Lost Password to iPhone Backup

I had the same problem...3 calls to Apple, no help! Tried all passwords we have ever had for the apple products and the computer..nothing worked! Read on here about a 'password cracker' - paid $79 for it as I was 11/2 days into this problem. What a fraud, do not use elcomsoft.con. It is a sham! Finally gave up...lost all my information! So disappointed in Apple.

I had the same problem that reared its ugly head last Friday.

I wanted to update the iPhone 3GS to newest version of iOS, so we could use iCloud for backup and sharing with an iPad. Since I could not back up the iPhone 3GS to iCloud, I backed it up to iTunes and I DID NOT ENTER a password when it prompted me to for the encryption.

After upgrading the iOS, I tried to restore the iPhone and sure enough it asked for a passcode. None had been entered. This is crap, for Apple to have over $140B of cash in the bank and not be able to fix this is insane. A group of group think losers that think they are kings of the world. How about adding a simple step before you backup that says you will need a password to restore, ie "Do you remember it": "enter here to check."

To those "concerned" that work at Apple: I backed up using iTunes and IT NEVER SAID ONE THING ABOUT A PASSWORD required. NEVER!!!!!!! I did not check the encryption box.

You certainly had the right "work flow" when it concerned the iPhone Screen Lock Password. You try to change it and you are required to enter it before you can make the change. How about that, what a notion, someone in Apple is smarter than the DS that created the iPhone backup/restore using iTunes. Fire the DA.

Here another person with the same problem.

Never set a password for my Iphone backups!

Ridiculous there is no way to unmark the 'encrypt Iphone backup protection' option in Itunes even after you deleted all the backups.

A complete fresh IOS reinstall can only fix it, by that no way to backup, then retrieve all my contacts etc, you serious Apple?!?

Well to my surprise, after I used a brute force password recovery tool for backups, I got the password!

It was 'asd' :S WTH!!!

Right..... I set the password to asd? It is 100% I never set this ridiculous short insecure password

Seems to me Apple messed up, thanks for nothing...

I hated Itunes before, but now more than ever, it's such a piece of crap app

Thanks s lot sersphim it worked for me also

Just use your apple id with all lower case letters

Thanks again

I HAVE AN ANWSER THAT MAY WORK for this random password protected backup (i went through this when I unlocked my phone) AND EXPLAIN SOME OF THE WEIRD PASSWORDS THAT PEOPLE ARE FINDING WORK!!! When you back up your iphone and you click (intentionally or un-intentionally) "Encrypt iphone backup" This automaticly backs up EVERY password that you may have used on your iphone (this is why people are finding that there lock codes are working while otheres say its there apple ID passwords) I suggest using the normal 1234 or 0000 default but then try every password that you can remeber that you have EVER typed into your iphone. I think it randomly chooses a password because i have had the same password since i was a kid ( i have a letter password a number password and a number with letters password) and the only password that I have changed latley to a completley different password was my facebook (which I had the app for on my iphone) and that one worked. So i would suggest using app passwords or even your email password. I kind of think its just randomly chosen out of all the "passwords that have been stored in your iphone" (kind of like an iphone keychain access that you cant access unfortunatley)

If your a pc user I think that there is some merrit to trying your admin password aswell for other reasons that are too long to explain!

Also, for people who are using the "encryption cracking programs"( now I dont know much about those) is it possible they are weird random passwords that youve never used because maybe at some point it was a password that was ACCIDENTLY typed in and saved when you were in a hurry tryign to get into a program (ive done this on my computer numerous times and even though that password doesnt get me into the actual program it still for some reason saves :S) if so then maybe thats the random password your phoen decided to protect its back up with.

thank you!!! it def worked for me!!

have the same problem. just bought a new laptop and decided to backup iphone. then try to turn of encrpt and i have tried everything "1234" "0000" all passwords that i remember. also tried using the unlocker but when it asks for file nothing shows up and i cant find the file any where.

i have same problem i have tried every sigle thing every sigle passpower i have used in my life no luck 😟 will apple will help ??? i have my everything in phone. 😟

I'm a tech idiot.

But, having the exact same problems as described above. I've tried every password I can think of. I too am 100% positive that I did not set an encrypted password and Itunes must have pulled something off my phone.

My stupid question is this: I have backed up my old iphone to more than one computer. Would all the backups necassarily be encrypted? Or is it possible that the backup on my work computer may not have an encrypted password?

I am at a loss. I have no other ideas of what to do. I've tried the password breakers. I've tried every password I have ever used for anything or my wife has used for anything. no luck

Thanks leabe18...this worked for me.

i cant explain how f****d off this has made me😠 i have read so many things saying that 1234 works or your pc/laptop admin password works and all the other passwords i have in my life for fricken everything.......anyway......i FINALLY found something that worked. i put my original iTunes ID that i set up when i got my phone all in LOWER CASE & it worked.

i tried the passcode locks & all the other things reccommended on here & this worked fine

stress over........I NEED A DRINK 🙂

I'd FTP you some single malt if I thought it would work.

I used my original apple id password, from years ago, the one where you didn't have to have capital letters, or/and numbers and they were simple. that worked.

I think there's something in what you're saying, vinky87.

I receently encountered this problem when my iPhone 4S didn't want to upgrade from iOS 5.0.1 to 6.1.3 properly.

I checked to see if I had made a secure backup recently, the latest one was from the 1st of October 2012, a bit too far back so I made a new one. The encryption-box was unchecked and the old, and also ONLY, back-up was not encrypted. After factory-resetting the phone all back-ups turned out encrypted.

How fun...

But after much back and forth and stress and rage, including losing my recent back-up because it was overwritten when I tried to back-up and change the password to something I knew as has been suggested earlier in this thread, I typed in "herpderp" because I had the wrong field high-lit when trying to make a FB-post about this mess.

I pressed enter, and there it was: "restoring iPhone"

Sure, I lost about half a year of notes, information, and photographs and other such nice things, but with the majority (information all the way back from when I got my first iPhone 3-4 years ago) of thigns being as they had been, I'm now much calmer.

The fun part is that herpderp was a password I tried to change my third hotmail account into using, but it didn't accept it due to lack of digits and capitalized letters. other than such I have never used it before, and I know with 100% certainty that I did not have the back-ups encrypted before I reset my phone to the factory-state.

But having read this thread I certainly think that Apple should investigate in possibilities of requiring a hint to also be chosen when the encryption option for back-ups is selected, and then that a reminder of your current back-ups being encrypted and how to disable said encryption being shown before you start backing up the phone next time and all the times that follow as long as one of the existing back-ups is still encrypted.

Yeah, I just had this problem because of the new update and I tried every password I've ever used on my phone and for Apple and none of them worked. On a lark, I tried my first admin login password for my laptop and there it was. I never even set up the backups to be encrypted.