Forum Discussion
How can I reset iPhone without passcode after locked out?
Got locked out of my iPhone and can't remember the password. Find My iPhone wasn't turned on beforehand, so the usual iCloud erase option through Find My iPhone isn't available to me. I still have t...
Yes—a recovery-mode restore is the normal Apple-supported method, and it doesn’t require Find My to have been enabled. You don’t need Apple Support first if you can complete it yourself.
This erases the iPhone, including anything that hasn’t been backed up.
- On a Mac, open Finder. On Windows, use Apple Devices; iTunes applies to older setups.
- Turn off the iPhone. Connect it to the computer while holding the appropriate button: Side button for iPhone 8 and later, Volume Down for iPhone 7, or Home for iPhone 6s and earlier. Keep holding until the recovery-mode screen appears.
- Select the iPhone on the computer and choose Restore, not Update.
- After the restore, set it up again and restore an available backup.
If the download takes over 15 minutes and the phone leaves recovery mode, let the download finish, then put it into recovery mode again.
If Find My was genuinely off, Activation Lock normally won’t apply. If an account-lock screen does appear, restoring won’t bypass it—use the linked Apple Account or contact Apple with your proof of purchase.