Activation Lock: How to Bypass Activation Lock on iPhone

Locking your Apple ID is an important security step for your mobile device and personal data. However, sometimes it happens that precaution works against you and brings a lot of inconvenience. We will describe what to do in this case below.

If Apple ID is blocked: official method

If your Apple ID is private, you've likely entered your password or verification information incorrectly many times. In such cases, the built-in protection system is triggered, blocking access to the device. A corresponding message will appear on the screen. To restore access to the device, you should immediately go to the special page on the Apple website and enter the current reset password. If you do not remember your password, or have made several unsuccessful attempts to guess it, the service will also be blocked until the next day. After some time, you can try again. Here you can also reset your password, regain access through a trusted device or using your phone number. Keep in mind that iOS only sends three specific types of messages to the user related to ID blocking. If the notice text is different, contact Customer Support for assistance.

Working method to unlock Apple ID

If for some reason the official method does not work or cannot be used, try the approach described below. Unfortunately, it only works on iPhone 4 with iOS 7.0. Moreover, you won’t be able to make calls from the device; at most you will get an “iPod Touch.” You can try it in the following way:

turn on your smartphone;
reach the blocking window;
press “emergency call”, then enter number 112 and make a call;
Immediately press the lock screen button once;
Click “unblock”, click “contacts”, create an empty one and click on “Home” three times;
select an empty contact, then “block”, select again and block again, repeat until the final blocking;
We use it as a player and watch the video under the article if something is not clear.

How to unlock other devices?

At the moment there is practically no working cure. You can try to convince technical support that the device is really yours if you have a box of documents on hand, as well as payment receipts. Most of the people who offer to unlock Apple ID for money, also for prepayment, are scammers with whom it is better not to contact. If you don’t have a receipt, you can try to “draw” one through special resources, for example http://sickw.com/ The correct data for different countries will also be indicated there. To avoid being blocked by hackers, do not give anyone access to your mailbox, create complex passwords and store them in safe places.

You don't have to be an attacker to see the “Activation Lock” message. You can quite honestly buy Apple equipment second-hand and, when making an update, stumble upon a block. Therefore, before purchasing used equipment, be sure to familiarize yourself with the possible pitfalls that will accompany the transaction.

Apple ID is a user account in Apple services and programs. The company takes the security of its customers seriously, so it blocks accounts at the slightest suspicious activity. There can be many reasons for blocking, so not only attackers, but also ordinary users are at risk. Read about the methods you can use to unlock your Apple ID in our article.

Why Apple ID is blocked - possible reasons

There are three known reasons for account blocking.

The password was entered incorrectly several times

Someone tried to log into the account and entered the password incorrectly several times. In such cases, account blocking is justified: if you give users the opportunity to guess forgotten passwords, scammers can take advantage of this. If you forgot your password, don't try to guess it ten times, try to recover it.

Suspicious activity

Apple, like any other company, uses vague language like “suspicious activity” or “blocking for security reasons.” Nevertheless, there are precise criteria by which suspicious activity is determined. The most common reasons for blocking:

Violation of the terms of use. Most often, maintaining a common account for several users. This brings benefits for users and losses for Apple, which is why they block it.
Constant attempts to return money for purchased applications and content. Apple gives its users the opportunity to return money if the purchased game or program does not meet the buyer's expectations. But abuse of this right is regarded as fraud.
Frequent changes of payment information and payments from different bank cards also look suspicious in the eyes of Apple, because a rare user will suddenly start constantly changing his details. If this happens, then the account has most likely been hacked.

Account hacking

Apple's algorithms have been refined over the years, so most of the blocking is justified. Apple ID is considered reliable and secure, but it is also hacked. Fortunately for users, Apple employees have learned to identify and promptly block a hacked account. Due to strict measures, users sometimes suffer, but this is the price for the security and safety of your payment data.

How to unlock Apple ID?

To unlock your account, you need to recover your Apple ID password via the email you provided during registration.

This is a standard procedure; you will receive an email with instructions for changing your password. In the same way, instructions can be sent to another email if you have specified it as an alternative email.

