password to unlock your iphone backup file

Hi, I found a solution that worked for me and hopefully will work for some others.

I also did a recent backup that I think was encrypted but I did not enter any password. So when I went to restore from backup it asked for a password. Same as others here I tried every password I could think of without any luck. Cut to the chase, this is what worked for me if you are on a mac.

Go to the "keychain access " app.

Under "Keychains" select "Login"

Under "Category" select "Passwords"

Scroll down and look for "iPhone Backup"

Double click and a window opens

Check the box that says "Show Password"

A window pops up asking for your laptop (OS X) password

Type in that password and voila! ......a password should appear in the keychain access window next to the box you checked "show password"

In my case the password that showed up (iphonelogin) is nothing I have ever set for anything so I wonder if somehow that was put in as a default when I backed up through iTunes? Who knows but it worked.

A good solution for anyone with a Mac.

i have one solution use iExplorer and backup everything onto a folder then teset your ipod/phone and use iExplorer to import that data again.

I used the password for my computer...at work...to which my iphone has never ever been connected. and it worked. that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. but there you have it.

fcburruss1229 wrote:

I used the password for my computer...at work...to which my iphone has never ever been connected. and it worked. that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. but there you have it.

Let me guess - you have a corporate Exchange email account on your iPhone, so your phone connects to the company Exchange server. If you go to Settings/General/Profile there will be a Security Policy profile installed remotely by your IT department when you added the Exchange account. The Profile requires encryption of the phone and its backup.

Just had the same issue. The only thing that worked was my very first, original itunes password. This makes no sense but the only thing that worked, so try to remember that one if you can and it should work. Crazy.

It worked because the first time you backed up iTunes prompted you for a password, so you logically entered your iTunes password.

For me i tried my first itunes password but it didn't work.

Tried my current password for app store (itunes password) and it worked. Fortunately.

fudge yeah.

this totally worked.

APPLE MESSSED THIS UP.

try any and all passwords.

some weird glitch where it will remember any random password and set it for it

could be:

anyone of the emails you have setup on phone

could be itunes store password

could be computer password

or anything else you ever entered

I have used my paypal account pasword and it worked.

Here's what worked for me:

Tried all iTunes and computer admin passwords… nothing.

Finally, I entered the password to unlock my iPad. Boom.

Apparently, if your device is secured with a password, that is what needs to be entered in iTunes to continue with a restore. If the device which was backed up, had a password for the lock screen set when the backup was made, that same password must be entered when restoring that backup to a new (or the same) device.

I hope this is helpful to someone. Good luck!

So I fell in the same "trick". I can't remember either the moment it asked me to choose a password for the encrypted backup, but I'm pretty sure it happened sometime. After trying a large number of different passwords which I regularly use I stop doing that and thought: "alright, if itunes would ask me NOW to choose a password to encrypt the backup of my beloved iPhone, which one would I choose?". That was an easy answer: simply the strongest variation of my base password I have ever used. So I typed that one, and you know what? It worked! :-)

Using my old password solved this problem. I kept trying my old pwds until one worked. Thanks carlo688

I have deleted all backups and am trying to take a fresh backup but it will not allow me to uncheck the "Encrypt iPhone backup" option. This is for a fresh new backup that I have not done yet! I can understand not restoring an encrypted backup but I want to backup without encrypting and it wont allow it. This is ridiculous! And as many have stated before, I do not recall ever setting such a password in the first place.

cc90,

Do you have a pass code lock set on your phone? When you go to wake your phone, do you have to enter a pass code?

If so, this could be the reason. The pass codes may be the same. If your phone is secured with a pass code, then your backup may be as well.