I have found my old iPhone 4S! Can't remember passcode. Is there a way to unlock it so I can access my old photos?

The screensaver is a picture of myself and my partner, so whilst I doubt I could find the original purchase receipt it's obviously my phone. Do you think I could bring it to my local apple store and they'd unlock it for me?


I don't want to factory reset it otherwise I'd just lose all the pics on it, it's more sentimental than anything else.

Earlier iPhone models

Posted on Oct 27, 2023 1:40 PM

Reply
10 replies

Oct 27, 2023 1:55 PM in response to ChristinaGWhite

If you can’t remember the passcode there is no way to unlock it, and no, Apple can’t help you unlock it.


There are many ways of preserving photos and videos. Did you do any of these?


  • emailed, texted or messaged the items to friends or family
  • iCloud photo sync
  • Manual iCloud backup
  • Automatic nightly iCloud backup
  • iTunes backup
  • Transfer your photos and videos to your computer via USB cable
  • Sync to Google Photos
  • Sync to some other photo archiving service such as Shutterfly
  • Sync to Dropbox
  • Sync to box.com
  • Sync to Microsoft OneDrive
  • Sync to Amazon Photos
  • back up to Livedrive
  • Backup to any other backup or archiving service
  • Transfer them to a Flash drive through the lightning port on your iPhone, using a product such as SanDisk 64 GB iXpand Flash Drive Go - Apple


A final option is if you synced your photos to iCloud, you have a Mac, and you use Time Machine to back up your Mac automatically, you can open Time Machine and restore the photo library to an earlier date. To do this on your Mac open Finder, then click on Pictures in the sidebar and launch Time Machine. Go to a time before the photos were deleted and restore

Photos Library.photoslibrary. (If you had ever changed the name of the photo library restore that file instead).


If the answer is no to all of the above your photos are gone forever.

Oct 27, 2023 2:25 PM in response to Idms1212

Idms1212 wrote:

Then how do law enforcement get into it? Because they do.

No, they don’t. Remember the terrorist’s phone that the FBI wanted Apple to unlock for them, and Apple said it was not possible? The FBI went to a 3rd party contractor who WAS able to get into the phone by removing the memory chips, breaking the encryption in them and delivering the data. It cost the FBI $980,000 for ONE PHONE. And the method that the contract hacking company used doesn’t work anymore on newer phones. But if ChristinaGWhite has $980,000 they may be able to contact the same company.

Oct 27, 2023 2:49 PM in response to Idms1212

Idms1212 wrote:

Then how do law enforcement get into it? Because they do. Also, from previous experience, Apple can. However, I don’t live in America so things may be different.

You are not correct and spreading misinformation on these forums is important as users look here for answers to their issues. As Lawrence Finch pointed out, Law Enforcement cannot access your device through a court order forcing Apple to unlock it. It requires software that costs more than a half a million dollars to use.


Apple does not have a copy of your password to give you and refuses to make their own software to bypass the security of the device, since this creates a backdoor and would be forced to turn it over to law enforcement if they had it.


To be clear, Apple will not be able to help and if you had not saved a backup from a location already mentioned, you will not be able to get your photos and the device will need to be erased before you can use it. I don't mean to sound harsh, just want anyone else that comes here to understand the correct answer.

Oct 27, 2023 2:43 PM in response to ChristinaGWhite

If it isn’t displaying a Disabled message and you can find the passcode you can still get into the phone. I tend to reuse passcodes from one phone to the next (my current phone has the same passcode as my first iPhone from 16 years ago, and it is even the same as the passcode for the Palm Treo that I had before iPhones), so you might try a current passcode.

I have found my old iPhone 4S! Can't remember passcode. Is there a way to unlock it so I can access my old photos?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple ID.