Hi Arendyl,
I just typed up the following to another post asking about restoring data from Supervised devices to Unsupervised devices and thought I'd copy/paste it here. Hope this helps!
~Joe
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Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to back up app data from a Supervised device and restore it to an Unsupervised device. The workaround isn't pretty, but it is technically possible. And yes, you must use the original computer that supervised the device. Here's how to do it:
Let's say that the school district purchased VPP codes for Notability and installed it on all Supervised iPads. You don't want the student to leave with the app, but you do want the student to have his/her Notability data. I will pretend to be the student and will make a few notes in Notability (which was installed on this iPad using Apple Configurator under a district controlled Apple ID).
- In Apple Configurator under the Supervised tab, back up the student's iPad (click the Restore drop down menu and select "Back Up.")
- Give your back up a name and click "Create Backup."
- After the back up completes, click on the Restore drop down menu again and select “Edit Stored Backups."
- A new window will open showing you a listing of back ups available. Hold down the Option key and two new button will appear in the lower left corner (a "+" for importing, and a sharing icon for exporting). Highlight the backup of your iPad and click the sharing icon.
- Choose a location where you want to save the backup (for this example, lets save it to the Desktop) and click "Export."
- When the export is complete, click Done.
- Now, Unsupervise the iPad (Ctrl+click the iPad listed in Apple Configurator and choose Unsupervise. In the pop up window, select Unsupervise Device). This will wipe the device of all data and apps.
- Once the iPad restarts, select the Prepare tab. You will see your iPad listed there.
- Next to Supervision, turn the switch to "Off." Next to iOS, choose "No Change." Click on the Restore drop down menu and choose "Other." Navigate to your Desktop and highlight the .iosdevicebackup file. Click "Open."
- Click the Prepare button. This will restore the back up to the iPad but it will now be Unsupervised. NOTE: You will still see the Supervision profile listed under Profiles. However, you can now connect the iPad to iTunes on a different computer and you won't see the message "This iPad is supervised by another computer and cannot be used with this computer" anymore. Even though you can't get rid of the Supervised profile listed under Profiles on the iPad (because its a part of the back up), it is now dormant and does not affect the iPad anymore.
- Apps are not restored from the back up. However, even though the apps are not on the iPad the app data has been restored to the iPad (the app data is hidden). So once the back up restores to the iPad, the student can download/install apps from the App Store. For this example, I will go to the App Store and use my personal Apple ID to download Notability. After Notability installs, I launch the app and now see my data. I am now on an Unsupervised iPad with my data from a Supervised device.
So while its not a fast or seamless workaround, it is possible to back up data from a Supervised iPad and restore it to an Unsupervised iPad… it just takes several steps to do so.
I hope this answers your question and helps you with data back ups and restores on your Supervised devices. Good luck!
~Joe
