password to unlock your iphone backup file

For me it was the first password I made for my work computer login (as the iphone is my work phone). The password had nothing to do with itunes/iphone/apple at all yet that's what itunes wanted...

AlyGShow wrote:

For me it was the first password I made for my work computer login (as the iphone is my work phone). The password had nothing to do with itunes/iphone/apple at all yet that's what itunes wanted...

Which proves that you must have entered it, because iTunes has no way of knowing what your work computer login was.

I HAVE TO SAY TOUCHE' MY FRIEND YOU WERE RIGHT.....

IT WAS A PASSWORD I USED OVER 2 YEARS AGO, AND BELIEVE ME I HAD MANY, AND WHEN I NAILED IT, I REALIZED IT WAS AN OLD PASSWORD.

THANK YOU

ANDYCARMICHAEL

Message was edited by: shawnread1234

well i figured it out when i bought my first mini ipad retina etc. it was a new ipad and i went to restore it from the backup i created 2 days ago. little did i know that it was asking for a password (but the trick is I NEVER ADDED NOR PUT IN A PASSWORD) so i came across an explanation from andycarmichael and he practically said that the system saves old passwords that were used at some point in the past, regardless if we still use them or not; so i tried, and came across an old paswword, and i mean old.....it was over 2 years old.

therefore, i will see and try to get my iphone backup that i couldnt get a couple of months ago, using old passwords.

P.S. i dont know why itunes does this though!!!! it beats me, but old passwords work, you must try until you get the one that nails it.

hope it works

S.

So I've been having the same problem. My exhusband and I just swapped back our iPhones (I had the 4 he had the S and now vice versa) NONE of my old passwords worked, however I just entered HIS iTunes password, and THAT's the one that it excepted...I'll update this post when I see which restore it does....mine or his! Could be interesting!

***Update*** So even though I had to enter the previous phone owners' iTunes password - it restored *my* information to the phone. *phew* that could have been awkward!!!

Message was edited by: Giggilinshelle

It ended up being my laptop password! Who knew!

After around 36.9 attempts, i got it! it was the password i currently have set on my laptop. however, this contradicts with other peoples stories. EX- my successful password was [sammy....]; that password is my cat's name (wierd huh'). the thing is, i have only had him for 2 or so years. i created my apple/itunes account at least 7 years ago. OK, so i dont know when/how/why that password worked for me, but it did and i am now somewhat happy (still mostly ticked at apple). Because of this, it may not be your first ever password entered, as many have noted. anyways good luck! i'll post again if i find more answers... 😕

thank you very much

I just did unlock my iTunes backup with the original iTunes password..stupid at might seem but it worked. I unchecked the mark for locked backup and I entered the old iTunes password then iTunes started backing up the iphone again. Now I'm connecting my new LG G3 and trying to convert the iphone backup data to my LG G3 and see how it goes.

Thanks to (carlo688)

Rembr that iPhones are configured to stop passwords being Uncovered. This safety feature ensures that stolen iPhones are not easily able to be unlocked.

For me it was our wireless password, ***!??!

Apple is so so frustrating, they get away with glitches, bugs and terrible customer service simply because the brand is so strong and most of us are committed so it's hard to make the change, but any techie will tell you that the way Apple operates is seriously messed up. We should start voting with our wallets and ditching this company that takes its customers for granted...

This is dumbest thing that I have ever heard and people defending it as secure are being ridiculous. Apple has an easy way to make it available to Mac users, but only a big middle finger for anyone else.

At no point during the password setting process are users ever told that THERE IS NO PASSWORD RETRIEVAL unlike almost every other service in existence.

Luckily, I only wasted 10 minutes of my life on this, but everyone who wasted more or never managed to retrieve the backup should sue Apple for misleading practices.

Even reading the help page feels like someone spitting in your face... iOS: Troubleshooting encrypted backups

When I came accross this same error message, I used the apple ID password without a capitol letter and that worked

It also worked for me using Itunes password without the capital letter. thanks

I use password managers (1Password and LastPass) and this password for iPhone backup was not in either. I'm pretty religious about documenting my passwords so I about flipped my *&^% when my iTunes password didn't work. After reading these posts I tried the password I used to set up my first iTunes account back in 2004. 2004! Fortunately it was the password I used for everything at the time. I've only had this phone for a year and I am 100% certain I have not used a measly 6 number password for anything since 2010.