Cannot recover my iMac because it seems it is registered with my old AppleID

I had a disk failure and I’m trying to recover my 2020 iMac. After Internet Recovery’s finished it asks me for my old AppleID, but that AppleID doesn’t exist anymore, I changed it a couple of years ago, so it stays in a loop.

At some point it gives me the possibility of recovering it through a SMS code to my phone, when I type it in I got a server error.

Any ideas on how to fix it?

iMac 27″, macOS 15.6

Posted on Aug 31, 2025 1:53 AM

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Posted on Aug 31, 2025 2:02 AM

Ok, I’ve figured it out. I’ve added my old email address, that still works, to my current AppleID, it seems you can have several email addresses associated with the AppleID.


I’ve been able to authenticate and finally I think I’m recovering the data from my Timemachine backup.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 31, 2025 2:02 AM in response to eyanez

Ok, I’ve figured it out. I’ve added my old email address, that still works, to my current AppleID, it seems you can have several email addresses associated with the AppleID.


I’ve been able to authenticate and finally I think I’m recovering the data from my Timemachine backup.

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Cannot recover my iMac because it seems it is registered with my old AppleID

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