iTunes asking for password to unlock backup file?

Thank you StratFinger!

I had so many photos and videos of my baby son on my phone and I was going crazy for the past couple of day.

For those who know they didn't set up a password and your itunes password of 4 number phone lock password doesn't work, try the MS Exchange password!

Problem solved!!

Just resolved iPhone backup restore passcode issue after 10 wasted minutes of trying every 4 digit passcode I could ever remember using on my iPhone.

It appears that the password to restore from an iPhone backup is not sourced from any passcode/word on the iPhone and is not necessarily a "4 digit code."

The password to restore the backup is the admin password on the computer that was in effect the first time the iPhone was backed-up. For me, the password ended up being an eight letter/number string I had used as my Macbook Pro password when I first bought and setup the iPhone approximately 1 year ago. My admin password has since changed-- glad I remembered the old one...

I had similar problem. Actually it asked for the 4 digits password of my iPad. But my password begins with digit "0" and when I entered the password without initial "0" (i.e. 3 digits password) it worked. May it can help you.

Problem solved!!

Just resolved iPhone backup restore passcode issue after 10 wasted minutes of trying every 4 digit passcode I could ever remember using on my iPhone.

It appears that the password to restore from an iPhone backup is not sourced from any passcode/word on the iPhone and is not necessarily a "4 digit code."

The password to restore the backup is the admin password on the computer that was in effect the first time the iPhone was backed-up. For me, the password ended up being an eight letter/number string I had used as my Macbook Pro password when I first bought and setup the iPhone approximately 1 year ago. My admin password has since changed-- glad I remembered the old one.

****************THIS ONE WORKS I TRIED EVERYTHING!!!!*********************

My girlfriend brought this phone off her friend and it was her friends windows password we neeeded when she originaly installed the phone!!!

1234 worked for me too! thanks for that.

have no clue why its set up like that though 😕

Hi guys,

To start with... DO NOT PANIC! After spending 4 hours trying to find a password I never set...I finally made it! 🙂 For a weird reason itunes ask for any of the passwords you are using in your computer. I had to try all the passwords I'm using for deferent accounts (hotmail,facebook etc) until one of them worked. It was the password I'm using for facebook!?!?!?!!! I was shocked and dissapointed this whole thing happened as I'm a new mac user and I was expecting better from Apple. Anyway guys, hope this helped.

Same problem. I got in using a password I'd originally set...BUT...like many others posting here I am 100% certain that I tried that password several times and it got rejected. Good luck to all those having similar problems. The responses from the Apple folks indicate a degree of arrogance that appalls me.

So there are two major bugs here:

1) iTunes tells you that the password is wrong (several times over) when it is in fact correct. VERY annoying. I can only assume that the post about the server being busy causing this is correct - poor show.

2) One cannot just delete a backup and then start again with a new backup and new password (or no password). I can think of no good reason on this earth for that. Apple people, please tell me if you have one. I get the one way encoding stuff, but many people just want to start backing up again and don't need to restore the existing backup. Not being able to do so is just ********.

I had a short love affair with Apple when I got my iMac and again with the iPad, but recently I have frankly become very disillusioned with Apple. I paid the extra money so that things would just work. But recently my experience has been that they often don't (my experience upgrading to Lion was a case in point). Shame on you Apple. I will be going back to the PC world when I need new hardware.

Rant over.

This is a very weird bug and I don't know why Apple doesn't try and fix this. However, I stumbled upon this article which has a collection of different things you can try, even resetting your iTunes password and such. Hope this can help someone!

thanks markymark8!

1111 worked for me. what the heck?! after 2 hours of panicking, Apple has no idea how they make us anxious with their high tech products. Iproducts are good, but PLEASE APPLE staff, hear your customers! This is supposed to be a help/guide page, not a forum that only users use! goodness sake. I'm so mad right now. Sorry, gotta let it off my chest.

customer service is definitely 1/10.

Hey Guys,

I had this same issue going back to OS5.1. It ended up being my original phone lock password.

I like the rest of you had never set a Back Up Password.

Also I am on a corporate server.

I for the first and the last time, used a password on my ipad, in an app called evernote. The password is a 4 digit combo. I entered it and guess what?? It worked! Weird but it did! 🙂

So relieved! 😀

Hi everybody,

seems a lot of people have that backup password problem with all kinds of unimaginable solutions - good for them. I had written down my backup password back then, I found the note, entered that password and - guess what - got rejected as a lot of you ... Thanks for all the propositions in this thread, I'll try them out. BUT: are these Apple people / engineers crazy? Why don't they fix this problem? This is a real scandal to me. I even read a post, where someone never encrypted their backup and yet got asked to enter one when trying to restore from that backup. What is this? Don't we have enough stress in our lives, that they make us suffer this situation? I don't get it.

Anyway, go luck, people. Hope some of your propositions will work for me - bye everybody

I finally did it. There is a way to do it . I'm not ready to explain it because if I do people will inform apple and then they will cover the hole ...ill either help you or do it for you .. But otherwise I cannot speak of how I did it . Just know that it is easier than you think. It is not impossible .. I repeat it is not impossible .. Sit down and think hard about a easy way ..

<E-mail Edited by Host>

If no code works for u tho just try looking deep down inside that's all ima tell u .. It should kick h in the face and ill understand

Hi back, everybody,

shame on me, I must admit, iTunes was right. Trying over and over again, I suddenly remembered a password I used to use some earlier times. So I tried it, and --- it worked. So at the end, it had been my fault.

I'd like to apologize for what I wrote about Apple and their engineers, sorry guys. The anger and deception about not being able to access your own data just makes you think and say things ...

Good luck to all of you out there, think about which older passwords you might have been using in former times.

BTW: there are applications, which let you get to the backed up data, but there as well, iTunes demands the password, if the back up is locked.