Lost Password to iPhone Backup

What about the whatever you were syncing the data to? Apps and media should be in iTunes and contacts and calendar info should still exist in whatever apps you were syncing them to. Yes, you'll lose things like game progress and specific in app data that doesn't have anyplace to sync to, but that's not everything by a long shot.

I understand your frustration but as with the point of having an encrypted backup is so nobody else can get to your data. While you may not remember setting a password for the backup at some point you did and maybe you just didn't realize what it was asking when it prompted. I assume you have tried your various passwords you use for such things?

As for losing contacts, well since you opted not to sync with something it was a risk you were running by choice. Yes you don't have to sync with your computer but there are many options such as syncing with Google Contacts instead which happen over the air instead of having to plug in. Believe Yahoo offers it too but not sure.

Depending on what data you are talking about most of it should still be on your computer. Since each app is different it is hard for us as users like you to give more insight, but if you are talking about some app like for documents that you sync over then they should be on your computer in first place. Apps, music, video all should be on your computer as well. I can guess some apps may be unique to you and have data only in them.

I would just say keep trying various passwords you may of set. And if you are married or have kids that use your computer too ask them to try some of their passwords.

buckeye89 wrote:

1) What happens if I leave the encrypted backup in iTunes and sync the phone as a new device, resoring my apps, but not my data.

2) If I can do #1 above, and somehow magically remember a password I don't remember setting in the first place, could I then restore from the encrypted backup?

Well my suggestion to that is go and locate the actual backup file on your computer and make a copy and store it elsewhere. Thus if one day you can maybe use it you still have it and not have to worry about it getting written over by iTunes as iTunes keeps one backup related to last sync. Not sure what it does when you setup as new device to old backups.

buckeye89 wrote:

I'm not trying to jailbreak the phone or anything. And I understand Apple not wanting anyone to know of a workaround for the encrypted password, if there is one. However, I just want MY data back. And the most frustrating thing about it all is I don't recall ever setting a password to encrypt the data in the first place.

I called AppleCare. They were polite, but of no help. Basic answer was if I didn't have the password, I'd just have to sync it as a new phone. That doesn't get my data back.

Reality of the situation is that, without that password, you are not getting your data back. Apple's security with encryption and such is actually quite good (keychain, encrypted disk images, and so on - all use strong AES standards), and the whole point of it is that, without the specific password, nobody should be able to get the data. Security that can be bypassed, easily cracked, or with the infamous hollywood'ish "backdoor" approach is not, in fact, security.

Sorry that it is so frustrating, but that encrypted data is gone unless you can come up with the password you set.

Did you have an Exchange Account setup on the phone? From your school perhaps? I ask, because one of the things an Exchange Account can do is require an encrypted iPhone backup through the profile installed on your phone, whether you want it encrypted or not. Copy the existing encrypted backup to a safe location, then delete all of your existing iPhone backups(you should only have one). If you don't delete that backup, all of your subsequent backups will be encrypted as well.

Pleeeease HELP me..

I Lost Password to iPhone Backup 😟

i need to restore all my numbers, photoes, notes from the backup file 😟

help me please... what to do now ??

If you don't have the password, there is no way around it. It's encrypted. Passwords serve a purpose. If it was easy to bypass them, there wouldn't be much point, would there?

If you don't know the password, you're not going to get access to that backup unless you remember it.

Go back one page and read the first reply of this thread by wjosten.

The backup is AES 128bit encrypted as is the password, which means no simple download of some cheap password cracker software is going to help at all. Bottom line is if you cannot remember the password (you did not "lose" anything, you forgot it), your backup is useless to you.

I am having an IDENTICLE problem. Updated my software, required no password for backup. I disabled all of my passwords just a few weeks ago, but even the ones I was using aren't working. (I have over 600 pictures that are about to be gone, and I'm very angry about it.)

I firmly believe that this is a real problem and he hasnt just "forgotten" the password. I keep up with my stuff. I wouldn't forget something like this. (plus, I use one of 4 passwords for everything--NEVER had any exceptions even for my phone.) there is a glitch somewhere in the system.

How about the situation that one does not want to retrieve the backup but simply want to make a new backup without using a passwrd, i.e. getting rid of the backups that do contain a password and simply make a new backup without a password.