When registering for an Apple ID, the user selects security questions and writes down the answers to them. You can recover your password by answering these questions and indicating the date of birth that was specified during registration.

If it happens that it is impossible to recover your password by mail or security questions, Apple provides another way - contact support.

Apple support phone numbers in Russia:
+7 (495) 580–95–57 (from 9:00 to 20:00 on weekdays).

8 800 333–51–73 (from 9:00 to 21:00 on weekdays).

Apple support staff will ask you to answer several questions to verify your identity. If your account is used for iCloud on one of the devices, you will be sent a verification code, which you need to call over the phone. You will also need receipts or other documents proving that you are the owner of the device and account.

Starting with iOS 7.0, Apple added the Activation Lock feature, which completely locks the device and requires you to log in to your account. The feature is activated if the user tries to turn off Find My iPhone, signs out of iCloud, or updates the device. Without an Apple ID and password, nothing can be done; even after updating, erasing data and flashing the device, the device will be locked. And if you cannot recover your Apple ID password, then your phone or tablet will turn into a piece of iron.

The iPhone is completely blocked until the user logs in using his account.

On the one hand, this innovation made the theft of iPhone and iPad useless, but on the other hand, respectable users also became victims of such a harsh measure. However, there is a way to bypass Activation Lock, but it does not work for all devices. Currently works for the following devices: iPhone 4, iPad 2 WiFi/WiFi+3G, iPad 3 WiFi, iPad 4 WiFi, iPad mini WiFi/Retina WiFi, Air WiFi without 3G module, iPod of all generations.

Note! Your actions may violate Apple policies. Be prepared to accept this responsibility.

The steps are as follows:

Download the latest version of iTunes from the official Apple website: www.apple.com/itunes and install it.
Change the hosts file. If you are a Windows owner, then you need to make system files/folders visible: to do this, go to the “Control Panel”, then to “Folder Options”, then open the “View” tab and check the “Show hidden files and folders” and “ Display system files”, click the “Apply” button. Then you need to open the folder at C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc\. This folder contains the hosts file. Open it using the text editor Notepad.
Now, under all the lines, add the line “107.170.72.61 albert.apple.com” and restart your computer.
If you have a Mac: open Finder, select “Go” in the upper left corner, then “Go to folder” and enter “/etc/” in the line that appears. Then find the hosts file, copy it to your desktop without closing /etc/, and open it.
At the bottom, add the line “107.170.72.61 albert.apple.com”
Copy the modified file to /etc/. Restart iTunes.
Open iTunes, connect your device. It is possible that iTunes will create a dialog box, close it by clicking Continue. Wait, a message about geolocation services will appear on the screen. If the error “doulCi Server Security: You are a victim of one of scamming websites, or maybe not!” appears in iTunes! Please use www.merruk.com to get free doulCi authorized service", then go to the website www.merruk.com, in the “Enter the text below” field, enter the text from the image below this field. Then disconnect the device from the computer and connect it again.
If you did everything correctly, the device will be activated and you will be able to use it.

Video: how to bypass activation on Apple devices

Video: flaws in iOS 7 that allow Apple ID to be stolen (in English)

Unfortunately, scammers often use such advice. It is important to understand what risks exist. An employee of the German company Security Research Labs, Ben Schlabs, showed a flaw in the Apple security system and in Find my iPhone, making a video in which he explains how a criminal can bypass the blocking.

How to protect Apple ID from blocking and hacking?

Scammers' schemes

First, let's look at the methods scammers use to hack Apple ID accounts. In addition to using payment data, attackers also resort to blackmail. If you gain access to your Apple ID, you can block any device associated with your account. And they demand money to unlock it. So how can a password be stolen?

Since account logins and passwords are stored in the computer’s memory, attackers can find them using computer viruses. Browser viruses are especially dangerous, since users often allow browsers to remember their credentials for various sites, which may include an email service. If a fraudster gains access to an email, he will also gain access to passwords for all services for which the user registered.

