password to unlock your iphone backup file

how to do i find the password to unlock your iphone backup file

Posted on Oct 18, 2011 7:04 AM

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Posted on Nov 21, 2017 6:20 AM

SparkyGirl1012 wrote:


None of my passwords worked; not my computer password, not my wifi password, not any of my old or current iTunes passwords, arghhhh!! I'm stuck with a $1200 brick right now.

How is your phone a brick because you don't have the password to the encrypted back up? That doesn't make sense.


Have you review this article:


About encrypted backups in iTunes - Apple Support


It explains what to do if you forgot the passcode.

375 replies

Jul 20, 2013 10:16 AM in response to Lawrence Finch

my 2 cents experience after finally I was able to restore an encrypted backup I never encrypted directly:

1. moving out from iPhone 3GS to iPhone 4s

2. the 3GS is my personal iPhone but used as BYOD in order to read corporate e-mail and therefore had to install corporate profiles

3. in order to do so I am forced to use a passcode of 8 characters with all usual rules (2 digits, no repetition etc etc) , yes a real pain in the neck but BYOD claims its toll....

4. BTW by corporate policy I have to change the passcode every 90 days

5. I found out one of these profiles, guess what, is enforcing encrypted backup.

So I guess the profile not me is using the passcode for encryption, as I do not recall having set up any password for encryption.

5. Luckely I write down my passcodes at every change so in desperation I started using the passcode in a reverse chronological order as the current one was not opening the backup and ...


and BINGO the 3rd from the bottom worked !! that is a password 9 months old !!

That means to me the encryption is using not the latest passcode in use but the one in use when the profile was installed.


BTW: all corporate profiles after the restore disappeared , so I can no longer access the company e-mail

I wonder why , but this is a different story and thread....

Aug 24, 2013 7:13 AM in response to mamaafowler

(never elected as encrypted back up) yet im now being asked for a password to unlock the back up? macbook password / itunes / phone password all NOT working have only ever had 1 password for each, have trailed the key chain and there is nothing there? surley the requirement should be to authenticate if you WANT to encrypt your back up? not create one automaticaly with no failsafe - reminder or password request to your apple ID (***) if you have an authenticated ID why cannot you extract your back up????

Aug 24, 2013 8:59 AM in response to alixp

alixp wrote:


if you have an authenticated ID why cannot you extract your back up????

The technical reason is that the password is the encryption key. If you didn't save it in your keychain Apple would have no way of knowing what it was. The only way that Apple could decrypt your backup is if they designed the system with a "back door". And that would open a whole new can of worms, and complaints about Apple spying on you. It would also give Apple the ability to decrypt your backup for law enforcement, Department of Homeland Security and the NSA (although they could probably do it without help).


If you have a corporate Exchange email account on your phone your IT department may have required an encrypted backup. In this case the password might be your domain password at the time you added the account to your phone.

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password to unlock your iphone backup file

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