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Maximum failed passcode attempts in restrictions - what happens?

Out of curiosity, what happens if I enter my restrictions passcode incorrectly too many times?


(Not the passcode lock, the restrictions passcode.)

Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Jan 27, 2012 6:44 PM

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44 replies

Jun 13, 2013 6:34 PM in response to non.elite

PH2701 Does in fact discuss this. A search of the kBase found it.


Important: Before you erase all the information on your device, try to locate it or play a sound on it. After you erase the information on an iOS device, you won’t be able to use Find My iPhone to locate it or play a sound. You may still be able to use Find My iPhone to locate your Mac after you erase it.

If you erase your iOS device and then find it, you can restore the information on the device using iCloud Backup (if backup was turned on before you erased it) or iTunes. For more information, see iCloud storage and backup overview and the user guide for your device in Safari bookmarks or on the Apple Support website.

Feb 14, 2014 8:34 AM in response to mannox

For all those looking to figure out your RESTRICTIONS PASSCODE (and you already know your phones lock screen passcode), read below:


1) I got to 19 'restrictions passcode' attempts. the timer between each attempt was 1 hour


2) if you turn off the auto update of your date and time, after each try of a new 'restrictions passcode', set your time ahead 61 minutes and you can go again without waiting the hour. (for shorter durations, obviously, set it for whatever the 'lock out' duration is , plus one minute)


3) in ios7, if you go to general, touch id and passcode (the code to get into this is your phones passcode, NOT necessarily the same as your restrictions passcode, which is the one I'm talking about here).. so if you go into touch id and pass code, and scroll down to the bottom, there's an 'erase data' slider, which erases your phone after '10 failed passcode attempts'. mine was off the entire time, and I had no erasing, no issues. I'm not sure if this applies to 'restrictions passcode' attempts, but I advise you turn it off while trying my method above, just in case it does.



so yeah. change your date and time accordingly, make sure erase data is off, and you should be able to power through and figure out the restrictions passcode fairly quickly. be warned that I only made it to 19 attempts before finding out my code, so I have no guarantees as to what (if anything) happens after that. good luck everyone!!


mannox@gmail.com

Sent from my iPhone

Dec 26, 2014 5:35 PM in response to ffiti

I tried my restricted passcode 24 times before I got the right one, but it never permenantly locked out. It means that you have to wait an increasing amount of time between each attempt (up to an hour) but please read on to Maddox's reply where they tell you how to change the time on your ipod after each attempt so that you don't have to wait.

Oct 24, 2015 3:26 AM in response to mannox

If you have forgotten (like I did) the restriction passcode (parental control if you will) you will be able to try 6 times with no consequence at all. The 7th time you will have to wait 1 minute before you can try again. Time between tries increases. I don't know what the maximum time is or if there is ever a moment one is locker out.

Nov 21, 2015 10:11 AM in response to kiekes

I basically confronted a bricked device situation. This is the absolute doomsday way to solve the problem - totally works. I forgot my restriction code AND iTunes would not recognize my iPhone because it was associated with an old computer. This meant I could not simply plug my phone into iTunes and restore it. It wouldn't recognize the phone. And since I couldn't reset because of the restrictions code I was in a pickle. But I fixed it and this WORKS!


You need to take the phone through the RESTORE process.


1. Plug device into computer w/iTunes open using USB Cable.

2. Press and hold POWER and HOME button without letting go.

3. Eventually screen will restart - do not let go of either button at all.

4. At some point white ITunes logo on black background will appear. Now you can let go.

5. Look at the computer it will say something like "Something is wrong with this iPhone need to restore/recover" click yes.

6. Phone will download and restore and wipe all data completely.

7. Now your phone is basically brand-new and you can go on with your life.


This is a doomsday scenario, where your phone is basically bricked because it won't recognize it in iTunes and you have forgotten the restrictions passcode so you cannot do a reset from the phone.


Hope this helps the world.

Jan 17, 2016 4:04 AM in response to minkc

Actually @minkc has the answer closest to the suitable answer to the question. We would like to know if there is a limit to attempts. The original answer selected does not answer the question.


And actually the time trick by mannoz perhaps is the most helpful thing ever here.


I would've liked to report this to somebody to correct the answer, but i can't seem to find a "report this" button.


Cheers everybody. I'm off to try a thousand times, my passcode 🙂

Maximum failed passcode attempts in restrictions - what happens?

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