iPhone is Disabled? How to Fix With or Without Connecting to iTunes

Feb 26, 2016 - 365 Comments

iPhone is disabled try again error message, what happened and how to fix it

Have you ever picked up your iPhone to discover the message “iPhone is disabled” and to “try again in 1 minute” or to try again 5, 15, 60 minutes? In the worst scenarios, the message says “iPhone is disabled. Connect to iTunes”, and the device is unusable until then. So, what is going on here, why is the iPhone disabled? And how do you fix it so that you can use the iPhone again? The answers to these questions are usually straight forward, let’s review the causes of this message, and more importantly, the solutions to this so that you can unlock and re-enable the iPhone again for full use.

Why is My iPhone Disabled?

A locked iPhone requires a passcode or Touch ID to enter and access the device as a security precaution. After the iPhone passcode has been incorrectly entered five times in a row, the iPhone will automatically disable itself for 1 minute, giving the “iPhone is disabled” error message on screen. The obvious solution in this case is to wait for the minute (or several) to pass and then enter the correct passcode to unlock the iPhone and get around the disabled message. In the future, just enter the proper passcode in the first place and you’ll avoid this message and the lock out period.

You may find it interesting to know how many incorrect passcode entries are required to disable the iPhone for a particular amount of time and to get the accompanying message, that information is as follows:

  • 5 incorrect passcode entries in a row – iPhone is disabled, try again in 1 minute
  • 7 incorrect entries in a row – iPhone is disabled, try again in 5 minutes
  • 8 incorrect entries in a row – iPhone is disabled, try again in 15 minutes
  • 9 incorrect entries in a row – iPhone is disabled, try again in 60 minutes
  • 10 incorrect passcode entries – iPhone is disabled, connect to iTunes (or the iPhone wipes itself of all data if self-destruct mode is turned on)

Waiting a minute isn’t too bad, but waiting many minutes to an hour is inconvenient, as is connecting to iTunes to enable the iPhone again. Let’s further understand this issue to avoid it in the future, and going further we’ll show you how to get around the disabled message.

But I didn’t try to unlock my iPhone, so why does it say it is disabled?

In some situations, you didn’t actually try to unlock an iPhone and you didn’t (intentionally) enter a wrong passcode, but the iPhone says it is disabled anyway. How does this happen? The two most common reasons for an iPhone to seemingly lock itself out are pockets and people. Let’s discuss the two.

The pocket disable: Inadvertently disabling an iPhone in a pocket is surprisingly common! This typically happens to iPhone users who keep their iPhones in a pocket that they also use for their hands, often hip jacket pockets, the hoodie pouch pocket, or front pants pockets for example. Because the iPhone screens slide to unlock feature can be swiped from anywhere on the screen, it’s fairly common to accidentally activate that screen, then enter into the passcode entry screen while the iPhone is a pocket with a hand or two, and perhaps unbeknownst to you, enter a passcode a few times to accidentally trigger the lockout. I’ve had this happen to myself while twirling an iPhone in a pocket out of boredom, and I recently watched a friend accidentally disable their iPhone while searching the same iPhone-holding pocket for money to pay at a food cart. This happens surprisingly often if you keep an iPhone in a busy pocket or put your hands in your pockets often.

The person disable: There are two types of person interaction that can disable the iPhone, intentional passcode entry of someone trying to guess your passcode and then disabling it as they fail – usually a fairly obvious scenario. And the other type, the unintentional passcode entry, usually triggered by a young child. That latter scenario is extremely common with parents and caretakers with young children, who may fiddle with, tap on, and swipe around on an iPhone screen that is otherwise locked. The parent or caregiver often thinks nothing of it since the iPhone is locked with a passcode or Touch ID, but nonetheless the kid often finds a way onto the passcode entry screen (it’s only a swipe away after all), enters the wrong password repeatedly as they tap on the screen, and then the device becomes locked out with the “iPhone is disabled” message.

Unlocking iPhone Stuck on “iPhone is Disabled, Try Again in X Minutes”

Want to unlock an iPhone stuck on the disabled screen? You have to wait for the time to pass, then enter the proper passcode.

If you can’t wait, or if you don’t know the passcode, you have to put the iPhone into recovery mode and restore it.

Those are the the only two options.

Fixing “iPhone is Disabled. Connect to iTunes”

This is the worst scenario for an iPhone being disabled because it requires you to connect the iPhone to a computer to gain access to it again. Hopefully you made a backup recently to that computer, and hopefully you remember the actual passcode for the iPhone, otherwise you’ll have to erase the device and lose all data on it. Yes really. Yet another reason frequent device backups are important.

iPhone is disabled error message and how to fix it

If you know the iPhone passcode and have backed it up recently, you can simply unlock the device with iTunes though it requires a restore:

  1. Connect the iPhone to a computer it has synced to before with a USB cable and launch iTunes
  2. Choose “Sync” in iTunes and enter the proper passcode when requested to unlock the device, this backs up the iPhone to the computer
  3. Choose “Restore” to restore the iPhone from the most recent backup

If you don’t know the iPhone passcode, you have to wipe the iPhone clean and it will erase all data using recovery mode. The instructions on resetting a forgotten iPhone passcode are here. If you made a backup to iTunes or iCloud, you can restore it after the fact to that backup.

iPhone recovery mode

If you do not know the iPhone passcode and you do not have a backup, the data on the iPhone will be erased and lost forever. There is no way around that, not even Apple can unlock an iPhone and access the data in such a situation. Thus, the lesson is don’t forget a device passcode, and always keep regular backups!

How do I avoid iPhone being disabled from incorrect passcode entry in the future?

To prevent this from happening in the future you have a few options. The easiest is to simply not enter the wrong passcode repeatedly, which will prevent the iPhone from locking up and disabling itself. Duh, right? Since that’s not always an option, another choice is to enable complex passcodes, since they require a longer character string be entered before the password is rejected. Keeping the iPhone in a different pocket, or out of reach of someone who is intentionally or accidentally entering passcodes is also a good idea. And finally, as we’ve already mentioned several times, always make regular backups of the device, just in case you do have to restore it to regain access.

Know of any other useful information about a disabled iPhone, or how to get around the disabled warning dialogs? Let us know in the comments.

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Posted by: Paul Horowitz in iPad, iPhone, Tips & Tricks, Troubleshooting

365 Comments

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  1. David Loureiro says:

    My iPhone apple 8 still works when it’s says Your battery is currently supporting normal peak performance but still disabled. It’s charge all the way up to 100% when I click on battery last charge level 68% shows 68% not 100%. And when I unplug the charger it shuts off by itself I only keep plug in to hear my iPhone ringing calling me or text me a message any time I see an apple shape blinking no matter what. It’s very hopeless for me to get a new apple 8 battery for my iPhone don’t know when.

  2. Lucas says:

    My Apple iPhonex is dissabled and needs to be connected to iTunes what should I do orhow can you help me and which laptop should I use

  3. Smart says:

    My iPhone keeps saying connect to iTunes and have tried connecting it to the computer but still all to no avail I was told that “it can never work again “I was shocked onto hearing this statement,pls help me out I don’t mind whether I lose all the informations,I just wanna prove them wrong

  4. Victoria Addington says:

    Thank you for letting me know that iPhone will be locked after trying the incorrect passcode five times. That’s what exactly happened to my father’s phone since he forgot the passcode. I should bring it to an iPhone unlocking shop to fix the issue.

  5. Noel Murphy says:

    I have disabled connect to itunes but do not have access to a computer,i have another iphone can i unlock with that.

  6. Kuokuo benedina says:

    U don’t have a computer to connect my disabled iPhone ,please what method can I use again ?

  7. Chuck groothoff says:

    Iphone locked to owner…i don’t recall setting up a id and password for this nor do i have a labtop to fix it how do i go around it

  8. Solomon Gowon says:

    My iphone 5s i forgot the passcode
    It showing me connect to itunes is they anything that can be done?

  9. Pamela says:

    Call apple the is the best thing to do because your lock out and will need to wait for recovery then you need to wait 10 day but still call back if you don’t have you password the is a joke . The people keep charge my card and I cancel

  10. Raheem quadri says:

    My iPhone is disabled so it is telling me to connect iCloud

    • kiki says:

      unfortunately, if you don’t have a computer you have to call apple or someone who has a macbook. everything will be gone though, all ur photos, messages etc…

  11. Carolyn Flynn says:

    U can alternatively try using the find my iPhone app it allows you to remotely perform actions on an iOS u should be able to unlock the phone from there.

  12. Jojo Yolo says:

    U can try using the “find my iPhone” app. It allows you to remotely perform actions on an iOS.U should be able to unlock the phone from there.

  13. Ken Clerk Abondo says:

    My iPhone 6s require iTunes what is the process

  14. Honestyhonesty says:

    My Iphone 6 is disabled and says connect to itunes but when it won’t connect to the computer what should I do

  15. veena ndang says:

    my iphone 7 is show iphone is disabled conect to itunes how can i fix it

  16. John maina says:

    I bought an iPhone s4 from a guy, so we agreed that he would wipe of his data, but after wiping the phone does not open it only shows an apple log. What should I do

  17. RICKY says:

    It needs to be unlocked using itunes on a laptop this is 100% there is no way around this John, it is really easy to do once you have computer access.