The password can be stolen using “phishing” sites, which visually represent a copy of a service.

For example, iTunes Store. If you log into your account on such a site, your login and password will be immediately saved and sent to the scammer.

“Phishing” is a type of Internet fraud, the purpose of which is to obtain confidential user data, for example, logins and passwords. Users are offered a seemingly lucrative offer: to inexpensively purchase an account on which many applications, games, movies, music have already been purchased, and all this can be used for free, you just need to log into this account on your device. Unknowing people agree, although this is prohibited by Apple's rules. But when the user logs in with the purchased account, the scammer changes the Apple ID password and uses the Find My Phone function to enable Activation Lock. The device is blocked, and the user is required to pay money to unlock it.

Ways to protect against hacking

There are some general tips:

Use strong passwords. Create a password that contains numbers, upper and lower case letters, and special characters. Do not use short passwords, they are easy to guess. For example, instead of password use Gm@1l_Pa$$w0rd.
Do not use the same password (or passwords that are related in meaning) on different services. This is especially true for email.
Change your passwords from time to time.
Do not share your password with third parties. Apple (or any other company) support staff does not need your password and will never ask you for one.
Do not use other people's accounts.
To protect yourself from phishing scams, always check the website address before entering your password to log into your account.
For example, the iTunse Store address is itunes.apple.com. If instead the browser bar shows itunes.apple1.com, or itunes.appple.com, then the site was created by scammers.
Use antivirus programs on your computer.
If your device has been jailbroken (a procedure that allows you to access the file system of an iPhone, iPad or iPod), then do not install suspicious applications from Cydia. Every program will be checked in the AppStore; anything can end up in Cydia.

If you buy an Apple device second-hand, make sure that the Find my iPhone feature is not activated on the device.

User stories: who encountered the problem and how it was solved

History of communication with support service:

Letters are answered within one to two days; it is important to indicate the case number and attach proof of purchase. If the phone was purchased in Russia, then you need a receipt from an official Apple representative, since the support service checks the company from the receipt and if the company is not an official representative of Apple, then the employee either writes that the purchase is not confirmed or simply does not respond. That is, they check whether the purchase of the device is legal. If you bought it through an online store, secondhand, etc., they will refuse to serve you. And also: the guys on the phone are only the first level of support, completely different people remove the blocking, and they will communicate with you in English, the main thing is to speak everything correctly.

iWarlocki

Hello everyone! I'm telling my story. I bought an iPhone 4s secondhand, only the phone itself and a charger are included.

It already had OS 7.0.2. Because There was a lot of junk in the phone, I decided to erase everything and install OS 7.0.4. Upon activation, a link appeared to the ID of the previous owner, who conveniently disappeared. I hadn’t used an iPhone before and didn’t know all the intricacies of linking an ID to a phone, otherwise I would have checked everything when purchasing. I went online and found out that I’m not the only one. After reading the entire thread on this problem, I decided to take action.

The first thing I did was request a call from Apple support. After talking with the man and telling him my story, I realized that only a check would help me. Having checked the phone on the paid checker http://sndeep.info (Paypal is accepted), I found out the date of sale and that it was purchased in the Netherlands from a mobile operator. I decided to make the check from scratch, because... I didn’t find a sample anywhere, the main thing I indicated was: the name of the organization, phone number, address, web address, date of sale, phone brand, serial number and IMEI, plus all sorts of crap to make it look like a receipt (like our Taxpayer Identification Number, cash register ID , transaction code and check number).

I did all this in regular Word, choosing a font similar to the one we see on regular cash receipts. Then I took an old receipt from some store and printed mine on the back using a laser printer. Since the receipt paper is thermal on one side, I got a black receipt on one side, and the one I made myself on the other.

