How can I turn off Stolen Device Protection if Face ID is not working?

"Remove This Device" on iCloud gives

"Cannot Remove iPhone. Prepare It for Repair or Trade In?

This iPhone is linked to your Apple Account and cannot be removed while it is online, but you can still prepare it for repair or trade in."

I turned off the iPhone for several minutes, and then was able to use Remove This Device; iCloud's going to keep a handle on it for 30 days.

I powered up the iPhone, and went to Stolen Device Protection, to turn it off. It tried twice on FaceId, then asked for the iPhone passcode. It accepted the code, and showed SDP as Off.

FaceID still doesn't work for login. I rebooted, and still not working for login or for apps.

I reset FaceId, and started 'Set Up Face Id'. The camera gets to 'Position your face in the frame', fails over to 'Reposition your face in the frame, your face is out of view', and sits there. Restarting the phone doesn't help with that.

So, I'll go look for a thread about resetting FaceId, but at least I've turned off Stolen Device Protection, for which I thank you.

sleepyjohn00 wrote:

"Remove This Device" on iCloud gives

"Cannot Remove iPhone. Prepare It for Repair or Trade In?

This iPhone is linked to your Apple Account and cannot be removed while it is online, but you can still prepare it for repair or trade in."

I turned off the iPhone for several minutes, and then was able to use Remove This Device; iCloud's going to keep a handle on it for 30 days.

I powered up the iPhone, and went to Stolen Device Protection, to turn it off. It tried twice on FaceId, then asked for the iPhone passcode. It accepted the code, and showed SDP as Off.

FaceID still doesn't work for login. I rebooted, and still not working for login or for apps.

I reset FaceId, and started 'Set Up Face Id'. The camera gets to 'Position your face in the frame', fails over to 'Reposition your face in the frame, your face is out of view', and sits there. Restarting the phone doesn't help with that.

So, I'll go look for a thread about resetting FaceId, but at least I've turned off Stolen Device Protection, for which I thank you.

You are very welcome. I am glad my advice works. Make sure you turn on Find My again. Regarding your Face ID not working, there is most likely something wrong with your True Depth camera, first review these:

If Face ID isn't working on your iPhone or iPad Pro - Apple Support

If an alert says Face ID has an issue on your iPhone or iPad Pro - Apple Support

If the above doesn’t help, please make a reservation at your nearest Apple Store Genius Bar or Apple Authorized Service Provider for diagnostics. 

Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple 

KliphD wrote:

Guess Ill just add my name to the list of very unsatisfied apple users. iPhone 14 here.  Every once in a while, the Face ID will quit recognizing me and I simply reset it. No issues. However, this time my Stolen Device Protection is turned on and now it doesn’t let me reset without turning that feature off. Well guess what? The device will not let me turn it off without facial recognition working! So I am currently unable to simply reset my Face ID at all.  Sure, I can use my security code with no issues to enter apps but whats going on? The extra security of Stolen Device Protection has me locked out because of failure and inability to reset my ID.  Yes I tried restarting several times and the software is current. 

That would usually indicate a hardware issue.

Shut off any add-on VPN apps, or anything else that alters network access and routing.

If Stolen Device Protection is set to Familiar Locations, turn it off and wait an hour.

If Stolen Device Protection is set to Always, you'll need to log into iCloud to shut it off. You may need to erase.

Log into iCloud.com/find, and remove your iPhone from your Find My devices.

This removal from Find My also shuts off Stolen Device Protection.

Then re-enable Find My on your iPhone, and don't reenable Stolen Device Protection.

Then get Face ID fixed. Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

sleepyjohn00 wrote:

Turned out that a crack in my screen protector was blocking the camera enough that it couldn't recognize my face. I can't blame it.

FaceID is back in business, I'm not going to re-enable Stolen Device Protection any time soon!

THANK YOU.

Glad it’s fixed! You are very welcome once again!

The Apple support advisors told me the same thing. They don’t know how to fix it. I found this solution myself:

My Face ID stopped working while I was on vacation, leading to my phone being stuck on Stolen Device Protection. I went to iCloud.com/find on my laptop and logged into my apple account. I went to my iPhone and clicked “Erase”. The erase button forced a hard reset on my phone, wiping all the data and factory resetting it. When I set up my “new” phone and logged into my Apple/iCloud account, it re-synced all my data from my iCloud back-up and the Stolen Device Protection is no longer on. Since my FaceID doesn’t work, I didn’t set it up.

I managed to solve it by restarting my iPhone. That fixed my faceID. At least for now, so I went directly to Stolen Device Protection and turned it off.

I had to wait for an hour due to their security delay, and then I was able to turn it off.

I hope a simple restart will help some of you too. Such a frustrating situation 😑

I FOUND THE SOLUTION!

