wonder11
Level 1 (4 points)
iPhone

Q: Erased iPhone and encrypted backup password

So I have an iPhone 5s that my 3 year old found this morning.  When I got to it, the Hello screen was all that was present.  It's a company phone and they require the erase data feature after 5 invalid passcode attempts.  I backed it up in June, so it wasn't that big of a concern.  However, I don't remember encrypting the backup or specifying a password, but I may have.  Regardless, I couldn't get iTunes to accept any of the passwords I tried to restore the backup.  To get my phone going, I decided just to set it up as new and restore it later once I had more time to try more passwords.  In doing this, it also created a new backup to which I setup a password for.  There are two different backups available to try, the recent one is 15 MB and the older one is 3 GB, which makes me think my data is there.  However, I cannot unlock the backup.  Does the password exist on the phone or on the computer?  Any other way to recover this data?  I know Apple states the password is not recoverable.  I have a computer with Windows 7.

iPhone 5s, iOS 9.3.4

Posted on Aug 17, 2016 7:12 PM

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wonder11

Q: Erased iPhone and encrypted backup password

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  • Helpful answers

  • by roaminggnome,Helpful

    roaminggnome roaminggnome Aug 17, 2016 7:30 PM in response to wonder11
    Level 10 (96,711 points)
    Aug 17, 2016 7:30 PM in response to wonder11

    Sorry.  Only you would know the password. 

  • by elcpu,Helpful

    elcpu elcpu Aug 17, 2016 7:30 PM in response to wonder11
    Level 6 (15,555 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 17, 2016 7:30 PM in response to wonder11

    The password exists on the iPhone.

     

    If you forgot the Encryption Password:

    https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205220

  • by wonder11,

    wonder11 wonder11 Aug 17, 2016 7:28 PM in response to elcpu
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 17, 2016 7:28 PM in response to elcpu

    Thanks for that link.  If the password is on the iPhone, is it erased when the device is wiped?  Is it possible to have two different encrypted backup passwords on the iPhone?  I think I have something going on there where one backup has a different password than the other and no matter what I try it may not be successful.  I was able to change the password on the most recent backup, but entering that same password when trying to restore the older backup fails.

  • by elcpu,

    elcpu elcpu Aug 17, 2016 7:42 PM in response to wonder11
    Level 6 (15,555 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 17, 2016 7:42 PM in response to wonder11

    wonder11 wrote:

     

    Thanks for that link.  If the password is on the iPhone, is it erased when the device is wiped? if restored as new yes, the pw is erased.

     

    Is it possible to have two different encrypted backup passwords on the iPhone? Not to my knowledge.

     

    I think I have something going on there where one backup has a different password than the other and no matter what I try it may not be successful.  I was able to change the password on the most recent backup, but entering that same password when trying to restore the older backup fails.

    You cannot restore from a backup. You have reconfigure your phone from scratch, sorry.

     

  • by FishingAddict,

    FishingAddict FishingAddict Aug 17, 2016 7:47 PM in response to wonder11
    Level 4 (1,542 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 17, 2016 7:47 PM in response to wonder11

    There is absolutely no way to restore that backup if you do not know the password.  Directly from the Apple support document: "There is no way to recover your information or turn off Encrypt Backup if you lose or forget the password."

  • by elcpu,

    elcpu elcpu Aug 17, 2016 7:50 PM in response to wonder11
    Level 6 (15,555 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 17, 2016 7:50 PM in response to wonder11

    Actually there is a workaround if you are willing to spend the time and it works, it has been verified before.

     

    To bypass the issue of encrypted backups always being encrypted:

    Backup to iCloud. Then erase the phone. Then backup to iTunes as an unencrypted backup. Then restore from the iCloud backup. Then backup to iTunes again.

    From: https://discussions.apple.com/message/30209896?tstart=0#30209896

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Aug 17, 2016 7:51 PM in response to wonder11
    Level 7 (25,501 points)
    iCloud
    Aug 17, 2016 7:51 PM in response to wonder11

    There is no limit to how many times you can try a password for the encrypted backup, so try any password you can think of. Try your user ID password, your lock screen password, 1234, 9999, old passwords, etc. Until you guess the password, you will not be able to restore using that backup.

     

    Best of luck,

     

    GB

  • by wonder11,

    wonder11 wonder11 Aug 17, 2016 7:53 PM in response to elcpu
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 17, 2016 7:53 PM in response to elcpu

    Thanks.  This told me what I needed to know, it looks like it is gone for good.  Sounds like I should have been more patient in trying passwords, but at the time I was just in need of a functioning phone.  I now have that, but no data!  What's the advantage for having the password exist on the phone?  Thanks for the help.

  • by elcpu,

    elcpu elcpu Aug 17, 2016 7:55 PM in response to wonder11
    Level 6 (15,555 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 17, 2016 7:55 PM in response to wonder11

    You are welcome....

  • by wonder11,

    wonder11 wonder11 Aug 17, 2016 8:10 PM in response to elcpu
    Level 1 (4 points)
    iPhone
    Aug 17, 2016 8:10 PM in response to elcpu

    Would this method allow recovery of the existing encrypted backup as well or just prevent future backups from being encrypted?  The way it sounds is that it will only back up the data currently existing in the phone.

     

    Also, since the password exists on the phone for the backup and I setting it up as new removes the password, I don't think I have chance to guess the password for the older backup, correct?

  • by gail from maine,

    gail from maine gail from maine Aug 17, 2016 8:12 PM in response to wonder11
    Level 7 (25,501 points)
    iCloud
    Aug 17, 2016 8:12 PM in response to wonder11

    If the backup is still in iTunes, then you can select it to do the restore, and continue to guess the password.

     

    Cheers,

     

    GB

  • by elcpu,

    elcpu elcpu Aug 17, 2016 8:14 PM in response to wonder11
    Level 6 (15,555 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Aug 17, 2016 8:14 PM in response to wonder11

    wonder11 wrote:

     

    Would this method allow recovery of the existing encrypted backup as well or just prevent future backups from being encrypted?  The way it sounds is that it will only back up the data currently existing in the phone. That's right, only the data now on the phone.

     

    Also, since the password exists on the phone for the backup and I setting it up as new removes the password, I don't think I have chance to guess the password for the older backup, correct? Your old backup will be useless unless you can guess the pw.

  • by FishingAddict,

    FishingAddict FishingAddict Aug 17, 2016 8:57 PM in response to wonder11
    Level 4 (1,542 points)
    Mac OS X
    Aug 17, 2016 8:57 PM in response to wonder11

    You absolutely want future backups to be encrypted.  Not only does that secure your data but also your credentials for all accounts on your iPhone.  If you are having problems remembering the password you used to encrypt your backup, imagine what shape you would be in if you needed to reenter every single account password on your iPhone?  That's what you would need to do if you restore from an unencrypted iPhone backup.