcode for any iOS device.


Warning: This will require you to restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. That means you will lose all data on the device and be back to factory settings as if the device was brand new. This should be considered a last resort. If you made a recent backup, you can restore the device to that backup after the reset has complete. if you do not have a recent backup, the iOS device will be set up as new with zero data on it after the passcode bypass is complete.

Requirements for Resetting a Passcode:

  • iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch that is stuck on the passcode screen
  • USB cable to connect the device to a computer
  • Mac or Windows PC
  • iTunes

Those are the core requirements, if you have those you can proceed to reset the missing passcode.

How to Bypass & Reset the iPhone Passcode

As mentioned above, this is demonstrated for iPhone but also will work on other iOS devices like iPad and iPod touch.

  1. Disconnect the USB cable from the iPhone, leave the other end connected to your Mac/PC
  2. Launch iTunes
  3. Press and hold the Home and Power button on the top of the iPhone to turn off the device
  4. 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
  5. Continue to hold the Home button until an alert message in iTunes appears that an iPhone in recovery mode has been detected

This is the general message you will see:

iphone recover mode detected

Now that the iPhone is in recovery mode and has been detected by iTunes, 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 that is either stored on the computer with iTunes, or by using an Apple ID and restoring from an iCloud backup. Both of those are very simple processes and you will have the option to do so once the device has been rebooted and is back at factory settings, where the initial setup screens will greet you.

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.

Having Trouble? Alternate Instructions for Resetting the iOS Passcode

This is another reader provided alternate approach to initiate the recovery process, it’s similar but requires the device to be turned off first. If for some reason you are having problems with the repair shop method above you can try this instead:

  1. Turn the iPhone OFF by pressing and holding the Power button until the device powers off
  2. Attach the USB cable to the computer and launch iTunes – do not connect the iPhone yet
  3. Hold down the Home button, and while continuing to hold it connect the iPhone to the computer via USB
  4. While continuing to hold the Home button, the iPhone screen will turn on and show an iTunes logo and a USB cable
  5. When an alert box opens in iTunes indicating that a device has been detected in Restore mode, now let go of the Home button
  6. Click the “Restore” button in iTunes – if a local firmware file is found it will restore immediately, otherwise it will download the appropriate firmware from Apple’s servers
  7. Now just wait until Restore is completed, the device will boot as if it was brand new

Once the phone has booted, you can either use it as brand new or initiate a recovery from a backup. A backup is necessary if you wish to restore personalization data like Contacts, apps, SMS, photos, and phone numbers. iCloud will do that for you so long as the device was routinely backed up to iCloud and that the same Apple ID is used during the setup, but a backup stored in iTunes will also work. If you are only looking to restore apps and not personal data, simply use the same Apple ID and then launch the App Store to download the apps again to that device.

Updated: 2/13/2016

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Related articles:

Posted by: Manish Patel in iPhone, Troubleshooting

298 Comments

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  1. Pls help me for icloud

  2. Cassy says:

    My iPhone 6s plus is disabled and say connect to iTunes. What do I do

  3. Esme Schronen says:

    My iphone was disabled in the set up process.
    What can I do.

  4. Kevin Terry says:

    I’m having the same problem did you figure it out

  5. teresa belthuis says:

    Cannot get my iPhone off the this phone is disabled says connect to itunes but cant

    • PJG says:

      I am having the same issue as the original laptop it was synced with has died on me. Itunes installed on a new laptop will not recognise my iphone.

  6. Ashu says:

    My iPhone 6 is disabled

  7. Godinus says:

    Where is the solution without connecting to itunes???

  8. Boaz Nyavor says:

    How do I unlock my iPhone 4 with a disabled screen, connect to iTunes.

  9. Josh Stoner says:

    How do I fix/bypass the disabled screen for and on my iphone 10(X) ??

  10. Jessica says:

    How can fix my disabled iphone 5c without a computer or tablet? And I dont remember the passcode.

  11. gel says:

    It’s not working for me. Another notification pop up and displayed ” Software for this Iphone is not currently available. Make sure you have the latest version of Itunes and try again”

    • chris says:

      Same here! I cant get itunes on my old HP. I even went out and bought a external hard drive, no luck. I have never had a problem like this one and gotten so little help from tech support.The phone distubuters need to tell people , oh by the way after you purchased a 700.00 dollar phone, you will need to have a computer with itunes loaded. Basically, oh well, go by a new pc that supports itunes!1st and last time i ever buy an apple product. buyer beware

  12. Mary says:

    My phone was never initiated through iTunes and was disabled in the set up process. I tried the steps above but I never get the screen mentioned with iTunes. What else can I try, other than visiting the Apple Store?

  13. Paige says:

    This is great and all but what’s next. It’s doesnt tell you what it’s supposed to look like when the phone is finished? Or what to do next. It’s very frustrating

  14. Claude R Armstrong says:

    I have a dear wife who loved iPhone. Trying to set up appletv her phone locked her out. Now she knows why i say oy stupid people buy iPhones.