  18. John bradley says:

    Is this a genuine answer to my phone being disabled “buy a new phone” is that it seriously that’s it

  19. John bredley says:

    So how do I get my phone working again with no passcode and no computer to connect to iTunes? It still doesn’t tell me or is that a real answer when if says after a number of people comment on same problem, it says buy a new phone is it a real reply????! I need to fix phone can u or wot????!!!!

  20. Daisy says:

    My IPhone is disabled
    I don’t have a computer
    My home button is not working
    And it says I should connect to iTunes
    What do I do 😔🥺🥺🥺

    • Ndumiso says:

      Hi Daisy

      Replace your home button first and take it to someone who might have a computer, install iTunes and reboot from there.

  21. Harshad Joshi says:

    My iphone is disabled and I don’t have computer.. how to fix?

  22. Nenavath naresh says:

    iPhone is disabled connect to itunes

  23. Latino kabunga says:

    I’m sorry I don’t have a USB cable and my iPhone requires to be connected to iTunes,what can I do in order to open my disabled iPhone??

  24. Zahid says:

    I have iPhone and due to ram issue I have restart and give my phon for fixing. After fixing I have entered my I’d and password but that was locked due to try more time.
    I’m looking for help

  25. JAMES OFUBU says:

    My iphone displays iphone disabled connect to itunes,so will I do to fix it

  26. Preeti says:

    Is it compulsory to reset passcode through mac or ipad. Window computer is not helpfull

  27. anon says:

    looks like my iphone changed the password by itself because i typed the correct password for my phone but it said the password was wrong, and even it’s disabled, i can’t connect my phone to my macbook because (i don’t know how to call it) because my mac doesn’t have a plug for USB. HELP :( all my data is in my phone

    • yonghong says:

      Just the day before yesterday, on September 23, 2020, I changed my password. It used to be facial recognition, but this time I asked me to enter the password. I remember that I didn’t enter the password wrong, but the iPhone always reminded me of the password. Wrong, I thought it’s okay to make a mistake, just make a few more mistakes, but I never thought that this was my last contact with this phone. My phone is locked eventually.

      I never knew that Apple had such a protection mechanism. It’s a pity that there are more than 8,000 photos and hundreds of videos stored in my phone. These photos have not been backed up or uploaded into iTunes or iCloud. These photos are of children’s growth, from children babbling to becoming the growing up experience of a little boy, the photos of dancing in the kindergarten, the time we spent together as a family, the scenery we traveled together, the photos of children laughing and playing, and many, many good memories. . . . .

      I cried anxiously and called Apple customer service, but he told me that there was no way to open it unless I restored the factory settings. However, once you do this, all data will be cleared. In other words, those good memories will always be stored in my memory, and I can no longer look through the photos about every path we have taken with the children.

      If you give me another chance, I will definitely not do such a stupid thing. I think that at the beginning, Apple set up such a protection mechanism to protect the rights and safety of Apple owners, but it neglected such special cases.

      I sincerely hope that you can help me. I can show all the documents, ID card to prove my identity and I also have Apple ID( it is this email address) and Apple ID password. I hope you can help me to retrieve all the photos of the children. I don’t want those memories to sleep in that phone forever. I am willing to give up this phone and just ask you to help me get out more than 8,000 photos and videos of all the children.

      • Dana M says:

        I had the same issue 3 weeks ago and Apple’s cold answer was : “We are very sorry!” – But unfortunately their “sorry” means really nothing now. Their “perfect protection mechanism” is protecting me from my self…so I would not say it is perfect, I would say it is incomplete if they are not able to make it in the same time safe and to make it
        to work for its owners and not against us. But still I did not lose my hopes, I am sure there is a way to save all locked data from Iphone, It is matter of day, when someone will find a loop in their “perfect protection mechanism”

  28. Mark says:

    My iPhone is disable how do I fix it

    • Kristie Sharp says:

      what can I do with my iPhone 11 can u please
      Help me to open my phone 11
      It is disabled heaps of time I need my phone
      From Kristie

  29. Zuby says:

    I have iPhone 6
    And it showing me iPhone disable connect to iTunes, And my phone don’t want to touch..
    I’m looking for help

  30. Anna says:

    I have a iPhone 6 and it says disable iPhone connect to iTunes .my screen crack and it disable it by itself . I know my passcode to the phone and have fingerprint . Is there a way I can get the phone unlock without deleting anything or resting it .

  31. Kingsley says:

    I guess the iPhone mobile company they don’t have expert Engeneers to fix problems on their phones.its Useless

  32. Syed Ali says:

    Worth to sell ASAP than to waste a day even As I did the same today after searching ways to fix OR resolve the issues.

  33. Afroz Ali says:

    I Was not a prolonged user or Customer of Apple as I phones so just lack of knowledge and difficiency in purchase decision result in, wrong purchase or transaction as I bought iPhone 5C now after 2-3 day’s usage it went dark with talkover mode moreover, it had uniformly gone full black as Screen out. After Visiting one of my known nd popular Shop (in General) it had been told to me @Display issue with an expense of Rs1000 by the Shop expertise personal.

  34. Juliettebull says:

    My iphone 7 plus is disabled I have to connect to iTunes what do I have to do

  35. Antony says:

    My iPhone is disable and the instructions that display on the screen say connect to iTunes, but when I connect it with my pc the phone has still the same problem, what should I do

  36. vincent says:

    it will be a activaton lock or not

  37. Philisiwe says:

    My iPad apple 🍎 is disabled but I don’t know what to do forgot my password

  38. Zee says:

    My Iphone 6 is disabled and says connect to itunes but when it won’t connect to the computer wat do i do

    • samir Kundu says:

      my iphone 6S is unfortunately disables & connect to iTunes even locked sim showing.
      could you please help me out from this problem? this is brought my friend from USA and when he purchase it was unlock iphone he purchase.

  39. Charanteja says:

    My iPhone disabled connect to i tunes

  40. Enrique Sanchez says:

    I did this I don’t remember the passcode I used what can I do I don’t have a computer.. the number I’m asking is a old phone I have and wanted to give to a friend.

  41. Muhammad Asif says:

    My iphone 8 disabled and i know the passcode. How do i restore my device?

    • RICHARD HOUSE says:

      Can you send me some more detailed instructions concerning the process of using a apple computer
      to correct the locked issue on my apple phone ?

  42. Laura says:

    My sons for says disabled connect to iTunes but he can’t remember details what do I do please

  43. Joe Ruiz says:

    I forget my password on my iPhone 6

    • Jonileigh Griffiths says:

      I’ve forgotten my passcode to get into my iPhone 6s and on the screen it says
      Iphone is disabled
      Connect to iTunes
      But I haven’t got a clue how to do this so any help off how to get my phone back working would be appreciated thanks so very much

  44. Tshikani millicent Mashele says:

    I have problem with my iphone6 it says iphone is disable connect to iTunes

  45. Olivia says:

    Can you do this on a different computer then your own as long as you log into your personal ITunes account on it?

  46. joshua cureton says:

    I didn’t get the chance In making an apple id before I disabled my iPhone. How do I restore it?

  47. Abdul Fahim says:

    Dear sir/Madame
    My phone account is disabled I can’t do anything App Store. iTunes. is also disabled
    How can i should repair them ?
    I don’t know why happened this situation

  48. Santosh says:

    iphone 6 is disabled connect to itunes

  49. Cardell hardiman says:

    My iphone 6 is disable

  50. Alex says:

    It is not always the case about putting
    wrong passcode, because I didn’t have
    that kind of problem, but because it
    was low on Memory and I was receiving
    Photos via Message, after it went in status Disabled, ITunes.

  51. Trust says:

    My iPhone has been disabled and is tell my to connect to iTunes what should I do??

  52. Kaycee says:

    Hello my iPhone 7 is disabled and I’m trying to unlock it without a computer, I had bought it off my sister and she doesn’t remember the passcode, any suggestions

  53. GULAM MUSTAFA says:

    Sir my iPhone is disabled

  54. Guylaine says:

    My son’s friend had his phone and tried guessing the password for 3 hrs , and disabled his phone , we don’t have a computer , but did borrow one , we went through all of the steps but it laptop does not recognize his phone so it will not let us restore it , he knows his account and password what am I able to do to restore it ,

    • TroubledOne says:

      Has the same issue, my computer can’t recognize my iPhone because of the broken home button, please help!

    • Bcleveland216 says:

      i think it has to have been backed up or saved and synced to the computer recently if not the only thing it says u can do is completely reset the phone and totally clear data and everything else stored

  55. Rk agrawal says:

    In serious problem ,
    iPhone XS model , day before It displayed that
    iPhone is disabled, connect to iTunes..
    ITune is of no help in this case ..
    what to do.. badly disappointed..
    Problems- save data and restart of phone..

  56. Ahmed says:

    Hello saleh I’ve got the same problem but I know how to do it but if you have iCloud backup all data will be restored I can do it for you all I need is a apple laptop, your disabled iPhone and a iPhone cable

  57. jack says:

    Yes that’s true ! Apple is too expensive but if you disabled your phone they can’t help you ! My iphone 11 pro max has been disabled connect tp itunes but nothing to do right they cant fix my problem what a mess for iphone user like me

  58. Mohammad moradi says:

    Hi
    My iPhone has been disabled

  59. Maelene Rivera says:

    My account is disabled in App Store and iTunes and I have no home computer. What shall, I do?

