Can you back up a locked iPhone to iCloud if you forgot your passcode?

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Can you back up a locked iPhone to iCloud if you forgot your passcode?

I changed the passcode to my iPhone earlier this week as my workplace requires that it's changed periodically (8 digit passcode). I unfortunately forgot the passcode and can't unlock my device. My photos haven't been synced with iCloud as I didn't have enough storage but I recently subscribed to a larger storage plan but had not yet backed up my iPhone.

It seems my only option is to restore the iPhone through recovery mode, however, as I don't have a recent backup, a lot of my recent photos and documents will be lost. I'm wondering if there's a way to sync/backup the phone to iCloud while it's locked before I restore it so that I can then restore it from the new backup rather than my previous one which is two years old?

iPhone 12 Pro

Posted on Jan 22, 2022 1:37 PM

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Answer 1

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ezzve Author

Level 1

12 points

Jan 22, 2022 2:12 PM in response to Axel Foley

I checked iCloud and it notes that no backup has been done to iCloud from the iphone. I’m very surprised there’s no way to remotely do a backup, if an iPhone is stolen do you just lose your data? I always thought you could connect the phone to a computer and unlock it with your AppleID as well, however, my MacBook does not show the iPhone in Finder when I connect it

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Answer 2

Axel Foley

Level 10

149,724 points

Jan 22, 2022 1:43 PM in response to ezzve

Shot answer to your question is a NO. The backup has to be created before the iPhone was disabled or before you forgot your passcode. You have stated that you recently purchased iCloud storage space. You don’t think that your iPhone may have created daily backups on iCloud since the purchase?

Axel F.

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Answer 3

Axel Foley

Level 10

149,724 points

Jan 22, 2022 2:36 PM in response to ezzve

I understand that you are referring to the passcode that is used to get to the Home Screen of your iPhone. I also understand that your iPhone has been disabled. You will have to reset the passcode to your iPhone by following the instructions in this guide published by Apple ➔ If you forgot the passcode or if your iPhone has been disabled. You will need a computer to execute this procedure and all the data on your iPhone will be erased.

Hopefully, you have a backup created on ➔ iCloud and/or on a computer. If you do then, you can ➔ Restore your iPhone from the backup file once your passcode has been reset and the iPhone has been returned to factory settings by the procedure in the link above.

If your iPhone or iPad has iOS 15.2 installed, then review this guide published by Apple ➔ How to reset your iPhone when you forgot the passcode.

Axel F.

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Can you back up a locked iPhone to iCloud if you forgot your passcode?

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