Have you forgotten your iPhone passcode? Do not panic. You can probably solve the problem fairly easily. In this article, we provide two ways to fix a forgotten iPhone passcode.
Forgotten your iPhone passcode: you can do this
Thanks to Face ID and Touch ID, you probably rarely enter your iPhone passcode to unlock. However, technology can falter, and at such a moment it is nice that you can fall back on an old-fashioned iPhone passcode. So what do you do when you have forgotten it, for example because you have not entered it for months?
Firstly, it is wise to think carefully before you randomly enter some numbers. You can only make a limited number of attempts before your iPhone is (temporarily) blocked. It is not possible to enter an access code during this cooling-off period.
1. Via Find My iPhone
Have you really forgotten the iPhone passcode? Nothing comes to mind? Then there is no other option than to restore your iPhone to the factory settings. You can then enter a new access code and use the device normally again.
But beware: this solution is not ideal. You have to reset your device and you may lose data, for example if you do not have a recent iPhone backup. In addition, you have to log in again to certain apps.
Is there nothing else for you than to restore your iPhone to factory settings? Then follow the directions below:
- Open the iCloud website on another iPhone, iPad or Mac;
- Log in with your Apple ID details;
- Click on ‘Find my iPhone’ in the menu;
- Select your iPhone once it is found;
- Select ‘Erase iPhone’ and confirm your choice.
Now the factory settings are restored. It is wise to put your iPhone on the charger, as this process can take a while. As soon as the device has finished this ‘hard’ reset, the screen lights up and the Apple logo appears.
You can then reset the device and create a new iPhone passcode. During the reconfiguration of your device, you will automatically be asked if you want to restore a backup. You will not lose any important data.
Also read: How to back up your iPhone
2. Via Finder (or iTunes)
More roads lead to Rome even if you forgot your iPhone passcode. If you are not using the Find My app, you can also restore the device via Finder on your Mac, or iTunes. The former only works on Apple computers running macOS Catalina (or a newer version).
Once again, we are going to restore the factory settings, so you could lose personal data. Before we can resolve the forgotten iPhone passcode, we must first put your device in recovery mode. Do you have an iPhone X, iPhone 8 (Plus), or a newer model? Then follow these steps:
- Put your iPhone into recovery mode by pressing and holding the side button and volume buttons until the ‘Shut down’ slider appears;
- Drag the slider and connect the iPhone to a Mac while holding the side button;
- Press and hold the side button until the recovery mode screen is visible.
Recover via Mac
Do you have an older iPhone? Check out our article in which we explain exactly how to enable iPhone recovery mode per model. Check? Once the device is in recovery mode, follow these steps to reset the iPhone:
- Open Finder on your Mac (Book);
- Under ‘Locations’ click on ‘iPhone’;
- Choose ‘Recover’ and confirm your choice;
- The factory settings are now restored.
Once this process has been completed, you can reconfigure the device. You will be given the option to set a new iPhone passcode. During the configuration process you will be asked if you want to restore a backup. Again, resetting your iPhone can take a while, so be patient.
Are you using a Mac with macOS Mojave, or an earlier software version? Then you can fix a forgotten iPhone passcode using iTunes, instead of Finder. The above instructions remain largely intact, but in step 1 you open iTunes instead of Finder.
First aid for Apple problems
Is your iPhone not responding to anything at all? That is annoying, but it does not necessarily mean that your phone is broken. In the video below, we give five tips for when your iPhone no longer turns on. And does your device hang in recovery mode? Then view our article with tips for when restoring an iPhone does not go well.