Q: Lost Password to iPhone Backup

Thank you so much! After I tried every password I'd ever used, along with all the odd suggestions (0000, 1234), I just unplugged the phone from the computer and plugged it back in, and now it's syncing all my apps from my backup onto my new phone.

YES!!! I used my MacBook password and it worked. Thank you sooooo much!!!

I had the same problem just a couple of minutes ago, I thought I had never put an encryption password, but I believe if you have clicked it and it asked you for a password, regardless of whether or not you backed it up with an encryption, it will use that last password. Mine was solved by digging real real deep in my old password memory bank.

OK, I think I just managed to get this to work, after numerous attempts at a pretty set stable of passwords I re-backed up my old phone and selected “encrypt iphone backup” which then prompted me to enter a new password. New password entered I disconnected the old phone, connected the new one and selected “restore from backup”. First attempt failed, the default backup to restore from was for “iphone” but when I took a closer look at the options I realized there was a more recent “iphone” backup (presumably the one I had just made). I selected that, typed in the password I had just set when prompted and the sync started!

Granted you need to have the old phone available for this to work but in this particular case it seemed to do the trick!

tmaria wrote:

 

OK, I think I just managed to get this to work, after numerous attempts at a pretty set stable of passwords I re-backed up my old phone and selected “encrypt iphone backup” which then prompted me to enter a new password. New password entered I disconnected the old phone, connected the new one and selected “restore from backup”. First attempt failed, the default backup to restore from was for “iphone” but when I took a closer look at the options I realized there was a more recent “iphone” backup (presumably the one I had just made). I selected that, typed in the password I had just set when prompted and the sync started!

 

Granted you need to have the old phone available for this to work but in this particular case it seemed to do the trick!

Didn't you have to enter the old password in order to use a new password for the new backup? The problem I've found is that once you've ever used a password to back up, that same password will be applied to all future backups of that phone. One needs to know what that original password was to restore from the backups, and one also needs to know it in order to do future backups with either no password or with a different password.

Your description of the process you used suggests this isn't the case.

I absolutely cannot believe it, but this worked for me!!!! I used the password I made OVER TEN YEARS AGO and haven't used since. UBELIEVABLE

Hi,

I also struggled with encrypted password in Itunes as well as the annoying " Connect to Itunes to get push notifications". Tried every password that I could remember as well as many useless "Password Unlocker Prgrammes" which run forever in order to restore. My solution, I simply copied my contacts to "Windows" and copied all photo's and media to DropBox.

Then in Itunes, restore my iphone 4s as new, copy/sync contacts to iphone. Did not worry about photo's/media because it is available in DropBox and it leaves more available space on iphone. Install all my Apps from Itunes on my Windows Laptop.

Hope this will help!!!

out6589 wrote:

 

Hi,

 

I also struggled with encrypted password in Itunes as well as the annoying " Connect to Itunes to get push notifications". Tried every password that I could remember as well as many useless "Password Unlocker Prgrammes" which run forever in order to restore. My solution, I simply copied my contacts to "Windows" and copied all photo's and media to DropBox.

 

Then in Itunes, restore my iphone 4s as new, copy/sync contacts to iphone. Did not worry about photo's/media because it is available in DropBox and it leaves more available space on iphone. Install all my Apps from Itunes on my Windows Laptop.

 

Hope this will help!!!

Google Photos is good for "transferring" photos too, now it's unlimited.

But what about the text messages?

@ctsYee

I just gave it a try and it worked. Thank you

1234 it was! Not sure if I ever set it.

TA_AppleUser wrote:

 

@ctsYee

 

I just gave it a try and it worked. Thank you

1234 it was! Not sure if I ever set it.

You set it. that's the only way it can be enabled.

Lawrence Finch wrote:

 

TA_AppleUser wrote:

 

@ctsYee

 

I just gave it a try and it worked. Thank you

1234 it was! Not sure if I ever set it.

You set it. that's the only way it can be enabled.

It's also possible that someone else backed up the phone once before, setting the password to use for all future backups. Eg your IT department, or a phone store while doing an upgrade or something.

I am also having this issue suddenly - driving me crazy. And it all started after updating to Windows 10 which seems to stop Outlook from accessing my iCloud contacts and calendar - so I have downloaded a program called CopyTrans that is supposed to help transfer from Apple products to PC etc. Anyway - it of course has asked for my iPhone backup password which I do not recall EVER setting.

I have read through some of the posts on here - though not all. I have tried several things - old passwords (that I can remember), no caps, iCloud password, iPhone password, 1234 - NOTHING WORKS!!!

So now what? Surely there must be an answer to this somehow! I really do not remember ever setting this password.

Frustrated

There are only 3 possibilities:

1. You set a password sometime in the past by checking Encrypt Backup. It might have been 8 years ago with your first iPhone, or whenever you got it.
2. You have a company email account on the phone, and your IT Administrator installed a security profile on the phone that requires the phone to be encrypted. By extension, the backup must also be encrypted, because if it wasn't there would be no point in encrypting the phone.
3. The backup isn't actually encrypted, but iTunes thinks it is. To correct this condition reboot your computer. But, as Copytrans thinks it's encrypted also, it probably is.

You likewise have 3 options:

1. Don't use the backup. Set it up as a new phone and manually reinstall everything.
2. Keep trying passwords until you find one. If it's a company phone it is probably the domain password from the first time you backed up the phone. To speed up the process uncheck Encrypt Backup in iTunes and you will be prompted immediately.
3. Try using a backup password cracker. If you are in the habit of using strong passwords this will not work, or will take longer than your remaining lifespan to finish. The only one that actually works is from Elcomsoft, and it is intended for law enforcement work and is priced accordingly. However, the trial version will give you the first 2 characters of your password, which may be enough of a hint.

Thank you so much!!! I was about to drop kick the phone across the parking lot. I hadn't set up a password, so why the **** does Apple require one? Thank you again; I never would have guessed the password to be my admin password.

worked for me too. Thanks for the tip. Seems like a default password that Apple uses to encrypt backups