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How can I restore my iPhone 4s without restoring forgotten restriction password?

I forgot my restrictions password on my iPhone about three months ago and have just not bothered restoring the iPhone since then. Now, I am getting a data issue with the phone that does not allow me to use 3G or anything that requires cellular data (iMessage, email, Safari, etc). This problem is not related to the lost restriction passcode. Online people have recommended to restore the iPhone to factory settings.


How can I restore my iPhone without restoring the restriction passcode? From what I understand, I cannot restore from a back up without restoring the passcode. Is this true? If I can't use a backup, how can I avoid losing my contacts (most imporant), pictures, music, etc? Do I need to manually back up each one of these?


If anyone could advise me to the best method that I can restore my iPhone without a) restoring the restrictions passcode and b) losing my contacts, pictures, music, etc., it would be grealy appreciated!

iPhone 4S, iOS 5.1.1

Posted on Aug 26, 2012 4:22 PM

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5 replies

Aug 26, 2012 4:40 PM in response to plexus_nexus

Restore to factory settings means you will lose all of your content. There is no other way.


If you had set up your phone to sync to a contact and calendar app on your computer, or to iCloud, as described in the manual, then those items will still be on your computer or in iCloud and you can sync them back.


If you had copied your pictures to your computer regularly as recommended in the manual they will be on your computer still. Likewise if you had enabled Photo Stream.


If your music and apps were purchased from iTunes then you can redownload them after you restore the phone. Your app data will be lost, however.

Aug 26, 2012 6:29 PM in response to plexus_nexus

I ended up restoring without backup and found that my contacts were there after it completed. I suppose this happened automatically through iCloud. I manually transfered my pictures back over and redownloaded my apps. Everything seems to be working again now with the exception that my music is no longer in my music library and thus cannot be restored to my iPhone it seems.

Aug 27, 2012 5:59 AM in response to plexus_nexus

If the music was purchased from iTunes you can download it again. On the phone just open iTunes Store, tap on Purchases, then "not on this phone".


If the music came from other sources (CDs or MP3s from non-iTunes sites) you should still have the tracks on your computer or a backup of your computer. You can drag and drop the files onto iTunes on your computer, then sync them.

How can I restore my iPhone 4s without restoring forgotten restriction password?

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