How to access mail on iCloud.com when Apple account is locked?
We do remember our password for our Apple account. But our Apple account is locked & we can't remember answers to the security questions. We are told to get directions from our email to unlock the Apple account. But we can't get to our email (ending in me.com). We understand that the email is accessible at iCloud.com. Each time we get to iCloud.com, it tells us our Apple account is locked and to go get our email. We phoned Apple Support 3 times but we are still stranded. Kindly advise - how do we retrieve our emails? The last resort is to reset our iPhone 4s. But we could not do so too without unlocking the Apple account. Are we the only ones facing such a fix?
MacBook Pro (13-inch Late 2011),
OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)
I know this post is very old, but I just want to share my experience and how I solved this.
Basically the exact same thing happened to me. My ipad was in activation lock(for unknown reason) and my apple account was also locked for security reasons with icloud email as my unlock email (which I can't access: it's locked!)
So I scheduled an reservation at Genius Bar, provided them the proof of purchase, and they unlocked my ipad in 5 mins.
But my apple account is still locked.
I realized that I can access my icloud email from Mail app on ipad even though I can't from the webpage (you can also turn on mail from setting-icloud, this will work as well). I found the link that Apple sent and unlocked my account.
I know this post is very old, but I just want to share my experience and how I solved this.
Basically the exact same thing happened to me. My ipad was in activation lock(for unknown reason) and my apple account was also locked for security reasons with icloud email as my unlock email (which I can't access: it's locked!)
So I scheduled an reservation at Genius Bar, provided them the proof of purchase, and they unlocked my ipad in 5 mins.
But my apple account is still locked.
I realized that I can access my icloud email from Mail app on ipad even though I can't from the webpage (you can also turn on mail from setting-icloud, this will work as well). I found the link that Apple sent and unlocked my account.
Hello, I have the same problem. I always used the same password for my icloud(so that i dont forget it)and now is writing"Your Apple ID is locked for security reasons".
Each time I get to iCloud.com, it tells me that Apple account is locked and to go get email. I phoned Apple Support times but I am still stranded. Kindly advise - how do I retrieve my email? My Apple ID is ending with @iCloud.com Someone please help !
If your account is locked, you can't know your password. There are only 2 "reasons" for your Apple ID to be disabled. One, too many bad password attempts. This locks everything. Two, an iTunes account issue, but that only prevents you from iTunes purchases, not accessing email etc.
Apple Support can send you password reset email to an alternate email address once they verify you as the account holder. After resetting your password, you will be able to retrieve your email. After that is done, you can reset your security questions.
We did contact Apple Support. They asked for documents to verify ownership, which we sent. They then emailed me back to say they have "unlocked the product". But we already could use the iPhone even before that. It's the Apple account, not the product that was locked.
So we called Apple Support again. But we were told the only way out was to erase and reset the phone, and set up a new Apple account. They said there's a big difference in verifying ownership of the phone, versus verifying ownership of the account. They did not bother to help verify that we were indeed the owner of the account. They said the only way to unlock the account was via security questions OR via email. But tragically our email is on their iCloud.com. And there seems to be no way to get to to the mail on iCloud.com since our Apple account is locked. It's a painful vicious cycle that we can't get out of. I can't believe Apple, in all its wisdom, can't understand our dilemma. That is why we are posting this issue here for help.
If we still can't unlock the account, we will reset the phone. But the phone won't allow us to reset because the Apple account is locked!
And there seems to be no way to get to to the mail on iCloud.com since our Apple account is locked. It's a painful vicious cycle that we can't get out of. I can't believe Apple, in all its wisdom, can't understand our dilemma. That is why we are posting this issue here for help.
This is only accurate if you can't be verified as the rightful account holder. This is likely what is happening to you.
I believe Apple understands your dilemma fully. It's you that doesn't understand theirs.
If you can pass the security process, which may include more than just security questions, Apple would be able to send you a reset request to an alternate email address that you have control of. That your email is also locked is not your issue.
It can be a vicious cycle and is by design. If you lose control of your account, you want it to be challenging but possible to regain control.