  60. Brana jany says:

    My iphone just disabled, connect to iTunes, and I can’t really remember the pass code cause since last year ,pls what can I do

  61. Roslia Santa Maria says:

    I’ve iPhone 6s that went into disabled mode and whenever I put credentials it says wrong id password. Is there still a way to recover it?

  62. Sal says:

    Maybe you could help me iam sal not good whit fhone

  63. Sumit kapoor says:

    Thanks alot! My problem has been solved now :)

  64. Susan says:

    What if you don’t have a computer that will connect to iTunes?

  65. Metuge Nervil Asale says:

    My iPhone just got blocked,I don’t know how it happened.i can not manipulate it at all,when I tried opening it they say they the password has been disabled for security reasons.so I don’t know what to do,please I need help.i bought the phone second hand and therefore don’t know the iPhone iD

  66. Wes says:

    How I fix my wipef out iPhone

  67. Kelvin says:

    I need help. My iPhone 6 was disabled (connect to iTunes) when my child was playing with it. But am unable to fix it even if I connect to iTunes. I know my Apple I’d and password.

  68. Jnode says:

    Just surprised how it is hard to recover my phone. Why tell me to wait for 14 mins and nothing happens?
    I have been off since Christmas break. I will just take it to work on Monday to sort it out.
    Apple people you need to make this process user friendly. Sometimes we work in remote areas with no internet connection.

  69. Adolfo says:

    Iphone 11 pro got locked by itself, i guess is a pretty common problem but apple does not want to be responsible or accept the problem. I lost 3 weeks in pictures and videos of family vacation in Peru. actually I bought the iPhone just for this trip. And as soon as we came bak from vacations the iphone is asking for a passcode, i was using the phone when this happened, it rebut itself and then it asked for a passcode, i never used a passcode so i try some passcodes anyways and the phone is disabled now.
    I asked apple for help and the obly solution is erase the phone. Apple wont help at all. What a shame. Apple should help in these situations i would pay anything to get those videos back.

  70. Shaun Darrell says:

    Locked out of iPhone xr and have no internet access on android can I fix it from my android

  71. Melong says:

    thank you

  72. Unknown says:

    This helped fix my problem, thank you so much. I’m a boomer and I Love iPhone!

  73. Austin says:

    If your notes were written under “ICloud”, then you should be able to access those notes by logging onto iCloud.com on a computer/laptop. If it was saved under “On My IPhone”, then I’m truly sorry but those notes are probably gone for good

  74. garis aris says:

    same happened to me
    i was entering the correct passcode but iphone would not accept it and got disabled

    • Matt says:

      Exact same scenario happened to me today

    • Lee says:

      Same her on apple pro max …I entered my password and it kept saying I wasnt entering it correctly!!!bullshit!!wouldn’t take my face I’d neither!!!!!and apples useless to help with this crap….

  75. garis aris says:

    call apple support they will help you
    setup appt on computer they will call you

  76. fatima alizade says:

    my iphone LCD broke so when i fix it it says its disable
    i did not sync my iphone to any device so now how can i unlock it?
    there is no apple store in my place so please just help me as soon as you can

  77. SAMPANG says:

    NOW NEXT TIME DONT FORGET TO SAVE YOUR ANY TYPES OF DOCUMENTS IN GOOGLE DRIVE. IT IS SO IMPORTANT APPS WHERE WE CAN SAVE FILES ASMUCH AS WE WANT BUT IN SOME REASON WE HAVE TO BUY FOR MORE STOREAGE. BUT WORTH IT. MATE

  78. Tamara B says:

    I have a iphone 8 and it says “connect to itunes.” Unfortunately, I am just a teenager so I dont have much space on it. I couldn’t really back it up because that required more space so I dont think ill be able to get any of my data back. It really sucks because i a writer and I write all of my stories in the notes app. All of my writing will be gone if I try any solutions. Ive cried for days because all of my hard work is gone. Writing means everything to me and now all of my stories and story ideas will be gone. :(

  79. Hussaini says:

    My iPhone 4 is disabled and asked to connected to iTunes

  80. love says:

    my iPhone 6s plus is disabled and it not working out
    please I need help urgently

  81. April says:

    I am veryyy mad ! My child pressed the wrong passcode too many times on my phone and disabled it to connect to iTunes stage . I’m very sad cried all week because all her baby pictures And videos are on there she’s only 8 months old and I am very very upset. Her memories mean everything to me she is my baby and now all her memories are gone. Stupid iPhone I hope one day technology can reverse its protocol because I saved the phone in a safe spot in hopes that one day I can see her videos and pictures again. I am very sad. My only daughter and I took pictures every single day of her since she was born. I do not recommend iPhone I have switched to a Samsung now. Please Apple I hope you can one day upgrade your technology. I would love to have my baby’s pictures back

    • Gogoen says:

      Connect the iPhone to iTunes and enter the passcode to unlock the iPhone, as instructed

      You can take it to Apple Store they can help you too it is their job, they are paid for that help

  82. Alexander Quaicoe says:

    My iphone S is disable, connect to itunes, so how can i hard restart my phone .

  83. Lesley says:

    I have just done the same my phone was acting up so I turned it off and on but when it came back on it said iPhone disabled connect to iTunes 😡😡😡 iPhones are the worst phone ever

  84. Jasveer says:

    My iphone4 is disabled after i filled up wrong pass too many times now i says connect to itunes,my phn is not connected to wifi so cant connect to itunes.i remember my pass now.how can i enable it to enter the pass for last time.

  85. Adam says:

    We have the iPhone4s and it has not been synced with a computer it is not disabled is there a way to get it back?

  86. Paul says:

    I’m locked out of my iPhone it says disabled and I don’t know how it happened it must be from my pocket

  87. Candice says:

    My daughter’s iphone5 is now disabled and states go to iTunes. First of all, her password was her birthday and it was never entered incorrectly. This stupid crap happened after an update so to those people that say “simply enter the correct password”……i’d Like to simply tell them to go $&@; yourself

    • Cris says:

      I have the same case :( and I am sure of my passcode as I was able to register new ios ipad device to my account when it asks for my “iphone” passcode (the one disabled) to register it. Still, after iphone ios update (instead or restore), it wont recognize my correct passcode. Any help please? Thank you.

    • matthew says:

      the same thing happened to me! there is a great shop in uxbridge that does it really cheap(5 quid) it’s in the intu.

  88. Jolita says:

    You don’t have to use it. You can opt not to.

  89. Hairyballz says:

    Not necessarily a generation issue and blaming someone else. Computers go bad, we upgrade to newer computers as time passes, and I keep my older phones. So what happens if I no longer have the computer that the phone was last synced to.. hopefully it works with a computer that the phone has never been synced to before. If it doesn’t then it’s a pretty retarded thing Apple did especially when they only offer 2 megabits of free iCloud (Sarcasm). which is not even enough storage to back up a fully loaded device, and after your phone self destructs from syncing to a computer you’ve never synced to before you cant even get all your stuff back from that microscopic iCloud.

  90. Steve says:

    So, you couldn’t remember your passcode but it’s Apple that is stupid??That’s what I love about this generation, the lack of responsibility is always someone else’s fault!

  91. Kris says:

    My husband has same phone and same situation. Randomly popped up and lovked him out

  92. Dennis Beris says:

    My I phone 7 is disabled and I don’t have i tunes password . Also how do I use emergency call. Or to whom I should make that emergency call?

  93. Dinesh kumar says:

    I don’t have computer. My iPhone 5s disabled what I do without itune

  94. Farouk Abdulghani says:

    The self-destruct mode should be something you have to opt into not a built in “feature”
    I’ve just lost irreplaceable because I’m force to have a security feature I don’t want.

  95. Aliyah Abdi says:

    I’m have problems my iPhone 6s Plus

  96. Albert says:

    my iphone 5s is disabled and i want to reset it using itunes but the iphone is not recognised by my computer. i did not manually switch on usb accessories so i have no access to the iphone. which other way can i set the usb accessories?. please help me.

  97. Robert Charles says:

    I pluggged my iPhone in to the same charger I have used to charge it for the last 5 years and then went to bed. When I awoke, the phone was disabled….and was told on the phone that I needed to attach it to itunes to make it work again. I have not done that yet as I am scouring the internet trying to find solutions and reasons why my phone would just arbitrarily stop working like this.
    Lord knows how this will turn out…obviously a good amount of my time will be spent trying to get my phone to work. Itunes? Who uses that crap? Why would a phone not work without a computer anyway? I’ve been waiting for the phone to stop working so I can finally change to android as my wife did a few years ago…..this may be the straw that breaks the camels back. It’s hard to find a good reason to continue using an apple product. There are far too many reasons not to use it.

    • j wilder says:

      i totally agree !! This iPhone disabled problem is awful, time consuming and just plain STUPID the way it is now.

    • Cindy says:

      Agree, this same thing happened to me. Ridiculous. When I woke up my iphone was disabled just like that!! Now a trip to the Apple Store to help since I have exhausted all resources on line to fix. Had to download itunes to try and resolve, this did not work..
      Very time consuming!!! So angry with this situation.