I photographed the resulting receipt with reduced quality so that everything would be legible, but when enlarged it would be distorted. Having written a letter in English (template, supposedly updated to iOS 7, but here an unknown ID is asking me), I sent it to the post office [email protected], also in the subject of the letter and in the letter itself indicated the number of my initial request, which was assigned to me during a conversation with a man from Apple support. Two days later I received a letter with a response: After reviewing the provided documentation, we unlocked the product. After that, I became a full-fledged user of Apple products. And finally, a few tips: if you don’t want to be rejected, be sure to make good checks, and also print them out and take pictures, don’t stupidly use a template and Photoshop, I think they receive tons of similar checks.

http://4pda.ru/forum/index.php?showtopic=473599

The problem with Apple ID being blocked occurs for many users, but most often it can be solved officially, with the help of Apple support. However, there are situations in which the support team cannot help you. For example, if you bought a device secondhand, and when the device was blocked, you could not find the seller. However, even in such cases, all is not lost, and there are ways to bypass the Activation Lock.

Activation Lock is a feature built into the iPhone (iOs 7 and up) that protects personal data from unauthorized access and prevents the device from being resold. Turns on if you enter the account password incorrectly. Next, we will tell you how to remove iPhone activation lock if you have forgotten your Apple ID.

Apple ID recovery

Activation Lock is enabled if the iPhone is linked to an Apple ID and the user has entered the account information incorrectly. If you have forgotten your account login or password, try to recover it. To do this, follow these steps:

If you don't remember the ID, you can view it through the iCloud, iTunes Store or App Store settings. But only if you are successfully logged in on another device.
You can also view the ID using materials previously purchased from iTunes. To do this, select the file through the media library and go to the “Edit” - “Information” menu. Here go to the file tab and find the line “Buyer”.
Recover your Apple ID using the official website. To do this, you will need to indicate your full name and expected email address.
If you have forgotten your password, reset it. The procedure differs depending on the selected authentication method. The recovered password will be sent to the email address specified during registration.

Once you recover your Apple ID account information, try bypassing iPhone Activation Lock. To do this, specify a new ID and password. After this you will have access to the device.

Unblocking via iTunes

If you previously used iTunes to synchronize data and the required Apple ID remains in the program, then you can remove the block using the following steps:

Connect your smartphone to your computer using a USB cable (use only original cables).
Turn on iTunes and wait until the device appears in the active list. There is no need to lock the screen.
A system notification will appear on the smartphone screen saying that the iPhone is in recovery mode.
Confirm the action and agree to full restoration.

After this, the user data will be automatically destroyed and the latest version of iOS will be downloaded to the phone. If you previously used the backup function, the information can be transferred back.

iPhone unlocking is available only to the owner. If Activation Lock was enabled through Lost Mode (using the Find iPhone service), it will not be possible to restore it.

Checking Activation Lock Status

The status of an iPhone or any other iOS device can be found using the official Apple website. If you want to check your iPhone by IMEI for activation lock, then follow these steps:

Sign in to iCloud and go to the Activation Lock page.
Enter the serial number or IMEI of the device you want to check.
Additionally, enter the code from the picture to confirm the action.

After this, the tab will automatically update, and the activation lock status (enabled, disabled) will appear on the page. It is recommended to use the service before purchasing an iPhone from your own hands.

Contacting support

If you cannot remove Activation Lock and restore your Apple ID, you can remove it by contacting official Apple support.

Contact a company specialist through the form on the website (but best by phone) and prove the fact that you are trying to restore a device that belongs to you.

To do this, provide all the necessary documents, including a photo of the box with the serial number, iPhone data and other information (don't forget the purchase receipt). If everything is in order and the smartphone is really yours, then the staff will remove iCloud Lock or help you regain access to your Apple ID.

Bypass blocking

If you are using someone else’s device, “Activation Lock” may appear if the previous owner did not remove the iPhone from the list of linked ones. To reset the lock, ask him to do the following:

Log in to the official iCloud website and enter your Apple ID details (identifier, password).
Go to the “Find iPhone” tab and select “Show all linked devices” (at the top of the page).
A list of available iPhones, iPads and other iOS devices (which are linked to your account) will open.
Select the iPhone you want to unlink from the iCloud service and click “Remove from account.”

