buckeye89

Q: Lost Password to iPhone Backup

Actually, I don't recall ever setting one.  Now however, I have a new phone and cannot restore it from the backup, as there it prompts me for a password I don't have!  I tried all the ones I've used for my iPhone and pretty much every other one of which I can think, all to no avail.  I need the data in the back up.  But I can't get to it.  I've already tried the keychain route to no avail.  Does anyone have any suggestions?  I have a MacBook Pro running Mac OSX 10.6.7 and iTunes 10.2.2.  The iPhone is an iPhone 4.

iPhone 4

Posted on May 31, 2011 9:28 PM

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Q: Lost Password to iPhone Backup

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  • by riptide30,

    riptide30 riptide30 Sep 30, 2016 6:55 AM in response to buckeye89
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 30, 2016 6:55 AM in response to buckeye89

    Since Apple likes to delete my well thought out and informed posts... I'll keep it short.

     

    Make iTunes require the backup password BEFORE restoring. If it cannot not be entered, allow the user to create a new password for this backup.

     

    I restored my iphone 6 yesterday, and instead of forcing me to enter a password, or at minimum, warning me a password would be required, I now have a useless 15gb backup containing 5 years of photos. With a warning, I could have at least got more iCloud storage to do an iCloud backup.

     

    By the way, thanks Apple for removing my previous reply, too bad you don't actually read them for solutions to make everyone's lives easier.

  • by AgileEntrepreneur,

    AgileEntrepreneur AgileEntrepreneur Sep 30, 2016 12:05 PM in response to Jessi Hance
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 30, 2016 12:05 PM in response to Jessi Hance

    You are a lifesaver!

    This worked like a charm! Simple, elegant, easy!

  • by Dustin Hansen,

    Dustin Hansen Dustin Hansen Sep 30, 2016 12:16 PM in response to buckeye89
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Desktops
    Sep 30, 2016 12:16 PM in response to buckeye89

    “riptide30” put it perfectly:

     

    “The fact that these backups are tied to ancient passwords is [completely ridiculous]. Here's an idea... Instead of allowing someone to create a backup while not knowing it will be useless in the future, MAKE THE USER ENTER THE PASSWORD OR CREATE A NEW ONE PRIOR TO EVERY SINGLE BACKUP! … I now have a backup that was just created yesterday that is now useless because iTunes chose to auto assign it an random password I used years ago FOR A DIFFERENT BACKUP.

     

    This is the issue. I should not be allowed to even create a backup until iTunes is sure I know the password for it. iTunes did not ask for a password before backing up. As I rarely ever backup/restore I wasn't aware that one would be required. Had I known I would have taken care of it.”

     

    EXACTLY. Apple needs to fix this process.

  • by prachee99,

    prachee99 prachee99 Sep 30, 2016 8:46 PM in response to nana911911
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Sep 30, 2016 8:46 PM in response to nana911911

    Thank you! You are correct! I was using the current 6 digits passcode but when I tried 4 digits passcode that I had set up earlier..it worked!!

  • by cool4bob,

    cool4bob cool4bob Oct 1, 2016 8:50 AM in response to buckeye89
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 1, 2016 8:50 AM in response to buckeye89

    password not recognised for backup restore, so I checked encrypt box and entered a new password which I input into backup password box then stopped a further backup and everything OK, back up working now.

  • by Hazzie19,

    Hazzie19 Hazzie19 Oct 4, 2016 5:48 AM in response to buckeye89
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 4, 2016 5:48 AM in response to buckeye89

    Hi

     

    I've just had the most frustrating few hours! If only I realised I needed to know my password for restoring my phone through iTunes, then I wouldn't have had this problem. So, I tried the many passwords I thought it could be, with different variations such as capital letters and numbers. I actually figured it out by accident, just of of depearation tapping my keyboard with a password I thought wouldn't have been associated with my apple products, and voila! So, my advice is to use the passwords you could have used at the start of any apple products you have purchased and make a note of them as you go along (distroying the paper afterewards of course). Also remember that you could have changed it to something whilst upgrading the product - I found mine was a password I started to use more frequently rather than historically. Best of luck

  • by okixfer,

    okixfer okixfer Oct 5, 2016 1:18 PM in response to nana911911
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 5, 2016 1:18 PM in response to nana911911

    YES this is what worked!!  The "password" is the lock code you used on your very first iPhone from 2007(in my case) or whenever you first had one!  Thanks so much!!!  :-)

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Oct 5, 2016 1:31 PM in response to okixfer
    Level 8 (38,286 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 5, 2016 1:31 PM in response to okixfer

    I'm very happy that it worked for you, but the only reason it worked for you is because you entered that for the backup password when you made your first encrypted backup 7 years ago. Of the 590 people who posted in this thread, there are hundreds of different passwords that unlocked the backup. For a few it was a screen unlock passcode, but for most it was not. You must have entered it, because your lock code is stored only on the phone, never in iTunes or anywhere else on your computer, and is not included in the backup.

