In order to increase your personal data’s security, it’s standard that users create different and complex passcodes for different accounts and devices. While newer iPhone models have biometric and facial unlocking, those don’t always work – and you might be in trouble if you forgot your iPhone’s passcode.
iPhone users, like Android users, can forget their passwords, making it difficult to access their phones. Android users can unlock their Android phone password without losing data. And so can iPhone users.
After a few wrong tries, you can see the message iPhone is disabled on the screen. This can be a scary moment, especially if you don’t have a recent backup of your photos or other data files.
If you find yourself in such a situation, don’t worry: there are a few ways to regain access to your iPhone, with or without restoring it and losing all your data.
The “iPhone is disabled” message typically happens when someone enters their passcode incorrectly too many times. On the iPhone 8 and later models, a locked device will display a message saying “iPhone is disabled” on the lock screen.
See how SalvageData can help you unlock your iPhone without losing data.
When it comes to Apple devices, encryption has made it impossible for anyone who does not know the passcode or has access to an encrypted backup file of your device data to get inside an iPhone. Therefore, the only way is to completely erase/restore your device to its original condition once the wrong passcode is added multiple times.
If you forgot your iPhone passcode and it is disabled, you have a few options to choose from. You can either use Recovery Mode, iTunes, or iCloud to restore your device.
However, these options will erase your phone and restore it from a backup. If you don’t have a recent backup, you can remove the lock screen and regain access to your iPhone using recovery software.
Important: keeping a recent backup of your iPhone can avoid several problems and data loss. Make sure to schedule backups of your iPhone in more than one backup medium.
If you have an iPhone with iOS 15.2 or later, you can reset your iPhone passcode from the Security Lockout or iPhone Unavailable screen without connecting it to a computer. Another option is to use a third-party iPhone passcode removal tool, which allows you to remove your forgotten iPhone passcode without having to perform a restore using iTunes.
Even if you forgot your iPhone’s passcode you can still access it with your iCloud account. For this solution to work, you must:
Step 1. Connect the iPhone to the computer and enter Recovery Mode
To do this on iPhone 8 or later, press and hold the side button.
Source: Apple support
Step 2. Hit the Restore and Update option and set your iPhone as if it’s a new one. After that, on the Apps&Data step, choose the option to Restore from iCloud Backup.
Source: Apple support
Select the backup you want to recover from and wait for the process to end.
If you have an iTunes backup, you can recover access to your iPhone after forgetting its passcode. For this solution to work, you must:
Step 1. Connect your iPhone to the computer using a USB cable and open iTunes. If it requests your passcode, restart your iPhone.
Step 2. Find your iPhone on iTunes and then click on Restore Backup. Choose among the backup options and then follow the on-screen steps.
Step3 . Enter the Recovery Mode and let the iPhone restart.
If you forget your iPhone’s passcode but have the Find My iPhone feature enabled, then you can unlock the device from a computer. For this solution to work, you must:
Step 1. Go to the Find My iPhone website and authenticate with your Apple ID.
Step 2. Then select your iPhone from your device list and choose to erase it. Once you erase your iPhone, you remove its passcode as well.
Step 3. After that, restart the iPhone and use the iCloud backup to restore the data.
Third-party apps are a way to enter your iPhone when you don’t have a recent backup of your files. These apps can remove the lock screen and keep your data. Meaning that you can access your device when you forget your iPhone passcode without restoring it.
However, you must be extra careful here. Most programs will bypass Apple’s encryption to unlock your phone. Although not the same thing, it’s as dangerous as iOS jailbreaking since this will leave the iPhone open to several threats.
Even though this is the only way you can access your iPhone when you forget your passcode without restoring it, you should only do this as a last resort!
The Recovery Mode method involves connecting your phone to a computer (Mac or Windows) running iTunes and putting it into recovery mode so that it can be reset from scratch. Important: this means that this solution will delete all of the files, photos, etc. that are stored on your iPhone.
First, turn off your iPhone and then press and hold the button that leads to Recovery Mode.
To do this on iPhone 8 or later, press and hold the side button.
Source: Apple support
On iPhone SE (1st generation), iPhone 6s, and earlier models, use the Home button.
Source: Apple support
After that, connect the iPhone to your computer, through a USB cable, with the iTunes or Finder open, and hold the button until you see the recovery screen.
If you see the lock screen, try these steps again. However, if you can’t make your phone get into the Recovery Mode, you should contact Apple support for further assistance.
Then, find your iPhone on iTunes or Finder and choose to restore it from the options.
Source: Apple support
Wait for the process to finish, disconnect your iPhone, then turn your phone on and set it up again.
If you need to recover your iPhone data after forgetting your iPhone passcode, you can:
Backups are always the easiest and cheapest way to retrieve lost or deleted files. Keep regular and automatic backups of your iPhone content so you can use it to retrieve your iPhone’s data.
Recovering software is a great help when you lose your data. Look online for a secure data recovery software or app.
SalvageData software solutions are secure and free. As long as you have lost your data due to logical issues, you can use our data recovery software free of charge to retrieve your iPhone data.
Simply connect your device to your computer, download and install the software, and then scan the iPhone. It generates a list of recoverable files that you can choose to retrieve to the same location they were before.
After the backup, this is the most efficient way to recover your iPhone data. SalvageData iPhone data recovery experts can safely restore your iPhone data without voiding the warranty.
To change the passcode on an iPhone, you can follow these steps:
Step 1. Open the Settings app, scroll down, then tap on “Touch ID & Passcode” or “Face ID & Passcode” depending on your iPhone model.
Step 2. Enter your current passcode.
Step 3. Scroll down to choose “Change Passcode” and enter your old passcode again.
Step 4. Enter your new passcode.
Step 5. Re-enter your new passcode to confirm the change.
If you want to use a passcode that’s not a standard 6 or 4-digit number and is more secure, you can tap on “Passcode Options” and select between Custom Alphanumeric Code, Custom Numeric Code, or 4-Digit Numeric Code. After making your decision, type in your new passcode a second time and tap Done.
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