When the previous owner completes the described steps, the smartphone must be turned off and turned on again. After that, activate it as new. To do this, create your own Apple ID or use an existing one.

It is possible to unlock an iPhone 5s from apple id, in general, like other models, only through legal or semi-legal methods (with a little deception of technical support), which allow owners to restore access to the device. In order to use at least one of the proposed methods, you need to have at least documents on your smartphone, have account information (answers to security questions) or access to mail.

The term blocking refers to several different situations:

You just forgot the key to unlock your phone;
You are required to enter an apple id password that you do not have;
A message indicating that the device is lost or stolen is displayed on the screen.

For each individual case, the actions will be completely different, so they should be considered separately.

Unlocking iPhone

Quite often on the Internet there are situations where you lose access to your smartphone, in cases where you installed an unlock key that is too sophisticated, or they played a joke on you. However, do not despair - the situation is completely fixable.

There are several ways to reset the unlock password to the standard one. However, for the legal methods invented by the developers, you need to know the apple id of the iPhone; below we will indicate an option without it.

Method 1. Using the iTunes service

To perform the necessary actions, you should connect the device to the computer, check that there are no errors. To unlock:

Use the iTunes service;
Find the phone icon in the left menu, which takes you to the “Devices” section and click on it;

Find your iPhone among the list and go to its review;
Next you will see the “Recover” tab.

Method 2. Unlocking iPhone via iCloud service

To perform the following steps, make sure that you have access to the Internet on your phone or computer. In addition to everything else, the “Find my iPhone” application should work for you.

Go to the iCloud search application, use the link https://www.icloud.com/#find;
You need to log in to the site using your id and password;
Make sure that the service finds your smartphone online (there should be a green circle);

Click on the iPhone and press the “Erase” button.

This method will erase all user data from the smartphone, so you should copy it to the cloud in advance.

Method 3. Unlocking a jailbroken phone

This method is extremely simple, you just need to download the SemiRestore application from the website at https://semi-restore.com/. Also, to perform a reset you will need the OpenSSH component, you can get it from the link https://cydia.saurik.com/. Now just connect your iPhone, launch the program and after analyzing the application, click on the SemiRestore button in the main program window.

Even though the program deletes all user data, it retains the jailbreak function.

When I activate my iPhone it asks for my apple id, what should I do?

This problem occurs in cases where you have lost your apple id record or, even worse, you were not the one who set the password. This problem can only be fixed if you have all the recovery information or documents for the iPhone along with the receipt.

The iPhone asks for activation via apple id in cases where you have updated the smartphone’s firmware after a certain period of time or you are trying to make important changes, including in apple services.

Sometimes people offer to buy an iPhone at a low price right on the streets. You shouldn’t rush into such offers, since you will definitely have to enter your password and id sooner or later. If you don't have your email or password, your smartphone will become a useless brick.

There are only two ways to recover your password: through the standard proposed method or through technical support. To restore access, you need to know the answers to security questions or access to the mail to which your apple id is registered.

1.Go to the iTunes or iCloud website;

2.On the login page, under the password entry screen you will see the message “Forgot your apple id or password?”, click on it;

3.Enter your email address;

4.You will see two reset options, select the one you need:

Reset by e-mail – allows you to use the backup e-mail, if this is not confirmed, then the main one, to restore access to the account;

Answering security questions. If you personally registered an account and entered adequate data, then there should be no problems.

If for some reason you were unable to use this tool, then all hope lies with the technical support service. However, you should understand that you must prove ownership of the iPhone.

Support will have legitimate questions, like: “Why don’t you have access to mail, etc.”, then your only hope will be to provide documents. After review, you will be notified of a decision regarding your situation.

How to unlock iPhone from apple id?

Here we will consider a situation when your iPhone is completely locked and the screen indicates that the device is lost. In this case, there are not as many options for the development of events as we would like. The only way that will give you back access to your smartphone is if you have the information necessary for at least one of the recovery methods. When contacting technical support with the request: “I can’t unlock apple id,” you will not receive a satisfactory answer, since this is the function of blocking the phone.