    • Sandy says:

      I have an iPhone 8S Plus. I started with iPhone 4 and have never had all of the issues displayed here. I have iTunes as it is just the same as having an external hard drive for your PC or laptop. It is a backup program so that when you do have issues, you always have a back up to restore your phone. I bet you don’t back up your computer either! I know so many people who do not do this and it makes me cringe! To think people do not make backups for their photos and documents is just wrong! Then when something does happen, they gripe and complain about Apple. It is not always Apple’s fault. I keep mine up to date and each time I back it up after new updates. I have NEVER had an issue with my iPhones!

  98. Will says:

    So it tells me to to hit sync after I hook my disabled iPhone 6 and bring up iTunes. There is a problem. My sync is greyed out where I can’t do it. So what do I do now??

  99. Prince says:

    My iphone got disabled and says connect to iTunes, I dont use passcode, just finger ID, so couldn’t remember my passcode and now it is locked forever,, I have 115 GB of very important data to me and now i am forced to delete everything, I got super angry and realised that Apple company are the most stupid guys on earth for not having a way to solve such issue without losing data, they could have found a way like to ask specific questions which a person knows their answer as in security questions,, I’m really so angry in a way that I will pray for God to let this company get broken every day, I’m so much disappointed from this stupid phones.

  100. Naveed says:

    Hello! LCD and some circuitry of my iphone 5s got damaged and it kept on entering wrong passwords itself hence iphone is disabled. I never used itunes. when I access of icloud from laptop, it asks to enter code sent on (disabled) iphone. solution plz? I know the passcode

    • OCJ says:

      If the iPhone is disabled with the iTunes logo on the screen then you’ll still need to connect the iPhone to a computer with iTunes.

      It sounds like the issue you’re experiencing with that code is for two-factor authentication. You might also get that code from a Mac if you also use a Mac with two-factor auth for the Apple ID.

  101. hanah says:

    I found my phone disabled saying ‘iPhone is disabled connect to iTunes’. I know the passcode but have not backed my phone up. Is there any way that I can access my photos, other data and unlock the phone without erasing its memory.

    • Branton says:

      I did the same thing – I know the passcode but hadn’t backed the phone up to any computer that is still working. Have you gotten any help or found any solutions on your posted question?

      Thanks!

    • Alexandria Bailey says:

      My Iphone 7 was completely dead, so I plugged it in and waited for it to be on 100% then, I turned it on tried the passcode once and it disabled it for an hour. Then once the hour was up, I retried the passcode and it said it was wrong, so it had told me to connect it to Itunes. I have an Apple computer, and my phone will not connect to Itunes on it.

  102. Richard Lewis says:

    I don’t own a laptop or a computer and I need to get into iTunes after my phone was disabled after numerous attempted tries.
    Can you let me know what i have to do to unlock my iPhone whilst it’s saying to me to connect to iTunes when I don’t own a laptop or a computer and I don’t have an iTunes account to log into.

    • Reece Lee says:

      It doesnt have to be your laptop. Easiest way to do it would be to put your device into recovery mode. (See apples website for this as it varies dependent on which device you have)

      Then use a friends laptop to install iTunes, and restore your iDevice to the latest software

  103. James says:

    My wife has brain cancer. She disabled her phone by continuous trying. I her husband have the passcode/pin and her icloud account but the only option apple offers is throwing away all her pictures or use a non-existent backup. She wants her phone back AND her photos.

    This is not a privacy issue. Securing me from my own data is wrong!

  104. nathan says:

    my iphone 1 is disabled and i dont have a computer

  105. ferrer says:

    The iphone 5 that was given to me by my bf was disabled…and we cant remember the password that he put…it says there “connect to itunes”..what will i do

  106. Carolyn nicholas says:

    I am dumping my iphones. I will never use an apple product again!!their attitude is f the customer and so rude on the phone. Without my phone for weeks for poor reasons and
    Policies. You can keep your stupid phones.

  107. Bob says:

    iPhone is disable like a nightmare
    Why apple doesn’t make easy way to unlocked it and not to lose our worthy data and memories ???
    Why we have to fix it by other developers!
    Even when we connect the device to our pc’s still it can’t be read by our pc’s unless we use other providers applications???

  108. Zeba Noor says:

    i have forgotten my password and it says that because of some security reasons it is locked and i mistakenly activated find my Iphone when i use to use it and i am trying to fix it from 2 years and everyday but i finally got this

  109. Annoyed says:

    Great – my work phone is wrecked – I didn’t change my code and now it no longer works for no apparent reason (corrupted file) have tonnes of data on my phone including 8 months worth of training notes and Apple have lost the lot with their ridiculously OTT security BS. I have finger print security on it but that apparently is not sufficient to open the phone (in case someone stole my thumb I suppose) I never would have chosen Apple as Android is a far superior OS but now I’m suffering from being forced to use one of the crappy overrated overpriced devices. #fuapple

    • Patel says:

      Simply enter the proper passcode and you can unlock the iPhone again and resolve Disabled iPhone.

      Also you can connect to iTunes and enter passcode there too to fix the disabled iPhone.

      I have experienced this too and fixed it that way.

      • danny says:

        ive tried connecting mine to iTunes but it wont register it??

        the phone says connect to iTunes but i doesn’t do anything

  110. Siera Anthrop says:

    my iPhone is disabled and I cant down load iTunes what should I do.

    • ut says:

      Download iTunes to a computer and use that, or log onto iCloud.com and erase it remotely (that will delete all data on the iPhone, it will not be recoverable unless you have a backup)

  111. Ashish Gupta says:

    First off I want to say that never ever buy an iPhone, other Apple products are fine but never use iCloud or Apple account.
    Now to answer your questions, you cannot restore/recover an iPhone if icloud was enabled and you forgot everything. You can remote wipe and unlock your iOS with apple account but your phone needs to be online. To restore offline, boot up iPhone to recovery mode with combination keys and connect to iTunes on a pc. Choose restore and update. A new software download should start and your forgotten password shall be removed along with all user data. It will reset to factory settings. Congrats!
    Don’t forget to switch to android. Even if you forget your passwords. You can revive your phone and recover all the data.

  112. Lauren Edwards says:

    ive connected my iphone to the computer but i need to press trust on my iphone for my laptop to recognise my phone but my phone is disabled, what do i do please help?!

  113. ibrahim says:

    Please my iPhone 6plus is disabled and it said to be connect to itune please what method can be best suited for it please because am in need of my phone and I have forgotten the password.

  114. gel says:

    My phone was disabled. I tried the process you’ve given. But at the end a notification keeps popping up “Software for this Iphone is not currently available. Make sure you have the latest version of Itunes and try again”

    What to do? Please reply. Both my phones are disabled :(

  115. Amanda dennis says:

    My iPhone is disabled how do I fix this

  116. tenayah says:

    I have a iPhone 6 that is disabled and needs to connect to iTunes, it has a passcode. the problem is that the sync cords wont connect to any computer. it is less than 6 months old. please help.

  117. tenayah says:

    Hi, my phone says “iPhone is disabled connect to iTunes, and I have a passcode on my phone (iPhone 6) I didn’t do anything to disable it and I have had it for less than 6 months and I cant get it to work – no sync cables are working – it isn’t connecting to the computer and I have tried different cables and computers.

  118. knii says:

    i have iphone 6plus and i try my own password but it keeps on giving me wrong passcode until it got disabled

  119. carol says:

    my iphone 7plus says disabled and needed to connect to iTunes, but when i plugged in to my computer (with different apple id with my phone’s) but when i clicked to view my account option at iTunes it didn’t want to log my account in, it always go back as “Sign-in to view account information” altough i tapped the right email id and password, it said that “accessing the account store” but still it goes back to sign in my account. and untill now i cannot fix my phone anymore :(

  120. Ayenew says:

    My iPhone5s says disabled for secret y reason

  121. Dana B says:

    My husbands phone is disabled due to myself and law enforcement trying to open it when he was found deceased 😰 I found out the only way for Apple to get it back working is to clear the phone back to the way it was like the day we purchased it less than a year ago. It’s the IPhone 8 and I don’t want to lose the pictures of my beautiful husband and family together that is in his phone. Apple employee gave me a business card for a company that I called that can unlock the phone without any loss of anything on the phone which is fantastic!!! But it cost $3600.00!!!! I’m sorry but I can’t afford it so I’m going to search for another company or person who can do it…there must be others out there.

  122. Cathleen says:

    My iPhone 4 was disabled and says Connect to iTunes; with red banner; it also has a message saying activation may take some time. Apple tells me that if I plug it into iTunes it will wipe my computer and all of my previous photos of my baby!!!! I don’t recall backing it up except perhaps when I bought my iPhone 6. I am just beside myself losing the most precious photos of my son that I entrusted Apple with!!!!! I think a Class Action is in order to compel them to give us back access to our previous data!

  123. Mr says:

    This is enough for me to switch to a android of some type. I’m big looking for a security device. I just want a phone!! Sheesh!!!

  124. Amos says:

    I have reset my iPhone 5s after been disabled then it failed to restore and update what are the procedures

  125. tina says:

    hey man so my iphones disabled and it says ‘connect to itunes’. i tried logging into my laptop but it requires a code they send to my phone but i cannot see any messages apart from ‘disabled iPhone connect to iTunes’ please help me

  126. trini says:

    my iphone 6 disabled out of nowhere and i havnt synced it to a computer yet so i cant log in

  127. Tiffany says:

    I was given an iPhone SE and it was already on the disabled connect to iTunes…i have looked up many different ways but they all say to connect to computer…i don’t have a computer an I wasn’t given the passcodes to anything so I can’t use itunes or icloud on a computer anyways…how can I reset my phone to bypass the message?

