lilygrimm128

Q: How do I find my iPod's serial number if it's been stolen?

My iPod video was stolen two weeks ago, and the police told me that, if they somehow recover my iPod, it'll make it much easier for them to return it to me if they have the serial number. Unfortunately, I've had the iPod for several years so I don't have the original packaging or the receipt anymore, nor is the iPod registered in my Support Profile. I know that, if I had it, I could hook it up to my computer and the serial number would show up in iTunes, but I obviously can't do that. However, I have obviously hooked the iPod up to my iTunes before, so I was wondering if there was any way to go back into my iTunes history and retrieve the serial number that way somehow. Any ideas?

Posted on Mar 27, 2013 12:17 PM

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Q: How do I find my iPod's serial number if it's been stolen?

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  • by Seanchaithe,Helpful

    Seanchaithe Seanchaithe Jul 9, 2013 11:34 AM in response to lilygrimm128
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jul 9, 2013 11:34 AM in response to lilygrimm128

    I'm doing this in iTunes 11 on Windows.

    • So, in iTunes, if you don't have the menu bar showing, hit ctrl+b.
    • Now, make sure you have something to write with handy, as you're going to need to be fast.
    • When the menu bar pops up, hold down ctrl and click Help and then About iTunes (hold down the ctrl button the entire time).
    • A small screen will pop up with some scrolling information, a couple seconds in you'll see 'iPod S/N:'
    • Write down the list of letters and numbers that comes after that, as that is the serial number of the last iPod that was plugged and synced with iTunes.
    • You can repeat this process several times to be sure you get all the characters.

     

    You do NOT need to have your iPod plugged into iTunes to acces this information, the only necessary thing is that your iPod has been plugged into and synced with iTunes at least once (which you have, so good). For posterity: if it's never been plugged in, and you don't have the box, you might be out of luck.

  • by pl_lettkeman,

    pl_lettkeman pl_lettkeman Aug 11, 2013 5:43 AM in response to Seanchaithe
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 11, 2013 5:43 AM in response to Seanchaithe

    Try this if you ever had it on connected to your computer! 

    This solved my question by varjak paw  on Nov 16, 2011 7:36 AM

    varjak paw

    Launch iTunes, go to the Preferences, select Devices, and hover your cursor over the backup file for the iPod. That should show you the serial number.

     

    Hope the police can find your iPod, though as I'm sure you know, the chances are slim. Good luck.

     

    Regards.

  • by WLockIV,

    WLockIV WLockIV Oct 6, 2013 11:33 AM in response to Seanchaithe
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 6, 2013 11:33 AM in response to Seanchaithe

    Thank you! This worked perfectly!

  • by cwbhood,

    cwbhood cwbhood Oct 12, 2013 11:13 AM in response to pl_lettkeman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Oct 12, 2013 11:13 AM in response to pl_lettkeman

    works, very easy.

  • by Armalite61,

    Armalite61 Armalite61 Dec 21, 2013 1:55 PM in response to lilygrimm128
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 21, 2013 1:55 PM in response to lilygrimm128

    The method proposed by pl_lettkeman is easy but works only for devices where a backup is made. If your device doesn't show up there, the method proposed by Seanchaithe will still work. You do not need to be so fast though. By clicking on the scrolling information, the scrolling stops and you have all the time you need to copy the serial number.

  • by GuyInDogSuit,

    GuyInDogSuit GuyInDogSuit Dec 31, 2013 3:46 PM in response to Seanchaithe
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 31, 2013 3:46 PM in response to Seanchaithe

    THANK YOU! You are a lifesaver! By the way, you can stop the scrolling to give you time to write the S/N down by clicking the window. Thanks again, Sean!

  • by Sulaiman1,

    Sulaiman1 Sulaiman1 Feb 17, 2014 8:01 PM in response to pl_lettkeman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 17, 2014 8:01 PM in response to pl_lettkeman

    Launch iTunes, go to the Preferences, select Devices, and hover your cursor over the backup file for the iPod. That should show you the serial number.

     

    I did as you said and I could see my device, but as I hover the cursor over the backed up files nothing shows up. no serial number no nothing

  • by evan3191,

    evan3191 evan3191 Feb 18, 2014 1:53 PM in response to pl_lettkeman
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Feb 18, 2014 1:53 PM in response to pl_lettkeman

    I had mine stolen the other day to and I have tried this but all that is showing up in device history is my iphone.  Is there another way to find the serial number of the ipod because I've had several devices hooked up to my itunes account but it's only showing the 1 ipone?

  • by monstermash44,

    monstermash44 monstermash44 Jun 7, 2014 1:03 PM in response to Seanchaithe
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 7, 2014 1:03 PM in response to Seanchaithe

    Question! Both my ipod and the laptop that I had iTunes on (and synced with the ipod) were stolen. Is there any other way to look up the serial number? Does 'Find my iPhone' have that information stored somewhere?

     

    Thanks.

  • by 123eagle_eyez,

    123eagle_eyez 123eagle_eyez Dec 17, 2014 10:27 AM in response to lilygrimm128
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 17, 2014 10:27 AM in response to lilygrimm128

    hi, had this problem too. i went onto support and onto chat and signed in with my apple id to start the chat; my ipod serial number came up then so i could select it. hope that helped! i know how stressful it can be to loose your device!!

  • by 123eagle_eyez,

    123eagle_eyez 123eagle_eyez Dec 17, 2014 10:28 AM in response to monstermash44
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Dec 17, 2014 10:28 AM in response to monstermash44

    no, sorry i tried that too...

  • by skamego,

    skamego skamego Aug 29, 2015 7:40 PM in response to Seanchaithe
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 29, 2015 7:40 PM in response to Seanchaithe

    This worked great, thanks for the post!

  • by Stiteler,

    Stiteler Stiteler Nov 6, 2015 9:18 AM in response to Seanchaithe
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 6, 2015 9:18 AM in response to Seanchaithe

    You can also just hover your finger over print screen (on my computer, Prt Sc) and when the SN shows up, hit that, then copy it into Paint.

  • by Chloechey3,

    Chloechey3 Chloechey3 May 16, 2016 6:59 PM in response to lilygrimm128
    Level 1 (4 points)
    May 16, 2016 6:59 PM in response to lilygrimm128

    I also have a dilemma. I lost my iPod Touch about 4 months ago, and I've had it for about 2 years. I've tried looking up answers and all the forums I could find to figure out any sort of way to turn my iPod touch "online" as shown in the online icloud login page under Find My iPhone app.

     

    I still haven't found any answers and I HAD Itunes on my pc, but because of glitching in an update about 2 months ago, I deleted it from my pc. Would the serial # still show up if I re-downloaded? I have a gazillion pictures I want to save from my iPod and I really want to find it.

     

    Any suggestions?

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