  15. Wayne says:

    Hi

    I have reset my Iphone 5c and reloaded from iTunes but the phone asks for confirmation of my Apple id and even shows some of the username as a hint to which one to use. When I enter the apple id and password it says ‘this is not the apple id for this device’ and I cant complete the rebuild. The Apple id is 100% correct so totally no idea what to do, can you help?

    Thanks

  16. gabi says:

    so my iPhone wasn’t connected to the internet when i lock it does it have to be?

  17. joey says:

    love it!! really worked for me, i’ve been stressing for days!!

  18. sokeen says:

    sir my iphone conect itune but reset option is not on display

  19. Fred says:

    what if your iphone is on the page that looks like this:”iphone disabled connect to itunes.”??

  20. Ram says:

    Hi,

    I have similar problem, iphone 4 stuck in connect to itunes after entering wrong passcodes. I did tried home+power button and i got into recovery mode. iTunes downloaded the software and it said its installed it and then my phone rebooted and showed me the same screen “connect to itunes” .

    In itunes i see restore when clicked it, it prompted me for update and restore, i ok’d it then it started downloading the IOS file. Not sure why its showing the same prompt even after the restoration. any clue ?

  21. yasar says:

    Hi.,
    my i phone 5 16 gb, was disabled 46 years. how i recover my phone. pls tel me solution.

  22. yasar says:

    my i phone 5 16 gb, was disabled 46 years. how i recover my phone. pls tel me solution.

  23. Franco1865 says:

    Hi,
    Do I need an internet connection? (Which i dont).

  24. alicia says:

    someone help !
    if i dont have iTunes apps on my computer how to recover it .. for Iphone 4

  25. Donna says:

    Please help I follow the instructions above and then it says I phone could not be restored. An unknown error occured (3194). Does anyone know what this is please? :)

  26. Kira says:

    So it will be just like new? No restriction passcodes?

  27. ramayan singh says:

    My iphone is disable

  28. Kachallahmonguno says:

    Kindly help me reset my iPhone .

  29. Rebecca says:

    I forgot my password to my iPhone 5c and can’t lose my pictures or notes any ideas? It’s not connected to a carrier right now I disconnected it when I moved to sprint so hoping I can save my pictures at least

  30. travis says:

    what if i have a iphone 6 and its in lock mode can i reset it anyway

  31. liamsi says:

    after restoring my iphone 5s i am not able to erase the passcode

  32. Stephanie01 says:

    Hi,
    For those of you who followed the instructions and still had trouble – I contacted Apple from their instruction page about loosing your lockout code.

    It seemed to be working and then I was getting “unknown error 1671” due to not being able to connect or stay connected to the update server.

    Apple Support sent me a list of things to try. But when I spoke to her about the many attempts I made – over and over – I realized I had not allowed any updates to run recently nor have I restarted my macbook air in a while. One of the updates was with iTunes.

    So you may need iTunes updates… other Apple computer updates, a correctly working usb port, or a list of other possibilities.

    All I had to do was restart my computer to integrate updates and VABOOM! like a bunch of others have noted here: this worked!

    Thank you. (BTW Apple Support also has these instructions along with an iCloud backup and iTunes alternative directions. If you have questions they ask for a phone number and email and they can call you back in seconds.)

    Hope that helps! :)

  33. aadil says:

    How to erase iphone if reset passcode forgot?

  34. Big CD says:

    I purchased a 2nd hand iPhone 4gs Will this work if a already reset phone is still connected to the previous owners Apple ID?

  35. BassBite says:

    I set the extended security passcode, so when I forget I just use iForget. To get there (iForget screen) press Low Volume while you press HOME and power.

    The iForget screen is set up this way because most people panic, and the Low Volume seems the best panic button to press.

    When the Bright Blue (similar to DOS) screen appears, THIS IS IFORGET SCREEN …don’t press any thing else. It will stay blue for 30 sec (so don’t panic)…then it will ask if you want PRAM reset.

    Select (without touching HOME, power) with the High Volume. PRAM will appear selected as if a negative img.

    Then power on.

    The iPhone is configured with a PRAM panic. If you power on when PRAM has selected from Hi Volume to Power On, You will see the iTune logo with the USB…

    Well, most people don’t carry a iPhone cord, so press Home and Power On, you will see the prompt for iTunes.

    Now…We did not forget the PRAM. So Instead of following 5-8 steps in the other posts…press On and Home once again to get welcome to your iPhone tutorial…PRAM has reset and now all you need to do is use default 1234 to set your passcode.

    Almost finished…wait.

    NOW…make your important calls if you have any, then request to reset passkey on the cellular menu…the red dot with the lock.

    On this screen, press 1234
    verify 1234 now press
    1234 for the “new passcode”

    now, you can do what ever you want. All photos appear as contacts just PRIOR to your last genius passcode that you forgot…But now, it’s 1234.