  128. Nazim says:

    My iPhone was disabled for almost 1 day. What can be done if I don’t have laptop to connect itunes. Do I have to wait for how many hours more .

  129. Lj says:

    What happens if your phone is disabled for 24,742,468 Minutes?!

    I finally found my long lost First generation Iphone and i found it like that.

  130. Willie says:

    Hello my iPhone 10 is saying disabled after the minutes have pass to put password in it automatically putting numbers that I’m not even touching so it boots me out again plz HELP

    • akblo says:

      Clean your screen, or if the screen is damaged you need to get the screen replaced. It sounds like your iPhone is disabled because of screen damage or screen gunk that is activating the touch screen improperly.

  131. Alicia says:

    i have an iphone 4 and on the screen it says phone is disable connect to itunes and on itunes it says to allow access please respond on your phone im confused on what to do next please help

  132. Marston says:

    I still can t access my iPhone would you mind if u help

  133. matt says:

    I bought a iPhone 6 or 7 and I brought it home and it was disabled. I called the company they said there’s nothing they can do unless I can unlock it and I don’t know how to unlock it. I’m just looking for information how to without doing it through the company or buying anything

  134. Tercio says:

    Have you tried rice

  135. anxious evelyn says:

    My iPhone 8 has been disabled for 6 months now. I do not want to restore it because my data will be lost forever. Is there a digital forensic company we can pay to recover our data? I have not synced and set up an icloud account, my bad. Please help.

  136. Mustapha mussa says:

    My daughter is locked up my iPhone 6 Plus and now disabled connect to iTunes but what if I don’t have computer? Please I need your help

  137. Sukardi says:

    I still can’t unlock my iPhone, pop up appear on iTunes that must enter passcode. So, i use recovery mode to clean install my iPhone but after success, still error with this message “Couldn’t Activate This iPhone”.

    Please help me, thanks.

  138. Leticia says:

    Please the itune is telling me that it cannot connect with my iphone because it is locked with a passcode. that i must enter my passcode before the iphone can be used on itune. I dont know my passcode any more so i want to restore factory setting but itune is not giving me the required pan to do that. Please what else can i do because i have followed the steps to restore but itune turned it down

  139. Comfort says:

    My iphone display a message. Ipad disable connect to itune, and no time giving to me.

  140. Crystal says:

    My daughter is locked out of her iPhone 6 it said disabled connect to iTunes but what if I don’t have computer

  141. Carolyn jocoy says:

    My iPhone is I disabled it says go to iTunes but I have no computer or itunes

  142. Joy says:

    How could I open my iPhone 4s if it is disabled for 24 million minutes?

    • LindaZhou says:

      Try iTunes or iCloud to restore your iPhone. Like that, the forgotten passcode will be removed from your device.

  143. jeremiah says:

    my iPhone is disabled and I don’t have apple laptop to connect to iTunes. please help me so that I can use my iPhone again.

  144. Samir says:

    i dont have an icloud account ive never set it up. i forgot my passcode to my phone. if there is any way possible for me to reset my phone without icloud let me know. i dont even care if it deletes everything. please !! i need to get back onto my phone !!

  145. Lee chen says:

    My iphone was disabled and it says connect to itunes. I don’t have back up but I tried restoring with help of itunes but when ithe about to complete it appears”download fail” and didn’t worked
    Any other suggestions? ?

  146. Ademola Fayemi Adebake says:

    My Iphone4 had berm disabled like 3months ago and I don’t know what’s wrong with it.i can I solve it without iTunes or any computer.

  147. Hailey says:

    What if you haven’t synced your iPhone to any devices previous to it being disable?

  148. anna says:

    if there is any way for me to reset it without itunes i meant to say

  149. anna says:

    i dont have an icloud account ive never set it up. i forgot my passcode to my phone. if there is any way possible for me to reset my phone without icloud let me know. i dont even care if it deletes everything. please !! i need to get back onto my phone !!

  150. Victor Richards says:

    My i phone 6 plus had the disable try again in 4 min after i changed the screen, don’t know why it did that but it did. What i did was i kept turning the phone on after the screen went off (note i did not tell it to power off) the screen came back on with try again in 2 min then in 1 min i did this several time and finally it came on like it should. Don’t know if this will work for everyone but it worked on mine. Worth a try for some.

    • Victor Richards says:

      This is again Vic again what i have learned is if you do get into your phone then go into your settings and turn off your phone locks if you can but you will need to know your pass code to do this from what i can tell. For all of you that read my post you are doing this at your own risk i’m not a phone tec or wizzee, so i will not be responsible for anything that may happen to your phone.
      thank you.

  151. Bilal says:

    Sir I forget my iPhone password and it show iPhone is disable connect it to iTunes now I don’t have computer how can I get it back without computer

    • anna says:

      thats what i need to know ):

      • Benjamin says:

        What’s the way forward to that how can I start using my phone again it’s not easy it sayards iPhone is disabled connect to iTunes am ready to loss all data just need to use my phone again

  152. Hninyuwai says:

    My I phone plus was disabled and touch error and I touch No.0 but it response No. 2. How can I resolve it and how to prevent for further disable. Please.

  153. Ak sarkar says:

    My phone full time is disabled
    Do not give timing option what to do plz help me

  154. Chas English says:

    Chas English
    How can I “Trust this computer (Macbook pro, Ei Capitan 10.11.6)” if iphone5 S is disabled? Is there a way to disable this requirement without restoring the phone? Is there a software that could do it?

  155. mine says iphone disabled without entering wrong passcode , this happened after i did a soft reset by pressing the power button and home button keys & then when it came on it says “iphone is disabled, connect to itunes” straight no up no even timing interval

  156. Marika says:

    Hi so my friend continuously typed the wrong password on purpose and now it says iPhone disabled connect to iTunes. well i did and my computer says that the value is missing. What do i do?!

  157. Jackie says:

    You can search the related unlock iphone topic in Yolisoft.com.
    Do not miss any chance of solving this problem.

  158. Sholeh says:

    This feature is not user friendly at all.

    If there is a ‘self destruct’ option, then by default it should be off and let people decide for their data how to be treated in case iphone stolen or lost. The disabling is absolutely frustrating!!!
    Alternatively, Apple should create a registration process to track owners of an iPhone and as long as a phone has a clear ownership history, provide ways to give the access back!

  159. james says:

    my iPhone 4 is disabled what shall I do plz help

  160. Himanshu says:

    My 5s is disabled. No backup. No itunes . Passcode lost .

  161. vikrant kumbhakwar says:

    My iPhone 4s disabled and no I’d itunes

  162. Owen says:

    I know my passcode, but it says connect to iTunes. Will I have to restore the newest backup or can I unlock it from there?

  163. Darcy says:

    I have my son’s old iPhone 4 or 5 that is disabled and the top button (on/off) doesn’t work. We have an app allowing us to turn on and off but won’t work to do a recovery or restoration. Is there any way to get into it to start over? Willing to delete everything on it…

  164. Wattles says:

    So what itunes would you download to get into you iphone 5s im so confused

  165. Bruce shaw says:

    What does I tunes locked mean? Can I bypass this?

  166. Danielle says:

    My iphone 5c is disabled and says to connect it to itunes. I do so, and it asks to allow my laptop to access my phone, I say yes. Then, it says to allow access please respond to your iPhone. I can’t get on the phone cause its disabled what do i do?

  167. Luca says:

    Hello! If your iphone is disabled and you must connect to the computer, and if you know the passcode you must to power off your iphone. You must open the phone and you will see “try again in X minutes. After X minutes you can write the correct passcode and open the phone.

  168. shamhan says:

    iPhone 4 is disabled …anyone can help me plz

  169. qasim says:

    my ipad mini has been disabled and i’ve forgotten its passcode. So, help me to restore my passcode without using iTunes

  170. Bob Kuzel says:

    Once the iPhone 5S is taken back to its original factory settings can you start over again?

  171. Ferdious says:

    Please can you help me , my husband just passed away , when I got his phone the passcode didn’t work , I tried a few and it now says connect to iTunes, I need to access some photos and his family numbers , what can I do as it is very important I need access to the phone , please can anybody help me , thanks

    • Sine says:

      I’m sorry for your loss.

      You can connect to iTunes and enter the proper passcode to unlock the device.

      If that does not work, your best bet would be to contact Apple, perhaps visit an Apple Store. They might be able to help you unlock the phone.

  172. Parkinsin says:

    Hi I have a iphone 6 which is disabled. I Brought it off ebay (AWFUL MISTAKE) with the accessories. But when I received it it said iphone disabled connect to iTunes. I contacted the seller about the apple ID and codes but no response. I’ve also contacted ebay due to this issue.

    Back to the important question…..what do I do now. I don’t have the codes to restore the phone through iTunes. Do i take it to apple for them to see what they can do. Can they even do anything? I couldn’t care about the data on the phone as it’s not mine, so that can be lost. but I need the phone itself…….someone please help me!!!!!!!

  173. Dalton says:

    I have an iPhone 7 and I don’t remember the password to the icloud and it’s disabled and when I tried to reset it. It said please enter the icloud info?

