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Unlock disabled ipad using iCloud?

My Mom is disabled an in a nursing home. She has an iPad that we were using to FaceTime with her which really helped given we can't visit right now due to COVID-19 restrictions. Unfortunately she had a set back, forgot her passcode and re-entered incorrectly so many times that she permanently locked the device. I had one of the IT staff at the home ship it to me. The screen reads "ipad is disabled, connect to itunes". I've read the procedure here about connecting it to a computer and entering recovery mode. Here is my dilemma. My Mom has her own Apple ID. I know her user name and password because I set it up. Her iPad was backing up to iCloud and I can sign in to iCloud and see that it backed itself up about two weeks ago right before this all began. I have a completely different apple ID for myself and family so I don't want to connect my Mom's iPad to any of our MACs. Is there a way that I can either reset the passcode on my Mom's iPad through iCloud or wipe the device on iCloud but retain the back up and then start over (like a new device) where I can then enter my Mom's apple ID and have it restored from the iCloud backup? Thanks in advance for any help with this one, it would really help my family reconnect with my Mom again.

iPad Air Wi-Fi

Posted on May 27, 2020 12:39 PM

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Posted on May 27, 2020 12:53 PM

You cannot enable the iPad via iCloud. You have to use iTunes on a computer.


When you restore the device using iTunes, you erase it as well. You can restore her iCloud backup after you are done. Using your Mac will not have any effect on her iPad other than to erase it.


Don’t choose the update option in iTunes, choose to restore as new.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 27, 2020 12:53 PM in response to Hypercussion

You cannot enable the iPad via iCloud. You have to use iTunes on a computer.


When you restore the device using iTunes, you erase it as well. You can restore her iCloud backup after you are done. Using your Mac will not have any effect on her iPad other than to erase it.


Don’t choose the update option in iTunes, choose to restore as new.

May 27, 2020 2:34 PM in response to Hypercussion

I can't thank you enough. I saw your reply about 30 minutes ago, and I'm already done. Worked exactly as you described. I used a new MacBook Pro that work just gave me as an upgrade and the iPad was recognized by Finder which gave me the option to restore it to the newest available os version. That took less than 10 minutes. I then selected a manual set up instead of iTunes, answered the initial set up questions and at the iCloud prompt, entered my Mom's Apple ID, password and selected the most recent back up. Despite the progress bar telling me it was going to take 12 hours, within about 20 minutes it was restored enough to restart and be used, it's just updating a few apps still in the background much like it would if I had normal updates to apply. I had really expected all this to take much longer and now have time to tune a few things and make it easier for her to use and can probably be ready to ship it back to her tomorrow. Thank you! I really appreciate the help!

Unlock disabled ipad using iCloud?

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