    Enjoy.

  36. Roshanda Wharton says:

    Ok so my iPod is completely done for i can get any of these methods to work and I have no access to a computer my screen is cracked very bad at the top its disabled for 22,953,522 minutes that’s what over 2 years help me!!!!! Please i have my nieces only baby pictures on here

  37. Michael says:

    I cant get through my touch id what can i do

  38. brian says:

    Ive got an iPhone 4s but pass code is locked and dont no my iTunes I’d help me

  39. ohiowordguy says:

    The last method described here, “Alternate Instructions for Resetting the iOS Passcode” works. In my experience, the others did not.

    If you are trying to restore an iPhone WITHOUT a password, when “Find my iPhone” is turned on, ONLY the last method described here will work. Don’t even waste your time with the others.

    P.S. Thanks for this article! I needed to wipe my iPhone before trading it in, and for some reason I could never get this phone to “forget” an old Apple ID it had been tied to. Very frustrating, so thanks again!

  40. Camz940 says:

    I have already tried this on my ipad once and my passcode was still there but after I click reboot,my ipad stays like with the itunes icon and the cord,but after like 5-10min the ipad started to turn on,and so I had to start all over again!and I’ve tried doing it again today and on my computer it said completed reboot of ipad,but my ipad still said connect to itunes!!!its like it wasn’t even connected to the computer!!but what I don’t understand is why it keeps on turning on even if I don’t touch it,its an ipad 1!!PLZ seriously need help!!

  41. keerthana says:

    waiting…

  42. Michael says:

    So if I’m an iPhone thief trying to earn an old-fashioned dishonest living, you’re saying I need not worry that the user has Find My iPhone enabled??? Apple says that that prevents someone from using a stolen iPhone, don’t they? Please answer quickly. It’s Friday and the 6 just launched. I could literally earn thousands of dishonest bucks this weekend just doing business with a few New iPhone 6 users out celebrating their new tech gizmo on Beale Street.

  43. Taylor33 says:

    I get about 1/2 way through the restore in Itunes, and then receive a message that the device can’t be restored because a passcode is in place. It’s like the Iphone 5C I’m restoring reboots midway through the process, and then won’t finish the restore. There’s got to be a way around this, but I haven’t found it yet…

    Anybody know the answer? I do not have access to the computer that is tied to this phone with Itunes, and I don’t have the passcode or the password to the itunes accounts associated with the phone…

  44. emm says:

    My iPhone is locked due to forgetting Passover, tried to reset but it’s saying turn off find my iPhone which I can’t do as the phone is offline and can’t connect to the internet, also no sim in the phone at min, please help me get round this…. oh n power button is broke, cannot switch phone off

  45. Charles says:

    Is there any other bypass or way to access the recovery screen without using the home button as it’s not working?

  46. Renee says:

    Here is an unusul problem. my daughter was locked out of her phone and had to restore and my sons information downloaded onto her phone. she had is old texts and his itunes. she deleted his email address and signed into itunes with her email, passwork, and signed into cloud but it still kicked back to my sons itunes and his email. he did not use her phone for itunes and the phone was never his. there should be no reason why his info downloaded onto her phone. verizon is perplexed and the apple online help was no help. has anyone encountered this problem?

    • Michael says:

      Here’s an easy solution. Solve problems one at a time. Once your daughter’s phone is recovered and she can get into it without the passcode, immediately do an erase all settings and content which will restore the phone to factory settings. Then boot up the phone and set it up as a new iPhone and have your daughter log into iCloud then. Your main issue is getting around the passcode. That done, your home free. Just don’t try to use the restore that you performed. The only purpose of that restore is to get yourself into the phone. Once in, reset it by all means!

  47. ryan says:

    Does it have to be with the itunes attached to the phone or with the itunes attached to the computer?

  48. Hails says:

    Hey, I do t have a computer, is there another way that I can factory reset an iPhone 4? My fiancé and I got one for a so called friend and he gave it back locked and says he doesn’t remember the passcode. The front and back screens are shattered but it still works, and I’m giving the phone to my mom, after I fix the screen. How can I reset it without a computer???

  49. abdul says:

    i tried to recover my iPhone after it disabled by forgotten pass-code while my iphone in recovery mode and its restoring and updating it. close to end it stopped and said your computer connection is reset. check your computer connection and try again later. I don’t know what to do to get my iphone fixed. any idea?

  50. Ron says:

    How to change AppleId password.

    Connect your iPhone to your desktop computer using your usb cable.
    Next open iTunes on your desktop comptuer.
    In the menu click menu item Store and then click option sign in.
    Enter your appleId, which is your email id you used to sync iphone to your desktop to take backups.
    When entering password click forgot?
    It will show you 2 radio button options. Click whichever one you will find suitable.
    Enter new password and you are done.