  174. Dawn says:

    I have a disabled iPod that I have tried for around a year been trying to unlock, it says connect to iTunes.. fine but I don’t have the computer it was originally set up on as it was a friends pc and I know live over 100 miles away from her, and I believe she has also got rid of the computer as everyone has gone onto tablets and smart phones

  175. Aims says:

    I am trying to backup my iCloud on an old phone. It’s an IPhone 4s. I haven’t used this phone in over a year and just remembered some pictures I would like to get off of it. I have now locked myself out because I couldn’t remember the password. Is there anyway to backup this phone without having to connect to a computer & save the pictures/videos that are on it?

  176. Chad david says:

    What if you r not around are have no clue where the computer it was sync to what to do however

  177. Vikrant says:

    I phone is disabled

  178. millz says:

    My iphone 5s is disabled for 23,918,256 minutes please i need help to open it i bought from somebody online now i cant use it

  179. Aubrey Minor says:

    I don’t remember the password. How do I delete everything on the phone? I’m on Itunes but don’t see any buttons to delete. I still want to get on the iphone.

  180. irakoze Frank says:

    Iphone 4 is disabled for 24.690.018 minutes..help me plzz

  181. yeshineh says:

    My i phone is disabled
    conect to iTunes it says what shal i do?

  182. Jan ferguson says:

    How can I get into my iphone4 when it says disabled connect to itunes .?I forgot the passcode to it.

  183. sylvan says:

    How can I disabled my iPhone 4 using itunes

  184. Cindy says:

    To all have problems with there iphones,,let me fixed it…pm me for some question

  185. enock says:

    my iphone is been disabled and it shows that i have to wait 3200 minutes….can i be sure that after this minutes count out my iphone will come back the way it was?

  186. Mirza Obeidullah Baig says:

    I would like to add one more point.
    Your iPhone can get disabled if the screen gets damaged. As this will cause the phone to auto type incorrect pins.

    To avoid this I suggest that the phone be turned off at all times till the screen is replaced.

  187. Sundar says:

    Is there any possibilities to unblock it ..even I don’t need the data in the iPhone .. So how can i unblock it

  188. Sundar says:

    Sir I got an iPhone in seconds . I don’t know it’s Apple ID and password too. And now it’s blocked . How can I unlock it , is there any possibilities.. Please help me..

  189. Irina says:

    I have the message: iphone is disabled. Try again in 24,495,166 minutes. What can i do?

  190. vinod says:

    My I phone 6 plus is disable with a message ” Phone is Disabled” Connect to iTunes. When I am connecting with iTunes in my PC a message appearing that your ” iTunes could not connect to the iPhone ” iPhone (2) ” because it is locked with a passcode. You must enter a passcode on the iPhone before it can be used with iTunes. So I would like to know how I can enter the pass code on a disabled iPhone?

  191. Jimmy says:

    My iphone is disabled for 1 minute but then before the time ended it resetted by itself. Now everything is gone. How could this happen?

  192. bob says:

    I forgot my password. I looked up so many ways on how to fix it but there doesn’t seem to be a way. I am trying to remove my password without losing my data the most simpliest way! Can someone please help me

  193. Erina says:

    I have a HUGE problem. i had my phone OFF “set automatic time” and my little sister was tyring to unlock it. After i got back to my phone and it was fine but i went to settings and turned it ON to “set automatic time” and suddenly it said IPHONE DISABLED COME BACK IN: 1 MONTH, 5 DAYS AND 52 MINUTES!! Can anyone PLEASE help me i do not want to erase my data because i have very special photos on there! Someone please help!!

  194. Jennifer Casteel says:

    My Iphone 4 says “Disabled connect to itunes. My 10 yr old son unfortunately locked himself out of it lastnight because he forgot the screen lock code…We have read about how to unlock it except that we do not have a computer to fix it using USB cord. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated.. Thanks,
    Jennifer Casteel

  195. Ashlee says:

    My iPhone 5s was disable with connect to iTunes by my 18mo old daughter. I know the passcode to the phone but have not backed it up since before she was born (2yrs+ since) and I no longer have the laptop it was last synced to. The hardest part is losing the pics from her birth to now. PLEASE Help!! Is it at all possible to get it open without deleting all my pics?

    • Pablo says:

      Yes, wait until the iPhone is Disabled time runs out and you can unlock it with your passcode without losing anything at all. 5 minutes, a few hours, etc, it will tell you on the screen how long the iPhone is disabled for. The iTunes method makes it faster. Take it to an Apple Store too they can help.

  196. Tevon says:

    I have a iPhone 6s that my brother found he tried to figure out the pin and now it says iPhone disabled connect to iTunes but when we connect it itdoesnt let us reboot it because we do not have the Apple id and password what should we do

  197. Alaa says:

    My iPhone is disabled and gives me message to connect to iTunes. After connecting the iTunes and make the recovery mode it gives me message that there’s no enough space. How can I erase data while the iPhone is disabled?

  198. Jenni says:

    My son disabled the iPhone somehow, I don’t have a computer to sync it to iTunes. Never have. So now what do I do ??

  199. Melissa says:

    My solution is very simple. I just don’t lock my phone using a password. It simply isn’t necessary. I use my laptop for business transactions. I only use my phone for phone calls, texting, taking photos, the map function when I’m driving, other simple stuff, but nothing important that could cause a security risk. If some stranger gets to look at my photographs and also see what friends and family are on my contact list, then I don’t really care. I don’t have anything secretive on my phone. In fact, if I’ve lost my phone, then maybe they’ll call one of my contacts to try to return it.

  200. Steve says:

    Mine says disabled for 3,835 minutes….. will have a go on iTunes… or I could just wait….

    • Erina says:

      thats about 64 hours. Youre lucky, mines been disabled for 1 month, 5 days!! Please help :(

      • Rayane says:

        THATS IT!! Lucky you my iphone 4 is disabled for 24,400,000 minutes which is 47 years so i dont know what to do cause in my country we dont have Apple stores! and i have found no solution except for waiting… sigh

  201. L says:

    So I have an iPhone 5 disabled n tried to erase it that way^ signing into the find my iPhone n managed to get that far but the thing is the phone’s wifi is not on? It says it’s got no service? When it should say bell idk please help!

  202. emily says:

    I let a kid fiddle with mine, and thought the data would be safe since I turned off the auto erase feature. I know my password, and my login, but I didn’t back up because I just use it (4s) as an iPod since I got a new phone and therefore only have games and pictures on it. Even with all the login and passcode, is there really no way to save my pictures once it gets to “disabled, connect to iTunes” ? If so, the ability to turn off the “self destruct data” option creates a huge false sense of security and needs to come with a disclaimer.

    • Paul says:

      emily, the iPhone is disabled until it is connected to iTunes and the passcode is entered. The data is still there on the iPhone. The data is not removed if you do not have the self destruct feature enabled, the iPhone is just disabled as a security measure until the ownership can be authenticated. Read the article to learn more about how to resolve this, it is a matter of connecting to iTunes and entering the passcode, that unlocks the iPhone and re-enables it again – that turns off the “iPhone is disabled” message.

  203. Peter says:

    iPhone 5 is disabled don’t know what to do help

  204. Peter says:

    iPhone is disabled don’t know what to do help

  205. javed says:

    my if one 5 on disable mode how I can fix it

  206. rayyan says:

    My iphone 6 plus ia disable i connected to i tunes and download the file of 2 GB but it is no installing in my iphone i’ve tried 7 times but my mobile can’t installing the file…now what can i do…plzz reply me fast

    • Chochran Van says:

      Your iPhone Plus is disabled, and what? Follow the instructions here on this web page, it fixes iPhone is Disabled message. I have had to fix my iPhone with it, it works fine.

  207. Kere teboho calvin says:

    IPhone just disabled I have to connect on iTunes plz help to unlock this hell of a problem

  208. Pahasara Pathum says:

    My iPhone says “iphone is disable”.”connect I tunes ” but I haven’t computer.please help me unlock my phone

  209. Jay says:

    I have a apple ipod touch an when I cut on the screen says ipod is disabled
    Connect to iTunes. .I have no iTunes or computer to plug into. . What do I do? ???to reset an use my ipod? ???

  210. Victoria says:

    Nothing works. I have tried everything that I have been able to find for the past 3 days.
    Unable to detect the phone when plugged in. Unable to connect to iTunes. Unable to restore. Unable to complete the master restore. Just locked for 24 million minutes.
    I have really learnt to hate apple products. Charged ridiculous amounts for every small feature/gadget. Having to go and find one of the stores to able to fix a problem that appears to be common is just irritating.

  211. Hridoy says:

    I hv iphone 5s…it has icloud lock..i try to open lock via itune…bt my computer accept cable,bt the itune apps cant find the cable…what can i do now????

  212. Zack says:

    So does using a previous backup erase current data or allow the current data to be accessed? Ex: Last backup is 6 days ago but I’m on vacation and have taken a lot of photos since. iPhone is disabled, says connect to itunes. If I use a backup does this allow access to the current photos or only the photos from the latest backup

    • Zack says:

      I don’t want to loose anything, I’d give anything to be able to access those photos. Wish I stopped trying passwords when I knew it would go into disabled mode as soon as I realized I forgot the new passcode I changed during the trip.

