How to recover a locked account???

I gave my Mom an iPad ages ago. I created a new account for her to not have it under my own iCloud. Since then, she forgot her iCloud password, and so did I. Recently a message with a prompt to enter the password started appearing, and we wanted to get rid of it. To do so, we tried every password she uses, but nothing worked. So Apple locked the account. Now there’s 2 possible options of unlocking it: by answering the security questions, answers to which I long forgot, or via her email, which is LOCKED!!!!!

And there doesn’t seem to be a way for me to reach Apple support from Ukraine. The app just keeps saying “Chat is not available for your issue”. There is no option to call either. I am extremely frustrated and annoyed by this ridiculous situation!

iPad, iPadOS 14

Posted on Aug 28, 2023 11:37 AM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Aug 28, 2023 5:55 PM

Hello,


Try the directions in the article If you forgot the answers to your Apple ID security questions - Apple Support for resetting your security questions:

"Reset your security questions

1. Go to https://iforgot.apple.com/ .

2. Enter your Apple ID, then select Continue.

3. Choose the option to reset your security questions, then select Continue.

4. Enter your Apple ID password, then select Continue.

5. Follow the onscreen steps to verify your identity. The information you’re asked to provide may vary based on your account details and other factors. If you don't get any options to verify your identity, you can't reset your security questions at this time.

6. Choose new security questions and answers and select Continue."


Note that Apple labeled this article as "archived", which means it has not been updated since December, 2021 and may contain outdated information.


If you get a message about not having 'sufficient information', you will not be able to reset your security questions using the method in the support article: If you forgot the answers to your Apple ID security questions - Apple Support


In this situation this Apple Recommended post claims you can reset your security questions after making an Account Recovery request : Reset security questions, required to fil… - Apple Community I am somewhat mystified by that claim since all that Apple currently actively supports is two factor authentication and may just help you with setting that up instead.


The article: About your Apple ID email addresses - Apple Support is still updated and it implies you can use a rescue email (if you set one up -- if you did not, it is too late to do that now) to reset your questions: "If you ever forget your security questions, you can use your rescue email address to reset them. We also send any account security-related notifications to your rescue email address." No details are provided as to how to do this.


If you cannot get any of the above to help with resetting the security questions then realize that several years ago Apple transitioned to using to two factor authentication instead of security questions. Apple has since been persistently encouraging users to switch to the newer security system and your only recourse may now be to try to change to two factor authentication as outlined in this article --> Two-factor authentication for Apple ID - Apple Support Follow the instructions in the section "Turn on two-factor authentication for your Apple ID"


If you can neither reset the questions, nor switch to two-factor authentication, you may well have lost any access to that account. In a Dec. 2022 post by Apple Community Specialist K_Faith in the thread I’ve tried resetting my security question… - Apple Community it says, "If you’ve forgotten your security questions, there isn’t a way for Apple to reset them for you, or another way to access your account. You would need to create a new Apple ID, which also means you won’t have access to previous purchases or data stored in iCloud."


For help from Apple go to this web page and fill out the form:

Media Services - Contact Us - Official Apple Support



Similar questions

1 reply
Question marked as Best reply

Aug 28, 2023 5:55 PM in response to ivanna233

Hello,


Try the directions in the article If you forgot the answers to your Apple ID security questions - Apple Support for resetting your security questions:

"Reset your security questions

1. Go to https://iforgot.apple.com/ .

2. Enter your Apple ID, then select Continue.

3. Choose the option to reset your security questions, then select Continue.

4. Enter your Apple ID password, then select Continue.

5. Follow the onscreen steps to verify your identity. The information you’re asked to provide may vary based on your account details and other factors. If you don't get any options to verify your identity, you can't reset your security questions at this time.

6. Choose new security questions and answers and select Continue."


Note that Apple labeled this article as "archived", which means it has not been updated since December, 2021 and may contain outdated information.


If you get a message about not having 'sufficient information', you will not be able to reset your security questions using the method in the support article: If you forgot the answers to your Apple ID security questions - Apple Support


In this situation this Apple Recommended post claims you can reset your security questions after making an Account Recovery request : Reset security questions, required to fil… - Apple Community I am somewhat mystified by that claim since all that Apple currently actively supports is two factor authentication and may just help you with setting that up instead.


The article: About your Apple ID email addresses - Apple Support is still updated and it implies you can use a rescue email (if you set one up -- if you did not, it is too late to do that now) to reset your questions: "If you ever forget your security questions, you can use your rescue email address to reset them. We also send any account security-related notifications to your rescue email address." No details are provided as to how to do this.


If you cannot get any of the above to help with resetting the security questions then realize that several years ago Apple transitioned to using to two factor authentication instead of security questions. Apple has since been persistently encouraging users to switch to the newer security system and your only recourse may now be to try to change to two factor authentication as outlined in this article --> Two-factor authentication for Apple ID - Apple Support Follow the instructions in the section "Turn on two-factor authentication for your Apple ID"


If you can neither reset the questions, nor switch to two-factor authentication, you may well have lost any access to that account. In a Dec. 2022 post by Apple Community Specialist K_Faith in the thread I’ve tried resetting my security question… - Apple Community it says, "If you’ve forgotten your security questions, there isn’t a way for Apple to reset them for you, or another way to access your account. You would need to create a new Apple ID, which also means you won’t have access to previous purchases or data stored in iCloud."


For help from Apple go to this web page and fill out the form:

Media Services - Contact Us - Official Apple Support



How to recover a locked account???

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