How long does Apple ID password recovery typically take?

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Level 1

4 points

How long does Apple ID password recovery typically take?

My daughter‘s phone was stolen and apparently we wrote down her Apple ID password incorrectly so we are attempting to recover it using ‘someone else's device’

we got a message that said we would hear something in 21 hours (weird) but haven’t heard anything now 3 days. The message also made it clear that calling customer support would not help. The end of the message said that (eventually) a text message would be sent to my device when she can reset her password …. I feel like it is wrong for Apple to just leave people hanging. My daughter needs her phone for work and uses the scheduling app etc. I’m sure other people are in the same boat. We literally have no idea how ling this might take. my friend told me for her son it was at least 30 days. And After reading similar post I’m seeing people waiting 3-4 months- is this for real??? if it’s taking this long for Apple to review peoples requests, I think they probably need to hire more people in this department. And p.s. dont use an icloud email for your apple ID. They want to send you an email to recover password, but if you don’t know your password you certainly can’t get into icloud email either ✔️ last - my daughter was trying to open an Apple credit card so that she could purchase a new iPhone but guess what? They wanted her Apple ID and password😂

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Posted on Jul 8, 2024 9:08 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

shoeluvr13

Level 6

17,245 points

Jul 8, 2024 10:09 PM in response to karie33

Account recovery is a two phase process once started. Phase 1 is the evaluation period, usually 24-72 hours but can be longer or shorter. This phase says Apple is evaluating your info and you’ll get an update after the posted time is over (people mistakenly think it means they’ll be able to reset the password immediately after this first phase.)

Once phase 1 is done it enters phase 2 where https://iforgot.apple.com/ will give you the final amount of days (can be weeks) you’ll wait. On that final day you’ll get a text/email, follow that text/email immediately.

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Answer 2

muguy

Level 9

77,839 points

Jul 8, 2024 9:24 PM in response to karie33

If she does not know her password and has no other trusted device logged into her account, she will need to wait for account verification; which can take a very long time. The moral of the story is to know passwords, write them down if necessary, and ensure accounts have other trusted numbers/devices to receive codes.

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Answer 3

shoeluvr13

Level 6

17,245 points

Jul 9, 2024 9:52 AM in response to karie33

If it wants her to start again something happened which canceled the first attempt.

Start the process again. During the wait period make sure you are also following How to use account recovery when you can’t reset your Apple ID password - Apple Support

“To avoid delays, turn off other devices that are signed in with your Apple ID until account recovery is complete.”

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Answer 4

karie33 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 9, 2024 7:11 AM in response to shoeluvr13

We have gone to that ‘iforgot’ website and it seems to just want to start the process over- She types in her Apple ID and it asks her if she wants to ‘reset’ password. She has not continued, for fear of starting the whole process over again this taking even longer- but YES- it would be nice to see SOMEWHERE- where you are in the queue. And why would this take 3 months??? I just really dont understand this.

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Answer 5

muguy

Level 9

77,839 points

Jul 9, 2024 9:00 AM in response to karie33

As far as Apple is concerned, you have no password (which should be known by the user) and no trusted device or trusted number. There is literally nothing that connects the device to her. Any random person could request the information. Hence, it takes a long time to verify. She should ensure that she has recovery methods on her account at applied.apple.com.

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Answer 6

karie33 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 10, 2024 2:37 PM in response to muguy

We certainly wish we had set up these other verification methods. I guess we thought since she is part of our ‘family’ share that we are all trusted. Life happens and we didn’t know. AND - we did have all of our Apple ID’s and passwords written down- in a safe place. Clearly a mistake was made.

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Answer 7

karie33 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 10, 2024 2:42 PM in response to shoeluvr13

Thank you- we will start again i suppose… but I feel we followed the directions precisely. my daughter only owns one Apple device and so she was only logged in to her phone, which is why she used my iPhone for the Apple password recovery. the message at the end was very clear. It said that we would receive a text message when it was time to reset the password and that contacting Apple support would not speed up the process. There was not any additional information about checking the status. But every time I go to the website everyone tells me it’s basically where we started-

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Answer 8

karie33 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 10, 2024 2:46 PM in response to muguy

One thing I’m really wondering is if because I have the Phone marked lost if that is complicating things? And also if that might be preventing verification? I do not want to remove it from our family share because I do not want to lose everthing in her iCloud?? Wondering if i would? I mean the ‘device’ is not the same as her Apple ID icloud backup-

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Answer 9

karie33 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 9, 2024 7:50 AM in response to muguy

But how long is “a very long time”.

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