Restoring Backup - Incorrect Password

I had that very problem. And read Sharky3456, and it got me thinking... so I started looking at all the passwords I had stored. Mine was encrypted and I had it saved with some other Apple passwords. Check all your lists because this is one of those that they tell you to write down and then you only use it when you need it. It is NOT your phone pin, your apple ID password, your computer password or anything else you can think of. This is a one time written down when you were setting up your phone password. So check where you keep such things and you might find it.

The password that worked for me was my password for Exchange. Weird.

WiFi password was the correct answer for me too.

the password for me to restore iphone backup is the password to log in to my computer. no idea how this password was linked to apple or itunes!!!

Thanks sharky3456. Turns out my backup password was my Apple ID password from three or four passwords ago.

No. The password it wants is the password for the computer you backed the phone up to.

No other passwords will work.

the password is not your iTunes password it is a password you set up while encrypting the phone just try several of your often used passwords, this worked for me

Just had the same problem and found this thread. I realized that the best way to find the password was Keychain Access in Applications> Utilities> Keychain Access. I searched for iPhone and selected iPhone Backup. There was the password. Worked fine.

I also couldn't restore my phone (5s) from backup because I didn't have the correct password. When I called the store where I had purchased the phone, they knew it immediately. When they transferred my information from my iPhone 4 to the iPhone 5s (Verizon), the store put in a password. Evidently, the password follows the phone, not the computer where the backup is stored. No wonder I couldn't guess the password - I never knew it in the first place!

I only got into this mess because I was trying to free up some memory on the phone (the "other" category) - and followed a procedure outlined elsewhere in Apple support. It did ask for a 4-digit password, and, although I didn't remember encrypting the phone, I put in one of my standard ones - which seemed to work - as the restore proceeded. It seems to me that Apple should build in a check for for the correct password BEFORE one erases the whole phone.

well I now join the gang: i had tried every password I could think of using every suggestion in this string....and i finally found one I'd stored in "contacts" : an encryption password from a previous iPhone back up....whew......

Curious why this isn't a clear part of the iTunes / iPhone back-up instruction set?

Shobhit Banga wrote:

This Problem is Ridiculous!

THERE IS ONLY ONE SOLUTION.

Try all your previous passwords. One will work.

I agree with you statement wholeheartedly the problem is just as ridiculous as the cause.

buffing1 wrote:

No. The password it wants is the password for the computer you backed the phone up to.

No other passwords will work.

Yes you are correct in some cases encryption is using administrator password. And you are wrong in most it is the password provided by people creating first encrypted backup. That is why I wholeheartedly agreed with previous poster, that problem is as ridiculous as the cause.

Just wanted to thank Sharky 3456:

This solved it - never would have thought that it needed a completely different password from itunes / apple ID / phone unlock - but it does!!

Tried all my 'standard' ones, and it worked - thanks for the tip!

🙂Just updating to a new iPhone 7 from my 6s and pretty sure this is the first time I ever got asked for a password for restoring my backup. Tried my phone pin.... No.... Tried my apple ID.... No.... 😕 Noticed it had a ******* in the password field already so just tried that and hit enter....😍 success..

Don't know if it was a password or just blank because I don't ever remember setting a password. Hope this helps someone🙂

Its a password that you probably used with your first iPhone or Apple device. In my case, it was a password that I used for my iPhone 3G almost ten years ago. When you set an encryption password, it stays with you until you decide to change it. Just try and remember the passwords you might have used when you got your first iphone. I find that most people used their first itunes password as their encryption password.