My Face ID stopped working while I was on vacation, leading to my phone being stuck on Stolen Device Protection. I went to iCloud.com/find on my laptop and logged into my apple account. I went to my iPhone and clicked “Erase”. The erase button forced a hard reset on my phone, wiping all the data and factory resetting it. When I set up my “new” phone and logged into my Apple/iCloud account, it re-synced all my data from my iCloud back-up and the Stolen Device Protection is no longer on. Since my FaceID doesn’t work, I didn’t set it up.

I have contacted Apple about this, as when set up my new (2nd hand) iphone13 pro, I selected Stolen Device Protection, so find myself in the Face ID issue loop everyone has here.

I have been advised that if I go onto to icloud.com/find using another devise where I can remove my account from the device. This will remove the Face ID link and allow me then to use the "erase phone" feature (without being hindered by the Face ID problem)... the hope being I can set the phone up again from my iCloud, choosing NOT to set up the stolen device function, which will hopefully prevent the problem loop from reocurring.

It may well not help as when Apple ran diagnostics on the phone, it came up with a "Mid Rear Sensor" issue, which is the sensor that reads Face ID... so if my situation continues, it will be a hardware fault and I'll be returning the phone!

I can't tell you yet if any of this this work, as I'm backing up the device first (by hard wiring it into my Mac Pro, again to get around the issue) - but sharing in case it helps others.

Babanu_8628 wrote:

Hi. I have the same problem with my Iphone 12 Premix ,after I have updated at 18.5 stop working Face ID and im not able to turn of SDP.you manage to fix it? thank you

That would usually indicate a hardware issue.

Shut off any add-on VPN apps, or anything else that alters network access and routing. Force a restart, as well. Test again.

If still locked, and if Stolen Device Protection is set to Familiar Locations, turn it off and wait an hour.

If Stolen Device Protection is set to Always, you'll need to log into iCloud to erase it and to release it from your Apple Account.

Log into https://iCloud.com/find using your same Apple Account, and first erase, and then once that erase completes then remove your iPhone from your Find My devices.

This erasure and subsequent removal from Find My also shuts off Stolen Device Protection.

Then re-enable Find My directly on your iPhone, restore your backup, and don't reenable Stolen Device Protection.

Then get Face ID fixed. Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Mooticle wrote:

my iPhone has stopped recognising my Face ID but I can’t reset it because stolen protection is on and that requires Face ID to turn it off

Shut off any add-on VPN apps, or anything else that alters network access and routing.

If Stolen Device Protection is set to Familiar Locations, turn it off and wait an hour.

If Stolen Device Protection is set to Always, you'll need to log into iCloud to shut it off. You may need to erase.

Log into iCloud.com/find, and remove your iPhone from your Find My devices.

This removal from Find My also shuts off Stolen Device Protection.

Then re-enable Find My on your iPhone, and don't reenable Stolen Device Protection.

Then get Face ID fixed. Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple

Princexxxx wrote:

Please did you get it fixed and if yes, how did you?

Shut off any add-on VPN apps, or anything else that alters network access and routing.

If Stolen Device Protection is set to Familiar Locations, turn it off and wait an hour.

If Stolen Device Protection is set to Always, you'll need to log into iCloud.

Log into iCloud.com/find, and remove your iPhone from your Find My devices.

This removal also shuts off Stolen Device Protection.

Then re-enable Find My on your iPhone, and don't reenable Stolen Device Protection.

Solution!! You can do a forced reset in your phone by (pressing and quickly releasing the volume up button, then the volume down button and releasing, then holding the power button.) The apple logo will show on the screen, continue holding until you see your Home Screen again. Type in your password, and then your Face ID should work again. Go to your settings and turn off stolen phone Face ID setting to avoid this problem again. There will be a 1 hour delay before you’re fully able to change that setting but your Face ID should continue to work. Here’s a video example of the iPhone reset. It does not remove anything from your phone. Everything will remain the same. https://youtu.be/ja75uFiumNg?si=jpsiYrM6BQNZK4lN

The problem with my iPhone not recognising my face was as simple as needing to wipe the black bar at the top of the screen with a clean cloth! Thank you Apple Support who I phoned for help.

So the solution is to create icloud backup first and then login on find my device on browser of pc laptop or other phone, erase the phone from there and voila everything works. Remember your email and pass as next time itll turn in after erase itll ask for last email and password on device..

cheers

Giotheruzz wrote:

I’m having the exact same problem and it’s like apple doesn’t pay attention to any of these comments.

Apple isn’t here. this is a user-to-user forum.

Shut off any add-on VPN apps, or anything else that alters network access and routing.

If Stolen Device Protection is set to Familiar Locations, turn it off and wait an hour.

If Stolen Device Protection is set to Always, you'll need to log into iCloud to shut it off.

Log into iCloud.com/find, and remove your iPhone from your Find My devices.

This removal from Find My also shuts off Stolen Device Protection.

Then re-enable Find My on your iPhone, and don't reenable Stolen Device Protection.

Then get Face ID fixed. Genius Bar Reservation and Apple Support Options - Apple