      • Lindy says:

        You can still plug in to iTunes to see if it allows you to back up without entering passcode (auto sync). Unless you could remember the correct passcode, even if its not in the disabled screen the only option is still resetting your iPhone. Apple don’t care if we lose our stuffs, they make sure that there is no possible way for anyone to get your data (through encryption). which is good, but definitely not the best solution for people who don’t back up their phone for many reasons. I just wish they that they make it mandatory to back up our phones or they remove the stupid 10 passcode attempt rule (which they never made it clear).

  213. Lindy says:

    THERE MUST BE A WAY TO DECRYPT THE 4 NUMBER PASSCODE

    I forgot my iPhone passcode. It is now disabled. I went to the Apple Store and they told be they can’t do anything other than resetting the iPhone ( which will erase everything). They said Apple is not doing any passcode recovery incase it is a stolen phone. But the phone is mine. And it has my apple id, credit card number etc. I can prove that its mine. Please help me, I don’t want to lose my stuff.

    • int says:

      Go to Apple Store with your proof of purchase showing serial number etc, all of your info, then ask if they can reset the password for you.

      In the future, do not forget a passcode. It is impossible to bypass the passcode in most situations, that is the entire point of encryption. Otherwise someone could steal an iPhone and then decrypt the passcode and bypass the disabled iPhone, access all data, sell it, etc. Doesn’t sound so good, right?

  214. zardasht says:

    i want to unlock my iphone after it shows disable

  215. SteveA says:

    I’m a newbie to smartphones. Never used an apple device B4. My Mother got two free iphone SE’s via Sprint along with a 2yr contract. The phones were free with the plan offered.

    Well. I don’t like reading directions – from a book. So, began working with the new phone which walked me thru the new phone setup. I mapped in my thumbprint and entered another 8 to 10-passwords and answers to other security questions. Such as your favorite pet’s name, your school, friends, etc. I looked thru the phone fiddling with the camera and video. Looked thru the settings. All I REMEMBER changing was text size. I did not call anyone or add any phone numbers. Nor did I download anything or go to any websites. In fact, I never found the App Home Page. It gets late and my brain is fried, I put the phone down and go to bed.

    When I picked the phone up 10hrs later. I thought at most. All I’d need to do is use it. Was apply my thumbprint.
    Instead of asking for my thumbprint. The phone said it needed my Passcode to gain access to my Thumbprint. WHAT?? How the Heck does a passcode surpass your Thumbprint in being more secure?? Anyway.

    Long story short. I’m locked out and told to use iTunes. If I do use iTunes. Will this new phone’s memory be wiped? Will I lose anything?? Such as the Apps already on the phone?? I only took a few pictures, which I do not care about.
    Points here. 1) This phone is new and should know there is nothing of value on it. 2) Before disabling the phone. Why wouldn’t supposed advanced technology at least ask me one of the other security questions I entered?

    Lastly. Obviously I entered quite a few Passcodes that did not work. I’d have bet money one of them was the right one. What if I capitalized one letter in a code and forgot. Thus will never get the passcode correct. Will i get an unlimited number of attempts on iTunes or get locked out again? Or, best to take to the store?? Thanks, from HOT North TX

  216. zamuxolo goniwe says:

    Help me please the of wafe give my wafe iPhone now want pin of iPhone .iPhone sad locked sim I don’t known what I can I do boss of my wage is overseas now

  217. Julie says:

    I bought an ipad off a yard sale site it says its disabled commect to itunes i dont know the person so i dont know email or password and dont have the computer it was set up on is there anything i can do to fix it….help

  218. Robin Charest says:

    Hi, I bought a I Phone 6 on Facebook and I tryed to get it to work and it says iPhone is disabled connect to iTunes.
    Will that work?
    I don’t have any special codes or anything. My first apple idem.
    Please help. Thanks.

  219. Salim hossain says:

    Hi, I have iphone5s, I never connect it to any computer ,now unfortunately it get disable I want to know how to make it restore?

  220. dark moon says:

    it really helps me to unlock my phone i was dishearted and everyone told me that my deta would be deleted but i saved my all deta even apps too same as previous really love iphone <3

  221. dee says:

    I bought a iphone 4s from somebody online it says its disabled is there any way of undisabling it to a computer it.hasnt been synced.to???

    • Iffath says:

      You’ll have to restore it using iTunes.
      When it does restore, it becomes a new iPhone as it loses all of it’s data and files.
      But at one point during the setting up, it asks for the Apple ID used to set up the iPhone when it was first bought.
      For that you need to know the Apple ID and Password of the seller.
      This is where I’m currently stuck. My little brother disabled my iPhone and had locked my Apple ID.
      If you know the Apple ID and Pass of the seller, things are as easy as pie! :)
      I’m glad I could help!

  222. Iffath says:

    Hello,
    My iPhone 5s got disabled due to my brother and now that I have restored it, I need some contacts off it.
    I don’t have the PC to which the iPhone is synced and I restored it using my laptop.
    How do I get the contacts now? Is everything lost?
    I reallllly need the contact. It’s very important.
    The iPhone was backed up on the PC a couple of times and I don’t know how I can actually get it on my laptop. I’m in an other country and the PC’s back home.
    I don’t know what to do. Please help.
    I tried finding the file on my PC using TeamViewer but, is there anyway I can connect the iPhone to the iTunes on the PC through TeamViewer even though I’m staying in an other country?

  223. austyn johnson says:

    my ipad air 2 is disabled says try again in 26 years and it won’t let me use find my iphone app on another ios device to erase it sayi it will come and do that next time it comes online and don’t have a computer and no apple store nearby what to do about it.

  224. khin aung aung says:

    my iphone 5s was disable due to its screen stuck.will i need to repair the screen first ?we have no apple store,could u give me any advice?

  225. Josh says:

    Good advice! You should also let others know if they restore a backup, that passcode they forgot may well be on the backup too, creating the same issue again.

  226. Lara says:

    Phone says it is disabled and connect to iTunes. I connect to iTunes and a box pops up saying “iTunes could not connect to iphone “iphone” because it is locked with a passcode. You must enter your passcode on the iphone before it can be used with iTunes”. Well I cannot unlock it because it no longer gives me that option. What do I do???

  227. Braxton says:

    My ipod says it’s disabled try again in 25,458,128 minutes. I’ve never seen this happen. What could be causing this>? Also, I’ve hooked it up to iTunes and it says it has 4hrs remaining. Does it really take that long to fix it.

  228. hadim says:

    My iPhone is disabled and I don have computer how to restore

  229. Usman Qureshy says:

    Hi,

    My iphone 6s is not recognizing my pass-code and I know I’m using the right pass-code.

    even its not recognizing my finger prints.

    now its disabled .

    How can I get it back.

    Thanks

    • Zaima says:

      Same thing has happened to me. I tried to download Itunes on my realy old computer but it wouldnt, since it is not updated. Now im in a huge mess of what i should do.

  230. Jennifer young says:

    My iPhone says “iPhone is disabled please connect to iTunes ” but I don’t have a computer to do so … so how can I fix it .. PLEASE HELP ME

  231. Atul srivastav says:

    I haven’t icloud I’d plz tell me how can I unlock my iphone5s ….without icloud I’d plzzzzzzz

  232. william oliver says:

    bought a I phone 6s and befour I could use it the phone it became disabled please help

  233. alx says:

    Sorry to correct an otherwise fine article, but there is yet another way.
    Some people don’t have access to a computer, so they can use the Find my iPhone app on another iPad or iPhone, as follows:
    1. in the Find iPhone app, sign in with the iCloud account that the Passcode-locked device is signed in with,
    2. find the device in question and select ‘Erase iPhone’ (this will attempt to wipe the device and place it in Lost Mode),
    3. after the wipe has begun, you’ll need to remove the Lost Mode, but selecting ‘Remove’ (in the same Find iPhone app),
    4. the iPhone will then start up again in the Setup Assistant, and you can either set it up as new or restore from a backup.

    • Toni says:

      This really works. I was able to restore from the cloud. I don’t have a passcode so I don’t know how this got locked but this fixed it.

  234. Brad says:

    Hey guys,

    So I’m travelling through South America and as a backup my brother gave me his old phone. Didn’t realise after 10 incorrect passwords the iPhone would disable so tried 10 different ones over the lock out period (pass codes like his birthday and old pins). He recently gave me the password out of being out of contact for a while yet the iPhone is displaying the feared “iPhone disabled, connect to iTunes”. The issue here is that I’m miles from home and a computer the iPhone will recognise. So am I screwed or is there anyway I can fix this issues? Can I use anyone’s computer and iTunes to simply wipe and reset the phone? (Just want it for photos to take out on nights out or dodgy areas where I might loose it or get mugged). It’s an old iPhone 4. Any help would be greatly appreciated, cheers guys!

    B

    • gassed says:

      Yes you should be able to connect the iPhone to any computer with iTunes and reset it, it will clear the device though by erasing everything on it, that’s the big issue, and you will need the proper passcode of course.

      Good luck, and enjoy your travel!

      • Brianna says:

        I tried this, and it keeps telling me to unlock the phone for it to restore itself

      • Ker says:

        I accidentally disabled my daughters iPhone 5. Didn’t realize how many wrong pass odes I entered trying to fix her wifi while fixing my laptop. We’ve connected it to iTunes but it just keeps saying to follow prompt on iPhone and there is none!!! It won’t locate because the wifi is off and iTunes keeps saying “next time your phone connects to wifi…”
        This is very frustrating!!!!

