Q: Lost Password to iPhone Backup

That worked for me, entering the old password from windows log in credentials worked.  Original when I backup the phone I have a different password than I do now.Thanks and hope it helps everyone else.

It's hard to say but you have set a password, try to remember it.

I tried like all my old passwords and one worked then I remember that in the past few years I did protected my backup with a password.

I was also facing the same issue,i tried my very first itunes password as backup password and it worked for me.Actually later on i had changed my itunes password but the backup password was first on only.So suggest you to use your previous itunes password and it should work.

Thanks for the explanation Lawrence. Appreciate the clarification.

I stand by my statement that this is poorly implemented. As you say, it could have been 8 years since the user made their first backup. Expecting them to remember which password it was is kind of absurd -- not to mention the fact that the UI does not make it clear which password the user is supposed to enter.

Why not make it more clear to the user what password is being asked for? If it's an "encryption key," call it that. And tell the user when they create an encrypted backup the first time, "WARNING! The encryption key you choose can never be changed or recovered by anyone, including you -- you MUST remember this key."

Then each time a new backup is created, the user should be asked to provide a new encryption key if they want; if they choose not to, they should be reminded that the only way they will be able to use the backup for anything is if they remember the encryption key they entered previously, etc. Maybe even tell them "the last time you created an encryption key was on Jan 1, 2011. If you do not remember this key, you should create a new key now." (Basically, encourage them to create a new one -- because it's extremely likely that a year from now when they actually need the backup they will not remember what key they chose. Which makes the backup completely and utterly useless.)

Just my 2 cents.

It didnt work for me! May you had set the same password previously as well. So, you assumed your new trick worked.

I tried 1234 too as suggested by someone else. it didnt work too. So , I tried with other combinations that I usually use and got lucky third time. Glad they didn't have set up the limit to try out the passwords. or have they? dont know but surely we are setting up the password somewhere!

Totally agree Dustin!

Thank you so much this worked for me

Oh my bloody god!!! 2 days of research and trials! Look, I know this thread is old, but Thanks Rheylord. It's restoring now

It seems that there's a different solution for everyone. i found that entering my iTunes password without caps worked for me ! I was frustrated for about an hour !

DelleVJ wrote:

 

It seems that there's a different solution for everyone.

That's because everyone who enabled backup encryption entered a different password, whether they remember doing so or not.

Positive!

On Windows is the passcode to enter your computer !

Or , your Windows Administrator Password, gee! almost had a nervous breakdown, thanks for the help!!

hectorphotographer wrote:

 

Positive!

On Windows is the passcode to enter your computer !

Or , your Windows Administrator Password, gee! almost had a nervous breakdown, thanks for the help!!

IT is only if that is what you entered when prompted for a passcode the first time you enabled encryption In iTunes. If you read other messages in the thread you will see that your solution is not a universal truth.

I was having the same problem except that itunes preferences>devices was not showing any backups even though there were several in the mobilesync folder. All the passwords I could have used were not working. I thought it was strange that no backups were showing up so after not having any luck getting an answer to that I decided to uninstall itunes completely, then re-install with a fresh downloaded installer package. After that all of my old backups, including the encrypted ones were visible, AND, most importantly, what I thought my password probably was worked fine, even though it had not before re-installing itunes.

Here is a one way around the password encrypting debacle to restore your device...This may not be feasible for everyone's situation

1. Turn on the old device, go to settings > icloud > back-up the device to icloud. Make sure the back up successful.

2. Turn on the new device, go to settings> Restore to new

3. Once the phone is wiped clean, it will give you an option to backup from icloud, and will only require you to enter the icloud account details

4. end... All is well with the world