    Good Luck!
    Ron.
    !!! Note: sharing is en-powering !!!

  51. Abby says:

    Is there a way to do this with an iPhone 5s?

  52. Stephanie says:

    My home button is broke, the power on/off button still works, but my home button no longer does. I never synced my iPhone with my new computer, only my old one that is broken… Any ideas? I have the iPhone 4. PLEASE help):

    • Michael says:

      Plug in your phone to the new computer. Perform a backup to your new computer. (You don’t need the home button to perform a backup.) Get your home button fixed then.

  53. Callum says:

    Thank You so much this helped a lot!!! :)

  54. Hofni says:

    i was trying to restore my iphone throught the altenative instruction(above) and now my iphone doesn’t want to switch on well again, it only do ON and OFF.
    is there a problem that could lead me to loose my iphone?
    plz help

  55. Love says:

    Thanks it worked

  56. […] so complicated that you can’t remember it yourself, though it isn’t too difficult to reset if you need to, assuming you have access to a […]

  57. Aaliyah says:

    I don’t have an Itunes, what do I do?

  58. yash says:

    thanks that was awesome it worked

  59. Diff says:

    Does this require a SIM card?

  60. macgee says:

    guys my iphone4 needs to first update the software which is about 900mb, is it normal

  61. Fallen says:

    if the icloud recovered ALL your stuff after u got a new phone, would it not do the same after a password bypass and reset?

  62. Chris says:

    Hi….I’m trying to follow this thread..but it’s confusing me.
    My iphone 5 is locked and I can’t remember the password/code. Like an idiot I haven’t synced it to itunes for a while. Is there a way to get the info off my phone NOW– while it’s locked— before restoring it to factory conditions?
    Thanks!!

  63. Thank you soo much- Nicole
    It really helped us she was happy that she got it to work again- Brother

  64. YuNo says:

    What do you mean with USB, PC, and iTunes?

  65. AC says:

    I have the iPhone 5 and this totally worked! I was so happy but then I got to another problem which the phone keeps saying that the activation server is unavailable… What does that mean and how can I fix it?

  66. Bella says:

    How long does the restore take?

  67. MAM says:

    Thank you so much!!! I didn’t think it would be that simple.

  68. Ivan says:

    Tnx! :)

  69. zak says:

    i have a iphone 3 but will it lock it

  70. Raenboe says:

    I have an iPhone 4. I tried to do this and I followed the instructions to the letter, and it seemed to be working. But when the download was complete, my phone still said to connect to iTunes. Why wouldn’t it reset my phone? I was already really sad because I hadn’t backed up anything from my phone onto my computer, if I cant even reset the phone I can’t get another one!!!

  71. Orges says:

    Can i loose my photos ?

  72. Brittney says:

    iTunes will not let me restore my phone unless I put in the passcode.. Help!!!!

  73. Ricardito says:

    Great, thank you it really works, I did it on the first try

  74. Adam says:

    I am doing this but an error shows up while extracting software. Help please.

  75. adam says:

    I tried this, but when it goes to reboot, it asks for the password, which I do not know!! Is this POS a paperweight now?

  76. Katie says:

    When doing this, I get the message : “Iphone cannot be restored because it isn’t eligible for the build” How can I restore my phone?

  77. mike g says:

    For everyone out there this method roes work just got it to reset a iphone 4s verizon without knowing the 4 digit cose…once the error message pops up asking for the 4digit code leave it alone and let it finish downloading..after its done click cancel on error msg and uplug phone dont close itunes either then..hold power and home button to to turn off phone while holding the home button still plug the ph back in wait for rexovery mode to pop up left go of hm button and click reset ph..it will pick up where it left off and finish the process this time it wont prompt u for the 4 digit password and it will now rest…if u do it right it will works..hope i helped

  78. Quadri says:

    Thanks very much, it worked. I got all my contacts back, but pictures and messages gone. im glad it worked, looks newer than before.

    Thanks.

  79. Marlene C. says:

    IT WORKED!!!! THANKS!!!

  80. Jessica says:

    So this works for the lock code for the phone but not the RESTRICTIONS passcode I believe. Because it didn’t help me!! :( I swear I didn’t set the restrictions code and now it’s locked. I want to put age restrictions on my phone for my kids to have “guided access” and I can’t because of this stupid administrative (or whatever they call it) password! Any ideas?

  81. Amanda Coleman says:

    Thank you for this but I go through the process and it keeps on saying that I am not connected to the Internet. I am connected and can see the iTunes Store and access it as well as the Internet. I brought an Ethernet cable as I thought i Wifi might not be suitable but still says it. Any ideas anyone? Thank you

  82. saxon says:

    everytime i click restore, it comes up with a popup saying contacting the iphone software update server…

    is that normal ?? please i need help

  83. niki says:

    it simply works!

  84. Likeaboss says:

    Do u need Internet for iTunes. I’m using a my iPad.