  235. V says:

    My phone died, I plugged it in to charge it, when the screen popped up it won’t accept my passcode and I am using the one I set up and entering it correctly. Assuming I’ll have to reset and lose everything?

  236. shannon says:

    my iphone 5 has disables itself and says connect to itunes and reset it but when i try to restore it it takes to long for recovery mode

  237. Phil Somervell says:

    I got the “iPhone Disabled, try again in 60 minutes” message just as I hung up from a long phone call. No swipe, no password entry, nothing. What could be going on?

    • Annie says:

      I hope someone can answer this question, as the same thing happened to me this morning. I am guessing that my face came into contact with the number buttons on the phone while I was on the phone, which the phone registered as repeated attempts to unlock it. Hopefully someone who knows a lot about this sort of thing can say whether that is a plausible scenario.

    • Nick says:

      I had this today. Contacted apple to report what must be a software bug.

      1 hour 6 minute call. Hung up. Ifone disabled 15 minutes.

      For the entire call it was sat on my shoulder. The screen wasn’t ever touched. I find the whole thing mysterious. No chance of mis keying a passcode, and besides, I’m on the fone, live call, why should it be locked anyway?

      For me today, no big deal, didn’t need immediate access to the fone, but let’s propose another situation where:

      You are on a call. You run into a problem and need to contact a family member urgently, life or death situation, you hang up your call to make that ‘non emergency services but a dire emergency’ call to find out you have to wait 15 minutes to do so. Meanwhile your child stands outside school because you can’t call your wife to tell them you are running late or the school to advise the same.

      Fix the issue Apple. I don’t pay hundreds of pounds for a mobile that self locks randomly. It would seem I am not alone in this going by this recent post.

  238. Patty says:

    F Apple. I just had this happen and could NOT use my iPhone to call the hospital for my son who was stung by a bee and is allergic. Apple isn’t even willing to help stop terrorism in this country. Very sad. I am buying an Android phone tomorrow. Apple is sadly unAmerican and missing the boat. Cheers. P.S. – Luckily, my son is going to be OK.

  239. drandel says:

    Yeah, pocket swipe lockout is a problem. I’ve started using a sleeve, and I haven’t had a problem with a disabled phone since. I wasn’t keen on the idea of a sleeve, but I’ve gotten used to it now and hardly think about it.

  240. Jorgebob28 says:

    My cat has fiddled with the phone and I’ve found it in the “phone is disabled” mode. Now I leave the phone face side down when I’m away from it as to not tempt the cat.

  241. Alex says:

    “Hopefully you made a backup recently to that computer, and hopefully you remember the actual passcode for the iPhone, otherwise you’ll have to erase the device and lose all data on it.”

    Well, I’ve heard a case where a father owns the iPhone of his recently passed son, and despite he has his thumb recorded with the Touch ID, once the iPhone has been turned off, the Touch ID does not work anymore and the iPhone requests the passcode that, unfortunately, this father ignores.

    The problem is that he wants to recover the last pictures he and his son took before his son passed, but he is unable to do that.

    This father called Apple just to hear that they are able just to recover the iPhone itself but not the data that will be lost.

    In other words, ok the privacy, ok the security, but what about a parent that would like to recover the last memories of his son?

    I think that Apple should create a “mater password” recovery system that only the parents of a minor can manage.

    No?

    • Prob Dob says:

      Alex, if a parent wants access to a childs iPhone, they should have the passcode. The parent bought the iPhone, it’s the parents iPhone, they should have access to it. That should be worked out between the parents and children. Software should not be compromised to account for obscure scenarios because it will inevitably be abused by unintended actors or states. Any time a ‘master password’ recovery option exists it will be abused. It will not be limited to your case scenario. What would stop the iPhone being accessed in a divorce? What about an estranged partner? What circumstances are ok to access and not ok to? What would be stop the iPhone being accessed in a civil or criminal case? What would stop a foreign intelligence service from accessing all iPhones that way? What would stop hackers from finding the master password to access everyones iPhone they want? Nothing would stop it, that’s the point. You can’t create a hole in software and limit it, it becomes accessible to anyone with the means to discover it, which often includes some 13 year old hacker in some foreign country who wants to dig around in your personal documents for fun.

      The current case of Apple v FBI regarding the San Bernadino mass shooter iPhone is this idea in a nutshell. If that backdoor is opened, everyone and everything will rush through it, it will not be limited to the FBI for a single case because it can’t possibly be, who knows what other bad guys would find the same backdoor quickly and start using it immediately for who knows what purpose. That’s just how software works. It’s a Pandoras box you don’t want to open. Keep things secure. Once you start creating intentional backdoors in encryption it will be demanded for everyone, then suddenly your banking transactions are no longer secure.

      The iPhone disables itself to prevent abuse and hacking, it’s a security feature.

      • JimBob says:

        Yep. This summarizes the reason for no “master password” solution nicely and how to avoid it with a child. And it is exactly what the FBI v. Apple is all about. And Apple is correctly fighting this precisely because it would both set a precedent and create a hole.

      • Sven says:

        Agree that there should be no master key for so many reasons, but do sympathize with the father and son issue. This doesn’t seem like a child thing, but rather an adult with an adult son. I wouldn’t expect the son (or my 38 year old son) to share his password with me. There are options for this sort of thing though, and it extends to numerous password/accounts that might need access. LastPass, a PW manager has a failsafe feature where you can designate trusted parties to be able to access your whole vault. In an emergency, or death, they can request access, and the request is forwarded to the owner. If there is no response in several days, the requesting party is let in. That gives the owner the opportunity to deny the request. You could also just put important PWs, PINs in a sealed envelope to be opened under certain circumstances.

        • jose says:

          this is why theres androids highly customizable, not very secure unless…. you make your own modifications

        • arthur says:

          We have just lost our 37 year old son and apple says we have to get a court order for them to open it. This costs around £2000 so we have no chance of getting anything.

  242. Jeff says:

    My phone isn’t disabled but iTunes doesn’t see it.. Keeps telling me to update iTunes which is already the latest version.

  243. Vinay says:

    Is there any settings on iphone which can disable iphone wake up when it is inside pocket?

    • grump says:

      Unfortunately no, and since Jony Ive and Co decided to make the entire screen swipe to unlock, as opposed to the direct swipe to unlock bar that existed with Forstall and Co, everyone accidentally unlocks the iPhone in their pocket all the time. Hooray for form over function!

      All joking aside, my Iphone has been disabled from the pocket on more occasions than I’d be happy with.

  244. Josiah McGurty says:

    Thank you for sharing all the possibilities for unlocking the iPhone after displaying ‘Phone is disabled’ message erroneously. I found the advice straight-forward, easy to follow.

    • imran says:

      sir i have iphone 5s but in disable mood and i don,t have a email id passward thats why i don,t want to connect itunes or restore or uplade because if i try to do this so i khow my iphone icloud locked sooo plxxx guide me what to do

    • unknown says:

      i was just wondering, say u disable ur iphone for 5 minutes…then u put in ur correct password and access your phone… after u put ur phone down and pick it back up and type ur password really fast to where its wrong will it disable again?

      • Raynne77 says:

        no – it resets the cycle of incorrect passwords and will go back to giving you a few tries before disabling for the 1 min again.

    • sarah says:

      Wait, so if I can’t connect my phone to iTunes on my computer because I’ve never restored the iphone on the specific computer before, then EVERYTHING will be gone? So basically every information and games and the whole thing will be erased?

      • saleh says:

        hello sarah
        I have the same problem.My wife’s iphone is disable and
        And I have not connected to the computer before.
        Now it’s 2 months and I could not do it.
        Pictures of the best moments of my marriage and honey moon on the phone and I really do not know what to do.
        Please, everyone can help me.
        Thank you

    • Vivian says:

      I’m going through this right now. None is working for me. My phone just will not unlock.

    • Randah Sharaf says:

      My iPhone 4 is disabled and I can’t use iTunes. what do I do?!?

    • Avisa says:

      my phone was turned off for a day, i charged it and then it popped up saying its disabled for 57 mins.. ok i will wait.. but after it, will i have to connect to itunes?? i am scared

      • PTB says:

        Did you ever get a response to this?

        This same thing happened to my daughter yesterday. She did not attempt any erroneous sign ins. After shutting her phone down and restarting it, she saw the error message stating the iPhone is disabled and she must connect to itunes. She has no back ups to rely on and is hoping to restore without loss.

        Apple needs to get on this. Clearly it’s a problem.

        • EH says:

          Hi, I have just had this problem as well. I turned my phone fully off and did not attempt to put the password in and when I turned it back on again it said disabled.
          Just wondering if anyone found a solution to this problem?

          • SD says:

            I have just done the same my phone was acting up so I turned it off and on but when it came back on it said iPhone disabled connect to iTunes 😡😡😡 iPhones are the worst phone ever

    • carlos mariscal says:

      (THIS IS NOT A REPLY TO JOSAIH) my phone is disabled but whenever i connect it to my mac the usb charger dosent seem to work on my phone only because my friends connected it to theirs and they have the same iPhone as i do so i used another usb charger and it didn’t work! its been really pissing me off can anybody help???!!!

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