I found a damaged iPhone and repaired the screen and charged it. How do I factory reset the phone without Apple ID?

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Level 1

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I found a damaged iPhone and repaired the screen and charged it. How do I factory reset the phone without Apple ID?

My son found a damaged iPhone 11 that had a badly cracked screen and no power. I replaced the screen and charged it and now it works! There is no service (SOS) and no SIM card. The phone is unlocked. There was no passcode protection but I wanted to reset it to factory settings. Now it is locked to owner and I am unable to move forward with resetting and unable to go back to try and contact the previous owner. How can I move forward?

Posted on Nov 1, 2023 9:04 PM

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Answer 1

Bob Timmons

Level 10

198,984 points

Nov 1, 2023 9:13 PM in response to CarGuy8767

The phone is in a condition known as Activation Locked. You will need the Apple ID and Password of the person who set up the phone originally to unlock the phone to proceed any further.

The chances that the original owner could ever be found are a tiny fraction above zero. About the only thing to try at this point would be to post notices in the area where the phone was found.

Otherwise, the phone is useless.

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I found a damaged iPhone and repaired the screen and charged it. How do I factory reset the phone without Apple ID?

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