Unable to recover my Apple Account

I have a grandmother In Country B and I myself live in country A. Before I went on holidays to my grand mother I set up an old phone for her complete with her own apple account, as she did not have a phone number yet I used my own to verificate her account. Once in country B I forgot to update it to her new number after installing a sim and on top of that the whatsapp cloud backup behaved buggy so I thought I would log out of her apple account on her phone and log in again. This resulted into the apple account needing to be verificated with my phone number, but because I was outside of my own country I could somehow not receive any verification texts. So now I am essentially locked out of her account despite having access to the password and login info. I tried recovering the account but that somehow still requires a verification text to my phone. What to do now?


[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iPhone XS

Posted on Feb 17, 2025 11:19 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Feb 17, 2025 12:36 PM

While their online support article says for forgotten password, account recovery steps are also for a new phone number if you can’t sign in to update the number.  See "To see, add, or change your trusted phone numbers" at  Two-factor authentication for Apple Account - Apple Support and How to use account recovery when you can’t reset your Apple Account password - Apple Support


When going thru the account recovery steps  you need to first enter in that old number to show you know it. Then when you get to the step where it says it sent a code to that old number select the option most like “didn’t get code” and it will let you continue with your current number.


Always scroll down for additional options in small blue print if the  ones showing don’t apply to/work for you. 


When starting the account recovery steps the credit card is an extra option and not required. (See prior tip)


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/call, follow that text/call immediately. If you don’t receive the text or call, once the period specified in the original email is over, you can still go directly to apple.com/recover. Follow the instructions to regain access to your Apple Account.


During the wait period make sure you are carefully following “After you start account recovery“ at How to use account recovery when you can’t reset your Apple Account password - Apple Support 


  • “If you started your account recovery in Settings, System Settings, or the Apple Support app, you can continue to use that specific device during the account recovery period.
  • Regardless of how you started the account recovery request, you should turn off all other devices that are currently signed in with your Apple Account until account recovery is complete. If your Apple Account is in use during your request, your account recovery will be cancelled automatically.
  • If you started your account recovery request with iforgot.apple.com through your device’s browser, you should avoid using that device during this period. If possible, turn that device off. Using that device might cancel account recovery. "



Similar questions

2 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 17, 2025 12:36 PM in response to arav229

While their online support article says for forgotten password, account recovery steps are also for a new phone number if you can’t sign in to update the number.  See "To see, add, or change your trusted phone numbers" at  Two-factor authentication for Apple Account - Apple Support and How to use account recovery when you can’t reset your Apple Account password - Apple Support


When going thru the account recovery steps  you need to first enter in that old number to show you know it. Then when you get to the step where it says it sent a code to that old number select the option most like “didn’t get code” and it will let you continue with your current number.


Always scroll down for additional options in small blue print if the  ones showing don’t apply to/work for you. 


When starting the account recovery steps the credit card is an extra option and not required. (See prior tip)


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/call, follow that text/call immediately. If you don’t receive the text or call, once the period specified in the original email is over, you can still go directly to apple.com/recover. Follow the instructions to regain access to your Apple Account.


During the wait period make sure you are carefully following “After you start account recovery“ at How to use account recovery when you can’t reset your Apple Account password - Apple Support 


  • “If you started your account recovery in Settings, System Settings, or the Apple Support app, you can continue to use that specific device during the account recovery period.
  • Regardless of how you started the account recovery request, you should turn off all other devices that are currently signed in with your Apple Account until account recovery is complete. If your Apple Account is in use during your request, your account recovery will be cancelled automatically.
  • If you started your account recovery request with iforgot.apple.com through your device’s browser, you should avoid using that device during this period. If possible, turn that device off. Using that device might cancel account recovery. "



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