In the past, a lost cell phone in a stranger’s hands might have meant no more than access to bunch of phone numbers. With the iPhone, it could mean access to your email, calendar, contact addresses, personal website info, and much more. But the iPhone’s got your back. It’s called Password Lock, and you can turn it on in the settings menu of the iPhone.
What is Passcode Lock?
Password Lock locks your phone down, allowing nothing but an emergency call until the user enters a four-digit password to unlock it again.
How do I turn on Passcode Lock?
You turn it on in the Settings menu on the iPhone. Go to the General tab, and you’ll see a Passcode Lock tab toward the bottom of the screen. Select it.
You will be asked to enter a four-digit passcode. Make it one you’ll remember!
Next, a settings menu for Passcode Lock will appear. You can set how quickly your iPhone locks with Passcode Lock.
What if I forget my password?
If you forget the password, you’ll have to go through a restore process by connecting it to iTunes. See bottom of this post for instructions on how to do this.
Can I password protect specific iPhone apps, like email? I don’t want to lock down the whole phone.
Unfortunately, you can’t password protect individual applications like email. This would make a great feature though, so hopefully Apple will add it in the future.
What’s up with the new “Erase Data” feature?
The iPhone 2.1 software has added a new security feature that can erase all the iPhone’s data when there are ten failed password attempts. You have to turn this feature on, as it’s set to off as a default. As long as you backup your iPhone when you sync it to iTunes (done by default), you should have no worries about the loss of data.
The “erase data” feature can be turned on in the iPhone settings by tapping General, then Passcode Lock, moving the Erase Data tab to On.
How to restore your iPhone if you forget your password:
If you forget your passcode, you’ll need to restore your iPhone to factory settings. You can do this through iTunes.
- Turn off your iPhone by pressing the Sleep button at the top for 5 seconds, then “Slide to Power Off”
- Launch iTunes on your computer
- Hold down the home button on the iPhone
- While holding down the home button, plug your iPhone in to the computer using the USB cord
- Keep holding the home button until you see the restore screen pop up in iTunes
- Click Restore and restore it to factory settings.
To browse through more of Art of the iPhone‘s tips, click here.
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#1 by fhm on September 28th, 2008
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I try the restore iphone but cant find it on itunes so im stuck, here what the error says when opening itunes on my pc “iTunes could not connect to the iPhone “LoOnY’s i-phone” because it is locked with a passcode. You must enter your passcode on the iphone before it can be used with itunes” Some how itunes does have the restore option or cant read my iphone its says “iphone is disabled connect to itunes” on my iphone screen I try reinstall uninstall u name it nada plz help ty for your time
#2 by Mauricio on September 30th, 2008
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my iphone is disabled. how can i unlock it
#3 by damon foster on October 8th, 2008
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How do I suppose restore my iphone when it is saying “Itunes could not connect to the iphone because it is locked with a passcode. you must enter your passcode on the iphone before it can be used with itunes” How do I suppose to do that if my phone is only saying iphone disabled connect to itunes
#4 by Chuck Winston on November 27th, 2008
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How do I suppose restore my iphone when it is saying “Itunes could not connect to the iphone because it is locked with a passcode. you must enter your passcode on the iphone before it can be used with itunes” How do I suppose to do that if my phone is only saying iphone disabled connect to itunes
#5 by Vitaliy on December 16th, 2008
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I just ran into this problem that I couldn’t connect iTunes to my own passcode protected iPhone.
All you need to do is:
1) close iTunes
2) connect your iPhone to your computer, input the passcode to get to the iPhone’s main menu
3) start iTunes again while iPhone is still in its main menu
iTunes should successfully connect to the iPhone.
#6 by gunner on January 12th, 2009
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thanks< itunes has a lock from previous owner what do i do_ so i can upload songs since i am the new owner?
#7 by raven on January 20th, 2009
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yeah this method to restore the iphone does not work so i think there is some other way to restore the iphone and this is just not the way
#8 by Staeven on January 22nd, 2009
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While the yellow triangle did not appear, it worked for me.
