How do I restore my Iphone w/obeing able to unlock it?

You can erase your device remotely by signing into iCloud.com on a computer and going to the Find My iPhone app. Select your device, and then select Erase.

Once you have erased it you can restore it to a backup.

Cheers,

GB

gail from maine wrote:

You can erase your device remotely by signing into iCloud.com on a computer and going to the Find My iPhone app. Select your device, and then select Erase.

Once you have erased it you can restore it to a backup.

Cheers,

GB

Gail... That doesn't sound right. If the owner of a stolen phone wants to protect his/her personal data by erasing the phone, does that give the thief the ability to restore it? I don't think so. However, there is another way out for the OP.

It's first necessary to remove the phone's ability to access the web. Powering down is the easiest. If it's not possible to power down with the buttons, simply allow the battery to run down. Then there is an iCloud timer - I think that it's 24 hours. The user should then sign into iCloud and access "Find My iPhone." If the timer has expired, the user will be given the option of removing the phone (or other device) from iCloud. I don't remember the exact wording of the message and it's obviously a big PIA to reproduce the conditions.

If you entered the wrong passcode too many times, you need to restore your device using either iCloud or iTunes > iOS: Forgotten passcode or device disabled after entering wrong passcode

The second set of instructions in the support article that Carolyn posted above indicate:

Erase using Find my iPhone

If you set up Find My iPhone on your iOS device or Mac, you can use iCloud to erase and restore it.

1. From another device, go to icloud.com/find.
2. If prompted, sign in with your Apple ID.
3. Click All Devices at the top of your browser window.
4. Select the device you want to erase.
5. Click Erase [device] to erase your device and its passcode.
6. Now you can either restore from a backup or set up as new.

If your device isn't connected to a Wi-Fi or cellular network, you can't erase it with Find My iPhone.

When the OP then attempts to restore it, they will have to put in the iCloud password to do so. That is the difference. If a thief had the device, the act of erasing it would simply erase it. The thief still would not be able to restore it since they wouldn't know the iCloud password....

Cheers,

GB

YAY! Glad you are all set now, but sorry you had to restore to an old backup. Why not turn on Automatic iCloud Backups? Then, any time your device is plugged in, locked, and connected to Wifi, it will back up for you automatically.

Best of luck,

GB

gail from maine wrote:

When the OP then attempts to restore it, they will have to put in the iCloud password to do so. That is the difference. If a thief had the device, the act of erasing it would simply erase it. The thief still would not be able to restore it since they wouldn't know the iCloud password....

Cheers,

GB

Ahhh... That makes sense.

By the way, my solution (although unnecessary in this case) is still valid. I discovered it by accident after I bought an iPhone - I was "decommissioning" my iPod.