Activation lock

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Please1928 Author

Level 1

8 points

Activation lock

Has anyone ever successfully completed account recovery? We switched carriers and have been trying since Nov 2019 to activate an iPhone 7 plus but since I forgot the password I could not activate the phone. After waiting 33 days we learned that apple care told us to use the incorrect phone number to recover the apple id. When we called apple care they were sorry but said the only thing they could do was start the process again. We waited another 28 days and today when I used iforgot.apple.com to find out how many more days we had to wait, the process started all over again. Now we are waiting another 4 days to find out how many more days we have to wait. When I called apple care I was informed that you cannot use iforgot.apple.com on more than one device. The first device you use to check the status of the account recovery process is the only device you can use. I asked apple care why I was not informed of this restriction and they indicated that this is their process. I am afraid that I am going to have to wait another 3 or 4 weeks only to find that this process will never work. Has anyone ever completed the account recovery. If so did apple send instructions for resetting the password on the disabled apple id in text? I do not understand why this process takes so long. Apple has explained on several occasions that they are protecting my data which I appreciate - I just can’t understand why it takes so long and why all of the restrictions for the process are not communicated when the process initiated. Can anyone please help? Thank you very much.

iPhone 7 Plus

Posted on Jan 20, 2020 5:16 PM

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Answer 1

i_rina

Community Specialist

Jan 23, 2020 3:04 PM in response to Please1928

Hi Please1928,

Thanks for reaching out to the Apple Support Communities! I understand that you have some questions about recovering your Apple ID password using the account recovery process.

This article will provides you with details of ways you can reset your Apple ID password, as well as what you can expect during the process: Recover your Apple ID when you can’t reset your password.

Here are the details of ways you can reset your Apple ID password:

"The fastest and easiest way to reset your password is from an Apple device. Before you start the account recovery waiting period, try to reset your forgotten password on a trusted device. Or borrow a friend or family member’s iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch and use the Apple Support app to reset your password.

If your friend of family member can't get the Apple Support app, you can use the Find My iPhone app to reset your Apple ID password on a device with iOS 9 through 12."

All the best!

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Answer 2

Please1928 Author

Level 1

8 points

Jan 24, 2020 4:06 AM in response to i_rina

I have tried everything recommended in the article and have spent many hours on many calls with apple care and still have not completed the account recovery. We waited 33 days on the instructions from the recovery team only to learn that we received incorrect instructions from apple care and the recovery team tried to contact on the phone that was not activated because there was an activation lock and I could not remember the password for the apple id associated with that iphone 7 plus. We were told the only option was to restart the recovery process. We did and waited another 28 days and then made the mistake of using the iforgot link on my iphone instead of my lenovo laptop. We learned that once you use the iforgot link to check the status of an id you can only use that device to check the status - this is really ridiculous to me. When we contacted apple care and they told us since you checked the status on a different device and the process has to restart. We are waiting on the email to tell us how long we have to wait before the recovery team will send the instructions to reset the password on the apple id associated with the iphone 7 plus that we have been trying to activate since Nov 20, 2019. While I appreciate that apple wants to protect my information and I understand that this problem is a result of my not remembering the password for the apple id (that was only used to activate the phone over 2 years ago and to install the where’s my phone app), I cannot believe that apple care can only offer to start the account recovery process and remind me to never forget my password. We have been told multiple times by multiple people in apple care all that you provided in this reply. So far it has not worked and my concern is that it never will. We purchased another phone for my wife and will wait and wait and wait and wait and wait until hopefully we will get instructions to reset her password and activate her iphone 7 plus and not lose the photos - the most important information on the device that apple has taken over 2 months to make sure that no one is able to access. I hope the account recovery process will eventually work.

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Activation lock

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