My phone was trashed saying connect to iPhone to restore.
iTunes of course told me a passcode protected phone was connected.
I had no way of entering the passcode.
Tosser Phone now being restored.
Thanks Alan.
#9 by Alan on March 3rd, 2009
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The computer you’re using to restore the iPhone has to be the one that activated it. Otherwise, you have to use other software like QuickPwn.
#10 by Chris on March 31st, 2009
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I think I hate the iPhone. I’ve been at this, two rounds now, for a good 3 hours each time, and it just will not work. I have a perfectly working iPhone 2g here, no way to recover the passcode and am trying to unlock it on my pc, which isn’t the one that the iPhone was set up on.. and no Pwnage, QuickPwn or firmware will just unlock the damn thing.. won’t even open at all, saying “failed to initialize properly (0xc000135). Click OK to terminate the application. I’m about to just throw the f**kerr out the window! I’m operating on Windows x64 bit edition, which doesn’t help, so I grabbed another hard drive, making the # of HDD’s on my pc 6 now, burnt a Windows 32 bit version, installed it on that little 12 GB HDD, booted it up on that, installed iTunes on that HDD.. and I am beginning to go crosseyed! Why won’t this work?!
#11 by Robert on April 17th, 2009
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How do I restore my iphone when it is saying “Itunes could not connect to the iphone because it is locked with a passcode. you must enter your passcode on the iphone before it can be used with itunes” and i tried the method that state to 1. hold the home & power button, 2. hold power then simultaneously the home button. please help my phone is my world, now im stuck using my old blackberry.
#12 by Alli on April 30th, 2009
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If you lose your iphone and it has a lock can someone get any info that was saved to the phone? I know if you restore it (with a passcode), you can use it. Is that true?
#13 by Alan on April 30th, 2009
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Alli: I’m sure it’s possible, but it’s not easy. It’d be easier for your average lughead thief to erase the entire iPhone and start fresh than to get around the passcode lock to read your emails and text messages.
As you can read from the above comments, most people don’t know how to get around a passcode lock that 1. Is on an iPhone that isn’t theirs and 2. Don’t have the computer/iTunes account that the iPhone was originally activated on.
#14 by nichole on May 25th, 2009
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My iPhone is doing the same thing. When I plug in it my computer iTunes sends me a message saying “Itunes could not connect to the iphone because it is locked with a passcode. you must enter your passcode on the iphone before it can be used with itunes”. As simple as putting in a passcode sounds, it wont give me the option on my iPhone. My iPhone then tells me to plug in to iTunes which yet again gives me that stupid message. And I’m the only owner of this phone and this is the computer at which it was activated on.
#15 by Alan on May 25th, 2009
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nichole: Put the phone in recovery mode and restore it. Here’s how:
Connect your iPhone to the computer.
Turn the iPhone off by holding down the sleep button and the home button at the same time for about 10 seconds. Once the iPhone is off, press and hold down the HOME button and keep pressing the HOME button (should work after several seconds) until you see an iTunes warning pop-up saying “iTunes has detected an iPhone in recovery mode. You must restore this iPhone before it can be used with iTunes”. Follow the prompts to restore the iPhone.
Here’s a video showing an example of how to do this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ofpinyGlQ8I
#16 by Alan on May 25th, 2009
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For those those who get the “failed to initialize” error for Quickpwn, you need to install .NET on your Windows machine. You can get it from Microsoft’s site here:
http://bit.ly/DotNet
#17 by dustin on June 2nd, 2009
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i forgot my password but i have 10 failed attempts and my comp. wont even reconize that my phone is pluged in
#18 by kch on June 9th, 2009
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I have now recovered my iphone more than once but after the restore I get the message indicating that there is no SIM or the SIM is PW protected and I must tap and type in the passcode. There is no way for me to enter the passcode. My phone is stuck on the ITunes connected screen with only the option to make an emergency call. I too hate the iPhone. Any suggestions are apprecaited.
#19 by Alan on June 9th, 2009
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I’m sorry KCH, but you’ll have to be more specific with your problem.
