Like the previous method, you’ll need to turn off your iPhone to unlock it after you’ve forgotten the passcode. How to unlock the iPhone with a Mac or Windows PC When your device restarts, follow the onscreen instructions to set up your device again, restore your data and settings from a backup, and set a new passcode.Tap Erase to permanently delete all of your data and settings.Enter your Apple ID password to sign out of your Apple ID on your device.Tap Erase, then tap Erase again to confirm.When you’re able to, continue trying to enter your passcode until the “ Security Lockout” screen appears, and you get the Erase option in the bottom corner of the screen. From your device’s Lock Screen, try entering your passcode until the “ Unavailable” screen appears and your device asks you to try again later.The steps are straightforward, as Apple explains: One way to unlock the iPhone after forgetting the password is to go for the Erase iPhone option directly from the handset. But this process isn’t automatic as the iCloud backups. These save the settings and passwords of all apps, so restoring will be even easier.

The best option is backing up to a computer and going for encrypted backups. You can back up to iCloud and have an automatic schedule for the backups. With that in mind, you need to ensure that you have recent iPhone backups available so the data loss is minimal. That’s why unlocking the iPhone after forgetting the passcode involves erasing everything.

Whether it’s the police, a significant other, or a thief, you wouldn’t want them to be able to reset your password and access your data. Apple implemented this specific iPhone behavior to ensure third parties can’t access your data with ease. You’ll erase the phone, losing your contacts, messages, photos, and app settings. Reader’s Digest put together a guide explaining your options based on available documentation from Apple for such extreme iPhone troubleshooting.īut all these endeavors will lead to the same outcome.

But each of them involves erasing the contents of the phone. There are a few ways to reset an iPhone after you’ve forgotten the passcode and Face ID/Touch ID no longer works.

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