What To Do If Your iPhone is disabled And You’ve Forgot your Passcode

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes

A disabled iPhone is a common problem that can cause a major disturbance to your daily life. The issue can lock you out of your iPhone for many minutes, if not hours. So, what should you do if you discover that your iPhone is disabled?

Why does the disabled iPhone message appear?

The “iPhone is disabled” message usually appears when you enter the wrong passcode multiple times in a row. This security feature is designed to protect your device from unauthorised access attempts.

In an attempt to deter brute force passcode guessing, Apple has put this measure in place to lock your phone for an extended period of time. Therefore, the more times your try and guess incorrectly, the longer your phone will be locked for.

How does it work?

After six incorrect passcode entries, the seventh one will disable your phone for one minute. If you continue to input invalid passcodes, this will ramp up to disabling your iPhone for 5 minutes. Following that, subsequent locks of 15 and 30 minutes before jumping to an hour.

The penultimate attempt will lock you out for a full two hours. However, the final incorrect pin will disable your iPhone permanently.

Common reasons why your iPhone may become disabled

Here are a few common reasons why your iPhone may become disabled:

• Forgetting your passcode and repeatedly entering incorrect ones.
• Accidentally letting children or others enter incorrect passcodes.
• Intentional attempts by someone to access your device without authorisation.

It is essential to remember your passcode and keep it secure to prevent your iPhone from becoming disabled. If you suspect someone else is trying to access your iPhone, consider enabling additional security measures such as Touch ID or Face ID.

What to do if your iPhone is disabled and you’ve forgotten your passcode

If your iPhone is disabled because you have forgotten your passcode, you can follow these steps to regain access:

• Use Recovery Mode: Connect your iPhone to a computer with iTunes and put your device into Recovery Mode. Restore your iPhone to remove the passcode and set it up as a new device.
• Use iCloud: If Find My iPhone is enabled on your device, you can erase it remotely using iCloud. This will remove the passcode and allow you to set it up again.
• Use iTunes: If you have previously synced your iPhone with iTunes, you can connect it to the same computer and restore it from a backup or perform a factory reset.
• Contact Apple Support: If you are unable to recover your iPhone on your own, contact Apple Support for assistance. They may be able to help you unlock your device.

What is iPhone Recovery Mode and How to Connect to It?

iPhone Recovery Mode is a troubleshooting state that allows you to restore your device to its factory settings, update its software, or recover it when it’s stuck in a loop or not responding. To connect your iPhone to Recovery Mode, follow these steps:

iPhone 8 or later:

• Connect your iPhone to your computer using a USB cable.
• Open iTunes on your computer or Finder if you are using macOS Catalina or later.
• Press and quickly release the Volume Up button, then the Volume Down button, and finally, press and hold the Side button until you see the recovery mode screen.

iPhone 7 and 7 Plus:

• Connect your iPhone to your computer using a USB cable.
• Open iTunes on your computer.
• Press and hold the Volume Down button and the Sleep/Wake (Side) button simultaneously until you see the recovery mode screen.

On iPhone 6s and earlier:

• Connect your iPhone to your computer using a USB cable.
• Open iTunes on your computer.
• Press and hold the Home button and the Sleep/Wake button simultaneously until you see the recovery mode screen.

Once at this stage choose the ‘Restore’ option when prompted to restore your iPhone to factory settings. Wait for the process to complete, and then set up your iPhone as a new device or restore it from a backup.

What if your disabled iPhone won’t connect to iTunes?

If you have “Find My iPhone” enabled on your device, you can use iCloud to remotely erase and restore your iPhone. Go to iCloud.com and sign in with your Apple ID. Then subsequently select and erase your phone.

What to do if your still stuck with a disabled iPhone and don’t know how to unlock?

If you still have a disabled iPhone and don’t know how to unlock then professional help is at hand. Our iPhone repair Norwich experts have years of fixing disabled iPhone handsets. Popular handsets that we fix for this problem are iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone 11, iPhone 12 and iPhone 13. If you need to find out which iPhone model you have then use our handy guide.

So, talk to us and see how we can help. Just use our contact page or select your iPhone model and buy a passcode removal repair from our online repair shop.

Don’t let a disabled iPhone ruin your day.