What are the exact messages that pop up?
If your SIM card is locked, you can unlock it by logging into your AT&T Wireless account (wireless.att.com), clicking on “Phone/Device”, and then selecting “Unblock SIM card.” You will get a 8-digit PUK code. Enter it into the iPhone to unlock both your SIM card and to reset the SIM locking code.
#20 by Jaber Alshuga'a on June 12th, 2009
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18.kch wrote:
I have now recovered my iphone more than once but after the restore I get the message indicating that there is no SIM or the SIM is PW protected and I must tap and type in the passcode. There is no way for me to enter the passcode. My phone is stuck on the ITunes connected screen with only the option to make an emergency call. I too hate the iPhone. Any suggestions are apprecaited
#21 by joe on June 16th, 2009
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iphone ulock, 2G Old 8GB,AFTER
2weeks lock again.Help
#22 by Sergio Garcia on July 1st, 2009
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The Passcode Lock works great… But what if I lend the phone for family or freinds to play around with? How Can I get my contacts, E-Mail, and Pics to stay Password Protected?
#23 by marc fenelus on July 2nd, 2009
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i hate the iphone i put a password on it and now its telling me that the iphone is disable that get me man i feel like breaking it
#24 by Natalie on July 6th, 2009
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I’m having a real problem. I have a passcode on my iPhone, which has been disabled for weeks. What had happened was I upgraded my phone before I had iTunes 8.2, and my locked itself up. Now that I HAVE the right iTunes, it recongnizes my phone when I plug it in, but it says I can’t access it because of the passcode lock. I need help! I’ve tried EVERYTHING! Please e-mail me if you can help!! splinterface@ymail.com
#25 by Jess on August 1st, 2009
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Thank you so much this realy helped me out for another problem i was having i couldnt find a way to connect my iPhone to itunes on my windows pc it kept saying to type in passcode but it was in emergency mode but it would connect to ,y mac but only problem with my macbook was i didnt have internet connection to it at the time.But this really helped me get around the passcode lock.
#26 by Jeff on August 4th, 2009
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I forgot my passwordddd! how can i restore it?
ive tried many times to put one I just cant remember and now it’s disabled!!!…. what should i do????? im dying I need my phone!!!!!
please help!
#27 by Alan on August 4th, 2009
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Here’s how to restore the iPhone:
* Turn off your iPhone by pressing the Sleep button at the top for 5 seconds, then “Slide to Power Off”
* Launch iTunes on your computer
* Hold down the home button on the iPhone
* While holding down the home button, plug your iPhone in to the computer using the USB cord
* Keep holding the home button until you see the restore screen pop up in iTunes
* Click Restore.
Type your comment here
#28 by kylie on August 22nd, 2009
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i just got my iphone yesterday and i’m trying to download apps. It says i need a password from itunes. when i got on itunes i don’t know where to go or what to do to get my password. can someone please help?
#29 by Alan on August 22nd, 2009
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If you forgot your password, there should be a little “Forgot Password” button when you try to log in to iTunes. (Look to the top right corner of iTunes to log in.)
#30 by sonya on August 26th, 2009
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I don’t know where else to turn, I have called&taken my iphone 3g to 2 diff. stores.searched the web, called tech support, to no avail! My phone has locked up, I guess? It’s locked in the emergency call, only screen! Shows no service, and I do have service and my sim card is working. Another major problem’s that my phone doesn’t recognize it’s being plugged into the wall to charge or computer to itunes for me to do anything! My warrenty was up 2 days prior to this problem that happened last week. It’s useless and I loved my phone. I reaaly don’t know what to do with it!?
#31 by sonya on August 26th, 2009
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I am having the exact same problem, I’m wondering if anyone was able to help/tell you how to solve it? At this point, my phone’s useless and I’m about ready to take it apart and see if I can fix it because what do I have to loose?LOL! Please let me know if there’s anything that can be done, I miss my phone. Sonya
#32 by Nico on September 26th, 2009
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I was curious if it was possible to create a password or a way to enter your password to get into the email app so everyone who uses my phone can’t access it freely. It was answered that it isn’t possible, which is a bummer so hopefully soon it’ll be available.