  85. Phil says:

    Instructions work great, first had a problem using a MAC BOOK so switched to a PC and worked 2nd time. Some iphone users may need to attempt several times. What I realised is the update need to download first and that could take some time. While it is downloading your iphone will probably time out and restart (with the lock message again). Simply restart the iphone using the above advice) and then click on restore. Eventually it will work

  86. Kate says:

    Hey guyssss,
    if u have a mac and u connect your iPhone to it (and it is turned off) EVEN IF YOU HAVE A PASSCODE you can go to summary and press reset AND IT WORKS!!!

  87. Tabi says:

    This works, thank you soooo much..My daughter was completely having a meltdown because she forgot her password.

  88. kmill says:

    this works very well worked with an iphone 5 i found

    • dylan, says:

      i have a iphone, i dont know the password but put it in recovery mode and restored it and the lock is still there

  89. Katie says:

    This really worked for me. I typed in a new password and I totally forgot it. I typed it in 9 times and it was still wrong and I dont believe it was. But this saved my phone. Only thing that sucks is that I lost all my information, pictures, contacts, etc… That is the only thing that is bad. But everything else is awesome thank you so so so much!

  90. angel says:

    i have an iphone 3g its unlocked and jailbroken,i put the silly security password on there and it froze when i was doin it and dont know wat numbers it put it..wat can i do to get it back working..i cant call or txt or anything can only recieve phn calls..dont want to lock it out to where it can only b used with at&t need it for tmobile

  91. Ashton says:

    I found an iPod in my purse and no one has claimed it… It has a four digit passcode so I was going to see if there is any way to get to the pictures to see who’s it is? The background is waves so it doesn’t help me.

  92. PDFarry says:

    Aw. It takes so long to download. But I hope it works :)))

  93. The information is realy useful i got my iPhone back but it erases all the data . there is not a big deal you can resync again throgh iTunes ….

  94. pankaj says:

    i downloaded software. but when restoring my i phone 4s, the error is coming -1. can u help me how to restore now this i phone 4s.

    t

  95. Tiah says:

    Okay the first thing my kid does when programming the iphone 5 was lock it and forget the code.

    Thanks for the help, I really did not feel like talking to an out of country technical support agent.

  96. margaret says:

    I had tried restoring my iphone but it had asked for me to first enter in the passcode before continuing and also wouldnt let me back it up untill i entered the passcode but i wasnt able to seeming i entierly forgot it. what should i do?

  97. Rosa T says:

    the same thing is actually happening to me.. i would really like to have some help as well
    !

  98. Ms. Bren- says:

    When I just tried the above instructions to reset passcode, it started restoring iTunes, but stopped halfway through it saying unable to complete because it is locked with a passcode, DUH – that’s what I was trying to unlock. It’s asking me to enter the passcode on the iPhone before it can be used with iTunes. ??

    HELP

  99. nancy says:

    By the way just so everyone knows i found this phone in a parking lot on the ground about to get ran over. i asked inside both stores and left my name and number just in case someone came in and asked about it. i then put an ad on craigslist and waited. i never even recieved a phonecall on the phone to see if i had it. I would love to know how to get service on it in my name or better yet I heard you can do Tmobile no contract? Am I right?

  100. nancy says:

    OMG it works! it was s damn easy. Now I need to know how to jaibreak it please smeone help

  101. Jeremy says:

    I found this to be the most effective and succinct advice I have found on anything related to Apple OS or devices. Thank you. This worked like a charm.

  102. haych says:

    Hey i smashed my screen on my iphone4 and it doesnt work now but my phone still works so now i cant back up my files to itunes cause i cant unlock my passcode any suggestions

  103. Iza says:

    I got a problem. I can’t reset my iphone because my home button is not working. Is there any another possible way where I can reset my iphone? or any software?

  104. Jessica says:

    I’ve been trying to restore my iphone4 for a few hours now. I tried doing it while i was going to bed, but I woke up and my computer (I suppose) disconnected from the internet while it was updating. I forgot my 4 digit passcode. So I’ve got it upgrading & hopefully restoring again now. Does it usually take 7+ hours to get this done? Our internet access is Verizon’s Mobile Hotspot & my husband’s is on (I cant get into my phone to turn mine on) so when he goes to work soon will I still be able to restore it?

  105. Karlissa says:

    My housemate is having terrible trouble with his phone. He’s restored his phone twice and it’s still not working. It’s a 4s. Any ideas?

  106. terry says:

    hi well i reset my iphone got the passcode reset now it says phone is disable can someone help

  107. ea:) says:

    i forgot my password while on holiday and have managed to get rid of password despite being completely locked out:

    iphone saying ‘iphone disabled – connect to itunes’

    plug your phone into itunes
    click back up (which will appear in the tick boxes just above
    where it says how you’ve used your device storage space)
    wait for back up to complete
    click restore iphone to factory settings – it should say that itunes will give you the option to restore original settings
    wait for restore to complete – your contacts, music etc. will be there with no password…that’s what i found anyway

  108. Harry I Trice says:

    forget my password …..?