We DO remember our Apple account password. It's the security questions that we can't remember. We called Apple Support, and they verified we were owners of the phone. Strangely, they did not ask to verify we are the owners of the Apple account. Is it possible for them to send directions to unlock the Apple account to a different email?
If you do have your password and your account is disabled, it's an iTunes billing issue, as I wrote before.
The Apple ID password and the matching iCloud email address password are the same. You can't possibly know that password and be locked out of the matching iCloud mail at the same time.
What is locked? What can't you do that you want to do?
Not knowing your security questions is entirely fixable if you know your password and some other secure information.
Go to iforgot.apple.com and enter your Apple ID. Choose "reset my security questions" Enter the password you know. This is where you are having an issue. You must not have a rescue email address in place and you say you don't know your questions. Do you not have a device on file?
Even after all of this, calling Apple can get your security questions reset, IF you can be verified as the rightful account holder.
This must be your issue and there is no solution. You seem to have lost control of your account.
As exasperated as you may be, this is in place so that I can't take control of your account by simply knowing your Apple ID and password. I may be able to access some features, but I can't change any of the secure information. Only you can.
If you are confused, then you can imagine what a fix we are in.
Let us recap:
a) we do know our password to our Apple account.
b) we do know the password to our email, but we can't get to that email as it's on iCloud, which doesn't allow access since our Apple account is locked.
c) Apple Support has verified we are the owner of the phone
d) Apple Support did not ask us to verify if we are the owner of the Apple account. They said there are only 2 ways to do it: by security questions (which we can't remember & got us locked out of the account), or by email (which we can't access to).
e) We can use the iPhone, but we can't download apps or update apps.
f) We can't even reset the phone because the Apple account is locked.
g) We have gone into the iforgot.apple.com as suggested. But after filling in our Apple ID on the 1st page, immediately it gives us only 2 options and we have to choose either:
"Select how you want to unlock your account:
Your account xxxxxx has been locked for security reasons. Select how you would like to unlock it.
We will send instructions to your email address ending in
Answer the question(s) you chose when you created your Apple ID."
h) The rescue email we used when we set up the Apple account is one ending with me.com (now migrated to iCloud.com) This is the tragic part: we can't access it because iCloud says we have to unlock our Apple account first. We should never have used an email that's part of Apple to start with.
You said forgetting security questions is fixable? That's not what the last guy at Apple Support tells us. Is there someone else I should speak to... Any other suggestions to resolve this?
You have an older Apple ID that you did not keep up to date.
You didn't add a rescue email address to it for occasions such as this.
Apple doesn't have a device on file for you to send a reset code to. That is the only gap between what options you have available and the options I see when I access iforgot.apple.com with an up-to-date account.
So, again, I'm afraid you have lost control of your account.
And yes, fixing security questions is fixable... *IF* (as I have noted all along) you can be verified as the account holder. It seems you can't for these reasons.
I still don't know what you are being prevented from doing. You've been verified as the device owner, which should have removed the activation lock.
Thanks LACAllen for your responses. At least you understand our situation now.
"I still don't know what you are being prevented from doing." To answer your question, we are prevented from downloading new apps, updating old apps, and we can't access our email, not to mention we keep getting the message to unlock our account.
We have been Apple fans - we have Mac laptop, iPad, iPhones - and have been pleased with Apple until this dilemma. Even then, we are not sure they fully understand what our problem is like you do. We are disappointed Apple didn't cater to users like us. They should have told us to have a rescue email outside iCloud earlier. We had trusted to rely on their " .me" email address for years.
We hope someone can feedback this to Apple's management.
1st time - We related the problem and were asked to send documents to prove we were the owner of our phone.
2nd time - We scanned and sent the above documents. But we were told to re-send as photos, and told to wait on the line until they received them.
3rd time - After receiving our documents, Apple unlocked our device. But not the account. So we called and explained to them (again), it's not our device that was locked! We were then told that if we could not remember our security questions, it was the end of that account. We were taught how to set up another account. 😟
This thread has been closed by the system or the community team.
You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.
How to access mail on iCloud.com when Apple account is locked?
Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.
