HT201263: If you can't update or restore your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

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MBeckett1
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: iCloud email deleted, apple id email changed, can't log out of iCloud

I did a recovery restore in the hopes that it would disconnect my iPhone from all accounts. After doing this, it still asks for the iCloud information. I CHANGED MY EMAIL on my apple id and deleted the original email account that it was under due to security issues. The only problem is that I didn't log out of iCloud first. It won't accept the password associated with the account (probably because the email was changed, so the account kinda no longer exists) and I can't change the email on the iCloud section on my phone to log in, so my phone is now useless. (I restored it through the recovery restore and now I can do emergency calls, change the wifi settings, and start over only. I can't try to change accounts.) Is there any way on iOS 8.4 to work around the iCloud login problem? I suppose I'm going to go to the phone company tomorrow and see if they can do anything about it. I'm going to be deeply upset if I have to get a completely new phone, since I've only had this one since August and they're expensive. I'm trying to recover the original email, of course, but I won't even hear back from Google for a week on whether or not I gave them enough information to recover it (my backup emails for the deleted one were deleted a few months ago because I was worried they were my security problem). Has anybody else discovered any method with which they had any success?

iPhone 4S, iOS 8.4

Posted on Jul 18, 2015 10:17 PM

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MBeckett1

Q: iCloud email deleted, apple id email changed, can't log out of iCloud

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Jul 19, 2015 5:46 AM in response to MBeckett1
    Level 10 (104,074 points)
    Apple TV
    Jul 19, 2015 5:46 AM in response to MBeckett1

    If you mean that Find My Phone is asking for a password to a different Apple ID to your current Apple ID and that ID is a previous version of your current ID, not an entirely different one.

     

    This feature has been introduced to make stolen phones useless to those that have stolen them.

     

    However it can also arise when the user has changed their Apple ID details with Apple and not made the same changes to their iCloud account/Find My Phone on their device before upgrading to iOS 7, or if you restore from a previous back up made before you changed your details and some other circumstances.

     

    The only solution is to change your Apple ID back to its previous state with Apple at My Apple ID using your current password, you don’t need access to this address if it’s previously been used with your Apple ID, once you have saved these details enter the password as requested on your device and then turn off "find my phone" and delete the account from your device. It may take a short while to remove the account.

     

    You should then change your Apple ID back to its current state, save it once again and then log back in using your current Apple ID. Finally, turn "find my phone" back on once again.

     

    This article provides more information about Activation Lock.

  • by MBeckett1,

    MBeckett1 MBeckett1 Jul 19, 2015 6:03 AM in response to Winston Churchill
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 19, 2015 6:03 AM in response to Winston Churchill

    I attempted to do so multiple times, but it won't take the old email/password combination, probably because I deleted the old email off my Apple ID as soon as I had the new one set up as the primary, so the email, I believe, is no longer associated with any ID at all. Is that really all that can be done? I mean, the phone would make a pretty useless paperweight. would my cell carrier be able to do anything about it?

  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Jul 19, 2015 6:05 AM in response to MBeckett1
    Level 10 (104,074 points)
    Apple TV
    Jul 19, 2015 6:05 AM in response to MBeckett1

    It sounds as though you haven't read what I wrote, you need to change it back at my Apple ID.

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Jul 19, 2015 6:11 AM in response to MBeckett1
    Level 7 (26,309 points)
    iCloud
    Jul 19, 2015 6:11 AM in response to MBeckett1

    As Winston Churchill has indicated, follow these instructions to the letter:

     

    1.     Go to Manage your Apple ID, sign in with your current Apple ID and password, and EDIT the Apple ID back to the old email address. This is temporary. Do NOT verify it, do NOT change the password: Apple - My Apple ID


    2.     Go to Settings>iCloud on your device(s) and scroll to the bottom of the screen and sign out/delete the iCloud account. Type in your current Apple ID password when prompted.

     

    3.     Go back to Manage your Apple ID, sign in with the old ID and the current email address and EDIT your ID back to the new email address. You may need to verify it again.

     

    4.     Go back to Settings>iCloud and sign in with your new ID and password.

     

    Best of luck,

     

    GB

  • by MBeckett1,

    MBeckett1 MBeckett1 Jul 19, 2015 6:23 AM in response to gail from maine
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 19, 2015 6:23 AM in response to gail from maine

    Thanks for all of the help. I didn't get a change to actually try that as my phone randomly allowed me to use the new information to set it up again after the recovery restore (I tried both old and new for several hours and it wouldn't work, but it did this morning). When I attempted to change the email on the account earlier, it kept trying to make me verify anyway, but my phone has always been sort of glitchy, so that could be the problem. Anywway, thanks for relisting the article and instructions.