  109. Smithy says:

    Hey, I ‘found’ an Iphone. Dont know what kind (4, 4s) I have followed most of these steps, but then you need to have the Iphone files on your computer.. I dont have them because I just found it. How should I go about unlocking this when I dont have the files or the passcode?

  110. Maria says:

    everytime i get to the very end it tells gives me an error about my network connection, that it timed out . is there anyway i can fix that being locked out ofmy phone..

  111. samdup says:

    m trying the procedure henry had written above,,,well m in india n the network really sucks,,unfortunately my iphone 4 is lock n i dont kno the security lock,,,did all the things henry told me n came to something to download for which i have to wait for like 23 hours,,,,someone pls tell me will this waiting b fruitful coz i don habe any ohter ways,,,help me out

  112. abby says:

    it still isnt working!! my friend gave it to me before he went to the states and didnt give me a passcode for the phone and i have no way of contacting him. any other ideas?

  113. abc says:

    And does this works on iphone 3gs?

  114. abc says:

    Will the apple id be reset too?

  115. Don Keadick says:

    This worked for my iphone 4s. it took me a couple times but it worked. i just had to update my i tunes. thanks it saved me $30!

  116. Sher says:

    After i clicked restore, it says contacting iphone software update server and its taking a long time. I need a reply asap

  117. kyle says:

    this worked for me . awesome thanks alot you saved me.

  118. Katie says:

    This did not even work for me. My friend took my phone and put a password for the lock and forgot what it was. I did everything this thing said and this didn’t reset my phone.

  119. callum says:

    i have been sat for 20mins and it is not working still how long do it usually take.

  120. Criena says:

    this really helped!!! I have only just got my iPhone, and must have apparently typed my passcode I use for everything TWICE! fml I don’t have a great track record with iPhones! Saying that, it’s restoring now, and saying 19mins remaining? Is this normal?

  121. bob says:

    wen i do this and i click restore…it tells me to update the iphone 4s as well….its a 800gb update and i have to wait 3hrs for it…..i continue along with the download and at bout 100mb in ii get a message where i need to enter the passcode and stuff….im guessing its no longer in recovery mode?….but the update still continues….

    would this update be able to finish and wud i be able to continue to restore it afterwards?

    idk the passcode…is there a way to skip the update? because the button for me says update and restore

  122. Jack says:

    Hi

    I forgot my pass code and did exactly as you said to restore the phone by itunes by an error 3194 showed up. I tried to fix it on host file but did not work either. Could you help me with this. I could not find any solution yet.

    Thanks

  123. Candice says:

    Please help.. I have some how enabled a passcode on my phone I would have no idea what it is or how it even got there :( I no longer have a computer and no access to iTunes… Is there anyway I can unlock my phone or restore to factory settings without a computer or iTunes???

    • Mike says:

      There is absolutely no way to get into an iphone that has a password lock if you do not have access to a computer.

      It does make me wonder how you posted here without one though. I assume that you are using another mobile device. Find someone who owns a computer and you can perform the restore described above or use Gecko Toolkit to read your password as long as it is not a complex one. The default four digit code is pretty easy to recover.

  124. Trevor says:

    Willl iClould back it up? Or does it hae to be itunes

  125. Chippy says:

    It doesn’t work for me

    u know when it says launch itunes
    do i do that on my PC or on my phone

    well i cant do it on my phone cuz i don’t know my passcode :(

  126. frankie says:

    thx so much! THis rly worked!!!!!

  127. Windle Scmidth says:

    why does it have to take hours to restore ? my mum asked me like .. it took 10 hours or so ?

  128. Tabitha says:

    Hey, durr. Thanks for the help. Totally got the hang of it. Because my cousin also taught me how to restore my phone. Thanks so much. I actually freaked out

  129. Tabitha says:

    Actually, I’ve followed the steps.. But whenever I do it, something pops up in iTunes like you have to update your software or something?.. I can’t see any summary tab//restore button on iTunes. I kind of.. Can’t really get the friggin out of it

  130. Tabitha says:

    My Dad had already jailbreaked this.. But yeah so.. Uhm.. I need your help guys. :(( i’m totally fuhreakin out

  131. Tabitha says:

    I have an iPhone 3gs and I set it with a passcode just to make sure no one would mess it up. Whenever I type in my passcode, It says try again. Maybe I did a typo, But I still need your help guys. :( I tried following some of these steps.. But I really can’t get the hang of it. I tried connecting it to my computer, then to itunes.. There was no message popping. xcc please help.

  132. matt says:

    this works a treat on the i phone 4 had prob colundt remmber code download it installed then open i tunes hold home button on iphoe worked a treat just make surew your fire wall doesnt block the progranms our it wont work

  133. Lewis says:

    This is why i hate iPhone, it seriously sucks, with Android you could easily log in with your google account or answer an security password, piece of cake.

