Forgot iPhone encrypted backup password

But what if you have Windows? My husband and I got new phones and I backed the old ones up to iTunes, but never put in a password. When I went to restore, it asked for a password. Somehow, a password I normally use worked for my phone, but can't get my husband's to download. He lost all his pics, songs and contacts

I recently had the same problem trying to restore a backup which I did not encrypt. In my case, the iOS software automatically imposed an encryption even though I left the encryption box unchecked. I see two time stamps of my backup, each with different passwords and know that I did not create those password back ups. You can try to reveal this password by doing the following:

1. On your Mac computer go to Finder> Go> Utilities> KeyChain Access.app
2. Double click the app and scroll down. Look for iOS Backup. There may be a couple of dates. Find the latest date of your back up and double click.
3. Check the box "Show password" and enter your computer's passcode (the one that you use to login to your computer).

This should reveal your password for the backup. Go back to iTunes and restore the backup using the password revealed above. Hope this helps!

See the following from About encrypted backups in iTunes - Apple Support

There is no way to recover your information or turn off Encrypt Backup if you lose or forget the password.

and

If you can’t remember the password for your encrypted backup

You can’t restore an encrypted backup without its password. With iOS 11 or later, you can make a new encrypted backup of your device by resetting the password. Here’s what to do:

1. On your iOS device, go to Settings > General > Reset.
2. Tap Reset All Settings and enter your iOS passcode.
3. Follow the steps to reset your settings. This won't affect your user data or passwords, but it will reset settings like display brightness, Home screen layout, and wallpaper. It also removes your encrypted backup password.
4. Connect your device to iTunes again and create a new encrypted backup.

You won't be able to use previous encrypted backups, but you can back up your current data using iTunes and setting a new backup password.If you have a device with iOS 10 or ealier, you can't reset the password. In this case, try the following:

• If someone else set up your device, ask them for the password.
• Use an iCloud backup instead of iTunes. If you don't have an iCloud backup, you can make one.
• Try using an older iTunes backup.

I had the same problem! Turns out the password is not the same as your iTunes login. Mine was 'iphone' even though I never set it as that. Try every single password you can think off, even default passwords like 0000 and 1234.

There is no workaround to get past this. If you also have automatic iCloud backups, restore from iCloud. Otherwise, sync your device to your computer, import all photos and music, then reset it and sync to what’s on your computer and iCloud.

Forgot iTunes encrypted iOS backup password

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

What you have posted looks very helpful BUT for those (like me) with limited understanding on some of the terminology may I kindly ask for further explanation - (my text, comment, question in Green,BOLD and underlined)

You can’t restore an encrypted backup without its password. With iOS 11 or later, you can make a new encrypted backup of your device (by device i am assuming all iphones , ipads?) by resetting the password. Here’s what to do:

1. On your iOS device, go to Settings > General > Reset.
2. Tap Reset All Settings and enter your iOS passcode. (IOS passcode - is this passcode you use to activate the iphone regularly i.e 4 or 6 digit?)
3. Follow the steps to reset your settings. This won't affect your user data or passwords, but it will reset settings like display brightness, Home screen layout, and wallpaper. It also removes your encrypted backup password.
4. Connect your device to iTunes again and create a new encrypted backup. ( So, all Apps, Mail settings, Contact Lists are still on the iphone although one has "Reset All Settings"?)

You won't be able to use previous encrypted backups, but you can back up your current data using iTunes and setting a new backup password.If you have a device with iOS 10 or ealier, you can't reset the password. In this case, try the following:

• If someone else set up your device, ask them for the password.
• Use an iCloud backup instead of iTunes. If you don't have an iCloud backup, you can make one.
• Try using an older iTunes backup.

(So, in Short : it is possible BUT complicated (i.e NOT a "regular" Apple Help-desk item) - and maybe all data could remain locked for ever, in iTunes, IF the above does not work? - wow, that is seriously crazy!)

If any one can provide an "idiots guide" to such issues it would be extremely welcomed. Note: I am using an iphone 6s currently - wanting to transfer data to a new iphone 8)

Also - Like many before hace commented, I cannot recall having set a password for restoring data.......is this something Apple have imposed automatically on recent IOS software?

I managed to guess mine after a thousand tries. It was a password I vaguely remember setting the first time I backed up a phone, on a different computer, years ago.

I was having the exact same issue. No matter what password I tried, it would tell me it wasn't correct.

I updated iTunes and my iPhone to the latest versions, and then it worked at the first try! I hope this helps other people 🙂

If you saved the password in the key chain when you set it up (default action), you can easily find it with the Keychain Access Apple utility - it's the "iOS Backup" entry in the "login" keychain.

Good luck!

1. Yes.

2. Yes.

3. The data should remain.

4. If you didn't encrypt your backup, you won't need a password. Apple isn't forcing you to use an encrypted backup.