  • by olliedale,

    olliedale olliedale Oct 9, 2016 8:12 PM in response to Lawrence Finch
    Level 1 (5 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 9, 2016 8:12 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

    Totally agree with Lawrence, it could be any password. In my case, it was an OS X (now MacOS I guess) login password from another machine of mine.

     

    Other people have suggested try all your passwords, from iPhones, iPads, iMacs and iPods. I second that. Good luck.

     

    p.s. Apple NEED to adopt the idea of creating a new backup with a new password. Chances are, if I'm making a new backup now it's going to be more valuable/current than any backup I've made in the past, so knowing the password to that backup is far more important than a historic one.

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Oct 10, 2016 6:37 AM in response to olliedale
    Level 8 (38,286 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 10, 2016 6:37 AM in response to olliedale

    olliedale wrote:

     

    p.s. Apple NEED to adopt the idea of creating a new backup with a new password. Chances are, if I'm making a new backup now it's going to be more valuable/current than any backup I've made in the past, so knowing the password to that backup is far more important than a historic one.

    Here's why that might be a bad idea. Someone breaks into your house and steals your computer and iPhone. Your device is secure, because it is locked with a passcode. You have been prudent and backed up your iPhone regularly, so it is "paired" with iTunes on your computer. However, the thief could simply make a new backup with a new password, and have access to all of the content of your phone.

     

    Scenario 2: Similar to the first, but instead the police come with a warrant and seize your computer and iPhone. Under US law (5th amendment) you are not required to unlock your phone or its backup for them with its passcode. So if it's not possible to change your password then your content is safe from prying eyes.

  • by veronicabp,

    veronicabp veronicabp Oct 10, 2016 10:17 AM in response to Lawrence Finch
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Oct 10, 2016 10:17 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

    This is an excellent point.

     

    Perhaps this concern could be addressed by adding a "reset password" option with a 2-step verification?  That way, prying eyes could potentially initiate a password reset, but could not finish it, thereby canceling the reset process entirely, unless one is in possession of the 2-step device.  Hmm... now that I think of it, if they steal everything, they'll have access to the 2-step device as well.

     

    Maybe Apple can give the option to create a separate backup with a different password? That way, you'll have access to the new backup you just created, but the old one is still locked. 

     

    I'm sure there's a solution to this, and probably not that complicated either.

  • by olliedale,

    olliedale olliedale Oct 10, 2016 3:09 PM in response to Lawrence Finch
    Level 1 (5 points)
    iPhone
    Oct 10, 2016 3:09 PM in response to Lawrence Finch

    To connect to iTunes the phone must be unlocked, right? If a thief can manage to steal my laptop, and my phone, and unlock both in order to access a more convenient way for me to do my backups, then he can have the pictures of my kids and emails about ordering products from China... And, if that never happens, then in the meantime I'm left with an easier way to backup my phone...

     

    There's a point when passcodes and fingerprint IDs and passwords have all done their bit to deter someone, and after that you're left with such a minuscule possibility of failure that it isn't worth the effort - look at all these people posting about how they can't access their backups, and don't remember ever setting a password. I bet there are more people posting in here than have had both their laptops and phones stolen and their data hacked.

     

    At some point we have to stop stressing about security because our fear is greater than the possibility of what we're afraid of. (See "The Science of Fear" by Daniel Gardner).

  • by Lawrence Finch,

    Lawrence Finch Lawrence Finch Oct 10, 2016 4:25 PM in response to olliedale
    Level 8 (38,286 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 10, 2016 4:25 PM in response to olliedale

    olliedale wrote:

     

    To connect to iTunes the phone must be unlocked, right?

    No. If the phone has been previously synced to iTunes it does not have to be unlocked to sync it again.

     

     

     

    At some point we have to stop stressing about security because our fear is greater than the possibility of what we're afraid of. (See "The Science of Fear" by Daniel Gardner).

    But all you are afraid of is that you will have to recreate data on your phone. That is a minor inconvenience, and hardly worth forfeiting security for. At worst it is a few hours of work.

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