  134. Georgia says:

    I have tried to many times to get the password so it has locked itself, and in iTunes there is no “summary” button, where is it and can you help?

  135. David says:

    I tried this, but it says that Itunes cannot connect to Iphone because it has a passcode on it.

  136. Harry says:

    I reinstalled itunes and coincidentally, the same day, i forgot my new passcode that i set. I had done this before and normally just restore in itunes, but because i redownloaded a new itunes that doesnt recognize my iphone, it wont restore my phone. any options?

  137. dickhole says:

    OMG THANKYOU

  138. mary says:

    Hi everyone , I bought an Iphone 4s from one of my friend last week it was good but i have a problem with my frinds then today my phone show me a alart “find my iphone” then it became locked and need the passcode i dont know why it happens anyone knows about my problem why it happens ????????????????????is it possible my frind did this from the net???

  139. baylie says:

    I have the iphone 4. i did the steps above and it worked. but it did erase all of my data. pics, contacs, apps; everything. it was back to the way it was right out of the box :/

  140. Winnie says:

    This just helped the person who stole my phone reset and unlock it. great.

  141. Den says:

    Works without problems!!

  142. Slimjim says:

    This worked out perfectly!… for whoever’s phone I found this weekend. (:<

    WINNING.

  143. John says:

    Will this work even you use other itunes and not the original where the phone sync?

  144. adam says:

    thanks this worked perfectly.

  145. michael says:

    this worked for me, more so Henry’s repost. As long as you follow the steps, it will work for al iphones guys

  146. simsimi says:

    Anyways, why would you setup a passcode and forget it?

    • pierre says:

      @simsimi,
      You have a twisted troubled mind,i can only feel sorry for people close to you because i have no doubt in my mind that they are suffering with a mind like yours.
      Last week i was in front of an ATM to withdraw some money and my mind went blank,i couldn’t remember my password,what are you going to call me?A thief?

  147. Nisse says:

    There are forensic applications that can access all the data in a locked phone.

  148. Pamela LaPier says:

    Why are you people telling the various ipod thieves out there how to get past the passcode. As someone who had their ipod ripped off all I can say is thanks a bunch!

  149. Shawn says:

    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.

  150. Emil says:

    Thank you!!! This helped my daughter’s iphone. I keep telling her to stop putting passcodes because she will forget in the long run.

  151. Heather says:

    This worked pefectly! Thank you!

  152. Guanlik says:

    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…

  153. Bob says:

    do you have to reactivate you phone again using your service provider?

  154. ajish nair says:

    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.

  155. […] 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 […]

  156. raelyn says:

    this sucks i dont have sim card so it didnt wok i spoke to soon but it worked

  157. raelyn says:

    that was realy helpful i was freaking out but it worked

  158. pratik says:

    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

  159. pam says:

    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??

  160. iphone4unlock says:

    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?

  161. calvin says:

    pls i lost my iphone and is lock can they open it

  162. Infernova says:

    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”

    • coco says:

      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!
      :-D

  163. katie0123 says:

    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!!!!!!!

    • Infernova says:

      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.)

    • Zip44 says:

      Ok, even more importantly, … everybody put down your phones and let’s go beat up katie’s old douche boyfriend!

  164. Robin says:

    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

  165. Henry says:

    ****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

    • brandy says:

      Thanks. That worked 4 me :))

    • Ashleymrtz says:

      THANK YOU!!!!! This was EXTREMELY helpful :) :)

    • Kbells says:

      Thank you SO much!! **this worked for me if anyone with an iPhone 4s, who forgot their passwords** x

    • Rico says:

      it don’t work on my 3gs

    • sk says:

      It worked for me. Thanks a lot – sk

    • alaska says:

      tysm, it’s working this time! After three tries doing it the other way, lmao.

    • Sandy says:

      Hello, I came across this string and hoping you can help me. My mom passed away last year & I have her old iPhone 4. Do not know her passcode. She did not have a computer so no iTunes. I don’t care about losing any data on it, just want to unlock it & start new. If possible, going to give the phone to a cousin who is in a bad way and needs a better phone. Is there a way to unlock it? I have tried different codes to no avail. Now it says phone disabled connect to iTunes. H E L P Please!!!!

  166. jojo says:

    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?

  167. douglas says:

    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?

  168. Alan says:

    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?

  169. Kyle says:

    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!!!!!

  170. Marissa says:

    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?

  171. iphone4 says:

    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

    • Matt says:

      Read the instructions

    • Infernova says:

      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.

  172. Themba says:

    Hi,

    This worked and am now able to use my phone. :)

  173. eb says:

    omg, amazing. saved my life :)

  174. patricia says:

    thank you so much! so far i think it worked.. it is updating on iTunes now! thank u

  175. Carolyn says:

    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.

  176. David Rubin says:

    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?

