This account is locked and can't be used (AppleID is not active)

(Before posting links please know that the general Apple Support webpage leads right back to this error message.)


Today I was helping an apple iphone & old ipad owner, who is unable to get any support for this issue. She gets the following messages:


Iphone Forgot Password Menu: "Cannot verify identity - this AppleID is not active"


Apple Support > Request to Unlock your Account webpage: "This account is locked and can't be used"


I was struck that there was no further options allowed. This is a new one for me.


Can anyone suggest how / why this might have happened? (If not a solution?)


(FYI the account / device owner said at one point they were talking to apple phone support, but then at some point, the rep cut them off abruptly and said there was nothing to be done in this case, as if they had seen something negative in the record. But I can't confirm this or that they were actually talking to apple.)

Posted on Jul 31, 2024 8:09 PM

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Posted on Aug 18, 2024 12:21 PM

I’m a former Apple Retail Store Manager. Please let me explain. The issue is when an Apple ID becomes so compromised that some Apple service cannot be used in the future. An example would be Apple Pay. Apple Pay is tied to the Apple ID. At some point the Payment Network Operators will not approve any iPhone, iPad or Apple Watch with that Apple ID. Apple Cash will not work either. There are other Apple services that Apple won’t permit either.


The solution? Move on and the next time Apple tells the owner to change the password or requests other participation, follow the instructions. Another suggestion, use a long password that is easy to remember. My passwords are easy to remember. An example is pick a favorite author/poet and make the password the first sentence or two of a favorite book. For example,


>>It was the best of times it was the worst of times it was the age of wisdom it was the age of foolishness<<


Charles Dickens — A Tale of Two Cities


Capitalize a few letters here and there, leave out a word or two, add a few special characters and it’ll take an algorithm around a billion years to figure it out.


This will go a long way to securing your future and not having to face an issue like this again.

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72 replies

Aug 3, 2024 10:27 PM in response to Limnos

You’re not understanding the situation. Let’s say I got a phone off of eBay. That was an old iPhone 7. I then create a brand new Apple ID log into that phone and within hours it gets disabled. It is now in the loop where you can’t sign in and you can’t sign out because the account is disabled. You request a reset but it gets denied. We would not have proof of purchase and it really wouldn’t matter because the hardware is not involved it all revolves around the account. The issue is the account getting disabled for what is apparently no reason. Thus the loop is created.

Aug 4, 2024 1:21 PM in response to Doc Crumble

Just helped a family member with this.


Absolutely no reason for that particular account to be locked (it’s simply used for the occasional email to friends) - luckily the emails have a forward still, but they now have to reply from a different address….


Apple support just said created a new account.


Apparently Apple Support Techs no longer have the ability to reset passwords.


Hopefully somone higher up in Apple leadership works out that this is not right. Especially, given that in our situation recovery email and phone are still available and previously security questions were created….


See on Reddit and Facebook there are a fair few people with this issue.


Hoping people can get their accounts back sooner or later….

Aug 10, 2024 1:19 PM in response to MrHoffman

yes, I followed the steps of my employer and the Apple ID I created for that iPhone. Thanks for the tip to contact Apple Business Manager Support, hopefully that worked out. But the Apple ID is not related to the employer cause they have as policy to create a new email and Apple ID. So i created an new Gmail and Apple ID. En with those a get the error desribed below. The Apple Support wasnt very helpfull and made accusations, like did you use your email with activity that arent allowed. Very odd. cause is sad i created the Gmail and Apple ID for business use. To have my private an business account seperated. I did read on reddit that a lot of people have this issue the last months and days. So i guess it is an bug by apple they have to fix. Otherwise I read that it happen to peoples private Apple ID and they have issues with purchases and subscriptions. So that will be a bigger deal. The IT is informed of my employer but cant help either. I did nothing wrong or could have change something. It is on the side of Apple were the problem was created. Cause the iPhone still worked, but the apple ID is still locked.

Aug 18, 2024 10:45 AM in response to Zachyy

Those suggestions don’t work in this situation.


The accounts are locked (for whatever reason) and support seems to have lost the ability to reset accounts to allow password change and user re-access.


With the account my family member lost due to this reason was just simply logged into two iOS devices and two macOS devices as a mail only extra iCloud account (used for receiving academic journals, nothing dubious) and the accounts simply started asking for passwords a few weeks ago - but they can’t be reset because they are locked and support can’t help either. As the OP states it needs an Apple fix, nothing users can do atm.


luckily my relative had a mail forward set up for their lost iCloud account - so they can luckily still receive their emails - that still seems to work, for now.




Contact Apple Support ⇢ Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support wrote:

Let’s get this clear. Your Apple ID is locked most likely because your Apple ID automatically locked to protect your security, in the case that you or someone else might have entered your password or other account information incorrectly too many times. You will have to regain access and you need to reset your password.

If you don’t know your password, you can request access to your account.

Apple ID is locked ⇢ If your Apple ID is locked, not active, or disabled - Apple Support

Contact Apple Support ⇢ Contact Apple for support and service - Apple Support





Aug 18, 2024 1:37 PM in response to jojisensei

There have been multiple major data breaches recently and email addresses and passwords are essential information that fraudsters need to hack financial information. Credit card information on the Dark Web is almost always sold with accompanying email and password.


So yes, this can be a major issue, it has been for years, and you’re just discovering doesn’t make it recent. But combine with major data breaches and it’s not surprising Reddit, Facebook, Instagram etc are flush with this >new< issue. In reality, it’s only new to you and others recently affected. 😀😀😀

Aug 19, 2024 7:21 AM in response to Doc Crumble

There has definitely been an uptick in iCloud security lately.


I spent my Sunday afternoon, yesterday, upgrading my lad's 2019 4K iMac; replacing the fusion drive with a 1TB pcie drive and a 4TB sata SSD, plus 32GB of RAM. Going into Terminal to split the fusion drive, pulling apart the iMac were all - well not the easiest upgrade. But I did it. Then trying to log back into iCloud on the iMac - nearly had 50 fits, needed to authenticate about 3 times against an iPad and phone number (despite it being the same iMac that it had previously, a few hours before been logged in on). Way more than I have seen before. Thought I was going to get another locked account!


The old days of signing in - just with password are gone, there is always some level of authentication somewhere.


Very much a massive uptick over the last time I did something similar, 4 months ago.


However that still doesn't explain why many users have lost the ability to even reset locked accounts over the last few weeks. A little over officious.


Hopefully there is a fix sometime.

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This account is locked and can't be used (AppleID is not active)

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