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How do I reset a password for an inactive email address (Apple ID)

I have forgotten the password associated with my iCloud Apple ID. The email associated with that account was deactivated by the ISP over a year ago. All of the security questions were either never answered, or are wrong (including my date of birth!!). How can I get into my account? There doesn't seem to be a way in this situation.

iPhone 4, iOS 7.0.4

Posted on Dec 14, 2013 8:47 AM

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Posted on Dec 14, 2013 10:36 AM

Welcome to the Apple community.

If you are unable to remember your password, security questions, don’t have access to your rescue address or are unable to reset your password for whatever reason, your only option is to contact AppleCare(or Apple ID Support), upon speaking to an operator you should explain that your problem is related to your Apple ID, this way you will not be charged for assistance, even if you don’t have an AppleCare plan.

The operator will take you through some steps you may have already tried, however they need to be sure they have exhausted all usual approaches before trying to reset your account, so you should try to be helpful and show patience with the procedure.

The operator will need to verify they are speaking to the account holder and may ask you some questions that only the account holder could know, and you will need to answer them if the process is to proceed.

Once the operator has verified your identity they will send a message through to your device which contains an alpha numeric code, which you will need to read back to them.

Once this has been completed they will send an email to your iCloud email address after a period of 24 hours, so you should check that mail is enabled in your devices iCloud settings.

Upon receipt of the email, use the reset link provided to reset your password, after which you should be able to make the adjustments to iCloud that you wish to do.

2 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Dec 14, 2013 10:36 AM in response to jrich828

Welcome to the Apple community.

If you are unable to remember your password, security questions, don’t have access to your rescue address or are unable to reset your password for whatever reason, your only option is to contact AppleCare(or Apple ID Support), upon speaking to an operator you should explain that your problem is related to your Apple ID, this way you will not be charged for assistance, even if you don’t have an AppleCare plan.

The operator will take you through some steps you may have already tried, however they need to be sure they have exhausted all usual approaches before trying to reset your account, so you should try to be helpful and show patience with the procedure.

The operator will need to verify they are speaking to the account holder and may ask you some questions that only the account holder could know, and you will need to answer them if the process is to proceed.

Once the operator has verified your identity they will send a message through to your device which contains an alpha numeric code, which you will need to read back to them.

Once this has been completed they will send an email to your iCloud email address after a period of 24 hours, so you should check that mail is enabled in your devices iCloud settings.

Upon receipt of the email, use the reset link provided to reset your password, after which you should be able to make the adjustments to iCloud that you wish to do.

Dec 15, 2013 7:17 AM in response to Winston Churchill

Thanks, Mr Churchill, for taking the time to write. I was able to speak with someone yesterday and apparently my issue is somewhat unique. The email address, or Apple ID, associated with my iCloud account does not exist at Apple Support, so she wasn't able to reset the password for me or even find the account. In this case, my only options are to wipe clean my iPhone 4 and start over, or wait until I purchase a new iPhone. I wasn't entirely confident she was spelling the Apple ID correctly but we went through it twice so I'm hopeful she was. It's hard to understand why that ID appears on my iPhone if it does not appear at Apple Support. Go figure.


Thank you again!

How do I reset a password for an inactive email address (Apple ID)

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