  177. sandra says:

    I have the iphone 4 also and this didnt work either…

  178. shannon says:

    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

  179. Emma says:

    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

  180. Jag says:

    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…

  181. Jen says:

    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

  182. Sipary says:

    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

  183. Nikita :) says:

    once you have done this, can you retrieve your stuff again if you have recently ‘backed up’ your iPhone or iPod? x

  184. […] 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 […]

  185. […] 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 […]

  186. ash arscott says:

    dont work on iphone 4 tried 3 times.it connects & starts downloadig 30 mins later asks for password which i dont have?!!

    • max says:

      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???

    • DebuggerTBO says:

      Just get rid of the iphone card ?

    • DK says:

      It works. Plug the usb end of the cable into your computer. With the phone on, and not plugged into the computer, press and hold the home button, also press and hold the power button. Do not let go of either of these buttons. The phone will shut off and attempt to turn back on, still, do not let go of those buttons. Count about 15 second from then, the phone will then be completely off. You can let go of the buttons now. Now, press and hold the home button again, while holding it, plug your phone into the computer, do not let go of the home button, the phone will turn on, keep holding the home button. The phone will pop up a window showing a music logo, it says itunes on it, and shows a usb connection. Keep holding the home button, I didn’t say to let go yet. Wait until Itunes indicates that there is a device in restore mode. Now you can let go of the home button, you’re ready to hit restore. If itunes has already downloaded the update software for your phone, it will begin to restore immediately. If not, it will begin to download the software. If your phone happens to restart while itunes is downloading, don’t fret, just follow the process to put it into restore mode again after itunes finishes downloading the software. When restoring your phone may restart a few times, let it do it’s thing. When it’s finished, your phone will restart one final time and turn fully on. This works on Iphones 3, 4 and 5. Tried tested and true.

  187. kyle says:

    or you can take it to actionleak and they will fix it for chceap price

  188. Bry says:

    Does this work for the ipod touch also? I have a friend who thought his 2G touch was toast since he forgot his PW.

    • RickysGurl says:

      for ipod toch hold the home button and power button at same time while plugged into puter until found new hardware pops up and re installs the drivers for it…

  189. […] 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 […]

  190. Chris says:

    @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.

  191. TJ says:

    There may be a way to do this without wiping the entire iPhone, any ideas?

    • Michael says:

      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.

      • Joanie says:

        I can definitely resync to restore apps & music, etc. But, will I lose my contacts, call history, text history, etc?

        • raelyn says:

          its ok u can get them again just be thankful, it works

        • John says:

          how do you put back the apps into the iphone.. can you show me how.. thanks

          • Dean says:

            all you have to do is go to the app store go to updates click purchased and download all of them back

        • Sophia says:

          it will ask you if you want to restore your contacts and other stuff and if you hit yes, it will do that for you

          • Olivia says:

            even your photos? i have very special photos on my iphone 4s

          • Robin says:

            Did you figure this out? I cannot have my photos wiped out. I was out on a walk and my phone randomly went into lockout mode. I have never set up a passcode at all. My daughter says even if a button were pressed accidentally while in your pocket that you would have had to re-enter the passcode again to have it become a passcode. Apple says they don’t have a master code to bypass this. I did not set up a passcode.
            I do not want to lose my photos or texts. I have business and personal items on there. Apple Tech says there may be a 3rd party method or device to safely import your pictures to your computer, but they can’ t officially recommend it. Please e-mail me with any information you have come up with. Thanks so much!

      • raelyn says:

        awsome good to no

      • jacob mathew keluthara says:

        Ya that what i was thinking

      • lucas says:

        hey is there a way to do it from your Ipod

    • Carolyn says:

      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.

    • RUBAYY says:

      any one know how to unlock ihpone without wiping the whole thing??

    • Cash says:

      back up ypur ipod before hand and it’ll add everything back on to your iphone/ipod

    • ceilin says:

      wheres the summary button

    • Ariane says:

      Thank you thank you THANK You for this!! HUGE help and I really appreciate it!! :)

    • cory says:

      my internet is looked will this reset that passcode as well?

      • Geromoni says:

        This resets the iPhone passcode. You can look at the internet all you want, why not look at the internet?

        • amanda says:

          my home button does not work. i’ve had to use the assistant touch … so is there no way for me to reset my iphone which is telling me to connect to itunes …

    • Luna says:

      Just take out the SIM Card, you’re welcome.

    • Xavier says:

      i need that too…I HAVE NO BACKUP WHATSOEVER

    • amrk says:

      I had the same issue with my sons iPhone 6, stuck on verifying. Used same procedure as above, turned off wifi and restore started on the mobiles own network. Had an error (-1) after getting just over half way through the restore so tried again. Same thing happened but error (-50) so tried one more time and noticed the restore started before I switched off the wifi so let it run and it completed in the normal way. Fortunately had an icloud backup only 3 days ago so no harm done:)

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