If everything turns out in such a way that you don’t have the information and don’t know the password to the apple id, then you have a choice: return the iPhone to the owner, possibly for a fee, since it’s not always possible, but a contact number or his email is indicated, another option is This is to give the smartphone for analysis, reimbursing at least some part of the money spent.

Some craftsmen, whose videos can be found on YouTube by searching for Activation Lock, have learned to bypass the lock to some extent. Gaining access to some iPhone functions such as a video camera, player, browser and several others.

The Activation Lock function is designed to prevent unauthorized persons from accessing the smartphone. In fact, this functionality can put a spoke in the wheels of the iPhone owners themselves, but for most cases, there is still a way out.

If you still have questions on the topic “How to unlock an iPhone?”, you can ask them in the comments

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Are you familiar with the situation when your iPhone asks for a password for your Apple ID, but you have completely forgotten it? Or maybe you bought a used iPad that was locked to a seller's Apple ID that you forgot or deliberately didn't sign out of your account and now you can't activate your device? Today we will tell you how to reset your Apple ID password.

Apple ID password requirements

Must consist of 8 or more characters.
Must contain uppercase and lowercase letters.
Must contain at least one digit.

Remembering such a password is not easy, and it is not surprising that many people often forget it.

It's impossible without an Apple ID password.

Buy or download for free and , iPad and iPod Touch (iOS) in the App Store.
Buy or , movies and TV shows from the iTunes Store and Apple Music.
Buy or download free games for Mac (OS X) from the Mac App Store.
Buy or download free eBooks and magazines from the iBook Store.
Enter . Apple ID password and iCloud password are the same thing.
Disable on iPhone, iPad, and Mac.

There are 2 ways to reset your Apple ID password:

By .
Replying to .

This can be done on any smartphone, tablet or computer with any operating system (Android, Windows 10, Linux), as well as on an iPhone and iPad with iOS and a Mac computer with OS X.

How to Reset Apple ID Password via Email on iPhone and iPad

Make sure that the “Reset Apple ID password” letter came from Apple, that is, from the address [email protected]. If such a message comes from another address not associated with the apple.com domain, under no circumstances follow the links in the message or enter your Apple ID - this is a phishing attack and they are trying to steal your account, for example.

The original "Reset Apple ID Password" from Apple has the following content:

“Hello, your First and Last Name!

You recently requested to reset your Apple ID password. To continue, please follow the link below.

If you did not submit this request, another user may have entered your email address in error and your account is still protected. If you believe that someone else has gained access to your account, immediately change your password on your Apple ID account page https://appleid.apple.com.

Sincerely,
Apple Support"

If this message is not in the Inbox of either your backup or primary mailbox, check your Spam folder and the Spam filter settings in your mail service. It is recommended to disable the latter while resetting the password (possibly, but not in all email services). To make sure your message doesn't get caught by the spam filter, add your address [email protected] to contacts.

How to reset your Apple ID password by answering security questions on iPhone and iPad

The same thing can be done on a computer, although it’s a little more complicated.

How to reset your Apple ID password on your Mac

For instructions on how to reset your Apple ID password in OS X:

Save time, do the same thing, but faster and easier:

How to reset your Apple ID password on an Android smartphone, tablet, or Windows or Linux computer

The procedure is the same as on a Mac computer:

Exceptional case

Maybe you:

You do not have access to your main e-mail or it is blocked.
Don't remember your date of birth.
Don't remember the answers to the security questions.
Your Apple ID doesn't have a recovery email connected or it's not verified in your Apple ID settings. Therefore, you will not be able to reset the security questions.

In this case, you won’t be able to reset your Apple ID password using standard methods; the only option left is to contact Apple support.

Provide your purchase receipt for an official iPhone, iPad, or Mac that used your Apple ID, and you'll be given your account ID and password.

As you can see, you can reset your Apple ID password yourself in 99.9% of cases. If you have any difficulties, questions or additions, write in the comments, we will certainly help you.