Apple Account recovery contact: Set up iPhone security feature

If you ever lose access to your Apple Account or iPhone, you’ll be happy you set up a recovery contact in advance. Once you do, a trusted person can remotely unlock your iPhone for you if you can’t recall your password.

It only takes a few moments to set up — and could be a huge weight off your shoulders if you’re desperate, frustrated and just want to unlock your Apple account. Once you designate a recovery contact (and they accept), you can easily ask them for help.

Here’s how it works.

Set up an Apple account recovery contact on your iPhone

There are many, many ways to regain access to your iPhone and Apple Account if you lose the password to either, like using a different device you also own. But in the worst-case scenario, where you’ve forgotten everything and all your devices are somehow incapacitated, what happens then?

You could contact Apple Support. But it might be easier to ask your partner, your parent or a trusted friend. That’s what recovery contacts are for. If you need help, they’ll get a six-digit code on their device. Then they can read it to you, and you can reset whatever you need to.

For this feature to work, both you and your recovery contact need to have two-factor authentication enabled. And you must invite them. Here’s how to do it.

Table of contents: Set up an Apple account recovery contact on your iPhone

1. Add an Apple Account recovery contact on your iPhone
2. Choose a friend or family member
3. Send an invitation
4. Accept an invitation
5. More Apple Account features

Add an Apple Account recovery contact on your iPhone

First, open Settings, tap on your name at the top, then tap Sign-In & Security and tap Recovery Contacts.

You’ll see a setup screen explaining how the Apple Account recovery contact feature works:

• You can choose a friend or family member as long as they’re older than 13 and have an Apple device.
• Your recovery contact can help unlock your device if you forget your Apple Account password or device password.
• Having a recovery contact replaces Apple’s ability to unlock your account. The trade-off is that asking a friend might prove more convenient than going through Apple Support. However, it depends on the reliability of your friend.

Tap Add Recovery Contact if you’re ready to set this up. It’ll authenticate with Face ID.

Choose a friend or family member

If you have an iCloud Family set up, you’ll see your family members listed first as possible Apple Account recovery contacts. You can choose any one person in the list and tap Next. Tap Choose Someone Else to pick a different contact and tap Add.

If you really want, you can type in any phone number — but I really don’t recommend tying your Apple Account to a stranger.

Send an Apple account recovery contact invitation on iPhone

If you want somebody to act as your Apple Account recovery contact, you should let them know. You can use the default message, which reads:

I’d like to add you as my recovery contact. If you accept, you’ll be able to help me recover my data and regain access to my account. I will call you or reach out in person when I need help.

However, you can customize it by tapping Edit Message. That will bring up the standard Messages compose view. Then, you can type whatever you want and tap Send. (Inexplicably, you can even tap × and it’ll remove the Recovery Contact invitation. If you accidentally do that, tap Resend Request to try again.)

Accept an invitation

When the other person receives an invitation via Messages, they’ll see a card in the conversation, along with whatever message you wrote. They just need to tap on it and choose either Accept or Decline.

You’ll receive a notification telling you if they accepted or declined your invitation.

More Apple Account features

After setting up a recovery contact for your iPhone, check out these other great features: