"iPhone unavailable" message on lock screen

There is no solution that will save the data on the phone. That’s why Apple gives you multiple ways to sync and back up the data on your phone, including automatic nightly backups. But Apple can only provide the tools, they can’t make people use them. The time for backups is before disaster strikes; after is too late.

And if your phone was stole, lost, thrown under a bus or dropped in a toilet and you didn’t have a backup, that would be Apple's “bug” also? Hardware failures happen from many causes. You need to be prepared for them, or you will lose data.

What caused it is irrelevant. The phone is disabled, and the only way to make it usable is to follow the steps in the related Article at the top of this page. Look all you want, but you would just be wasting your time.

I tried updating it via itunes, then perform restore factory default and it worked.

Connect your phone using the charging cable to your laptop

open the itunes app in your laptop (example is the apple music player)

press the volume up (don't long press)

press the volume down (don't long press)

Long press the power button until you see the apple logo

keep on pressing the power button until you see the charging cable on the screen

then a pop up window will appear asking you to select update the software or proceed to restore factory default option

I tried to perform the software update first, and perform backup recovery - (mine recovery failed) so I proceed with restore factory default.

then it worked.

Hope this helps!

DocBlaq wrote:

People came on here to get insight on how to fix the problem....some people, like me, noticed it while it was charging.

I was not responding to you. My reply was a very specific response to someone else, who described how they used their phone. If that doesn’t apply to your issue feel free to ignore my post. And the way to fix the problem has been posted many times in this thread, as well as being covered in the Related Article at the top of every page in the thread.

I just had the same issue. Laptop wasn’t recognizing even after DFU mode. Took it to the Apple store and they erased and restored the phone completely free. Make sure u have a back up or your Apple ID(iCloud) email and password. Thanks

I had a similar problem. I got there as I had forgotten my password (it's an old phone Xs) and had tried as many iterations of the password as I could think of until the phone was completely locked and wouldn't allow any further attempts at unlocking and permanently had 'iPhone unavailable' on the screen.

I spoke to Apple and they suggested I plug it into my laptop and then push the up volume button, then the down volume button (both on the left of the phone) and then hold the power button (on the right of the phone)) and you will see the Apple logo after a little while, keep on holding and you will see the picture of the computer and the cable. At this point you can take your finger off the power button.

On the computer it then gives you an option to restore and update. I think once you have done this process you can restore an old backup.

Hope that helps

khynaria wrote:

It’s doing the same for me how do I get it off of the screen

If you watch the YouTube video I posted above that will solve your issue, and you won’t have to go to an Apple store (although that is still an option, but much more time-consuming).

That’s exactly what happened to me on my iPhone XS Max 3 days ago. Now I’m here with my aunts phone but hers just says iPhone unavailable and only the option to erase everything. I’m stumped on what to do.

You can do backups to your computer daily, if you choose to. Anything not backed up is gone forever. You can also sync important data to iCloud over cellular data; this is real time sync, so as soon as new content appears on your phone it will be copied to iCloud. Do you have any sort of broadband connection? If you do you can add a Wi-Fi router to it and have Wi-Fi. And you can also get a cellular Wi-Fi device (such as a “MyFi”) that will provide a Wi-Fi network through your cellular connection. None of this will help now, however; it is for the future.

That’s the problem , I don’t have a computer or any sort of broadband connection. The cell signal at home is nonexistent inside and one bar strength outside at best. I had to walk outside just now to check responses on here.

So this sounds like the best option for me-

“You can also sync important data to iCloud over cellular data; this is real time sync, so as soon as new content appears on your phone it will be copied to iCloud.”

How do I make sure it is syncing in the future? If it is - why is a separate backup necessary?

To enable sync go to Settings/[your name]/iCloud. You will see a bunch of switches, each controls syncing of one type of data to iCloud. Note that it is only data sync; it does not include any system or app settings. Backups include system data, app settings, phone settings, and any data that does NOT sync to iCloud. Thus, if you turn on Photos for syncing then photos will not be included in a backup; if Photos is turned off then photos will be included in the backup.

I was able to reset the iPhone after the screen read "iPhone unavailable" by taking out the phone service sim card, turning off, then holding the on button until the last step. The cable was inserted once the apple logo appeared. It took me back to the recovery option.

I'm so sad my baby's photo because I forgot my iphone and can only erase everything! This is such a failure! I lost my photos for years! Time cannot flow backwards, and the same cannot be photographed again! I am so sad! I find it suffocating that the iphone doesn't have a forgot passcode option

It does have a forgot passcode option but since it is a local passcode that doesn't leave your iPhone then you are the only one who knows it so it must be replaced to do a new one. It also has an easy option for backing up the phone.

You last hope would be a long shot that a hypnotherapist could help you to remember the passcode that you set.