However for anyone curious, I did find a kind of workaround. If you go into settings and choose email, you can turn the email function to inactive. It’s not a perfect fix but it forces someone to actually go into settings, then mail, and switch it to on or active. So that way if you know people are going to be using your phone at least you know they can’t just hit email and read your emails.
Hopefully this helps someone. Remember all you’ve got to do is go back to Settings > Mail, and turn it back on to Active, no need to re-enter your info.
#33 by aj on October 4th, 2009
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The only way to lock access to email or specific apps is to jailbreak it and use iprotect (or something similar.)
#34 by led1nis on October 16th, 2009
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alan when i do that :
Here’s how to restore the iPhone:
* Turn off your iPhone by pressing the Sleep button at the top for 5 seconds, then “Slide to Power Off”
* Launch iTunes on your computer
* Hold down the home button on the iPhone
* While holding down the home button, plug your iPhone in to the computer using the USB cord
* Keep holding the home button until you see the restore screen pop up in iTunes
* Click Restore.
it still says that i need to put passcote on my iphone
thnx
#35 by led1nis on October 16th, 2009
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sorry is still not disable
#36 by ajdo_majsta@hotmail.com on November 3rd, 2009
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I just a buy a Iphone,and i don’t know a phone pass**Do you know??
#37 by rend on November 15th, 2009
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it worked for me just follow the instructions and it’ll work
#38 by Pey on November 15th, 2009
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Dangggg so easy it worked!!!! Thx!!!
#39 by Madhu Gowda on December 10th, 2009
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If anyone is interested in signing the petition so that Apple enables the feature to just lock email do it here. Feel free to forward where appropriate.
http://www.petitiononline.com/iphone01/petition.html
Thanks.
#40 by gairidhara on December 17th, 2009
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Great tips to reset my iphone. Thank you very much…
#41 by Lola on January 9th, 2010
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It worked!! Thanks heaps
#42 by larelol on January 13th, 2010
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My iPhone 3GS was stolen from me, I had protected it with a passcode (don’t remember if the erase data option was on or not).
Can the thief plug it into a pc/mac with or without iTunes and get access to the data (photos, messages and such)?
#43 by Jane on April 27th, 2010
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I, too, have a problem with the message ” iPhone is disabled, connect to iTunes ” on my iPhone, I know my passcode, however, I don’t have the pc that I originally set up my iTunes in…..please help….I tried the suggestions above about the recovery mode and it didn’t work….again, please help…thanks in advance
#44 by Mike on May 6th, 2010
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I also had the problem that my iphone was showing connect to itunes to restore,but that itunes was saying that it could not link to the iphone until the passcode had been input.
The fix offered here worked well for me.
Thanks very much.
#45 by mike on June 16th, 2010
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Iphone went blank. Still hot battery. When sync w computer it says “Itunes could not connect to the iPhone “sara’s iPhone” because it is locked with a passcode on the iPhone before it can be used with iTunes.” Last time this happened there was not a passcode and it was restored on computer and it worked again. But now it’s asking for passcode and we can’t enter it due to blank screen. help?
#46 by Alan on June 17th, 2010
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If you backed it up recently, restore it.
#47 by TOM on July 1st, 2010
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HI HOW CAN I UNLOCK MY IPHONE 32GB
#48 by Alan on July 1st, 2010
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You can unlock your iPhone with jailbreaking software. It all depends on what software version is on your iPhone. Google it.
#49 by yupyup on July 17th, 2010
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probolem… my iphone 3g is stuck on the apple logo, i try to restore and upgrade and it continues to ask for apple logo. So there is no way for me to enter my passcode… it got stuck on the apple logo after i jailbroked it on 4.0… any help would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!!
#50 by Jose on July 19th, 2010
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I have forgotten my password on my iphone 3gs. I need some help to see if i can get it unlocked, But i dont want to loose all my #. Can some one plz help
#51 by Annonms on July 24th, 2010
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It Works