You’ve probably been using the same passcode on your iPhone for years, handed down on your handsets from generation to generation. You most likely don’t have to use it all that often, because you open your iPhone with your face or fingerprint, but there are times when you need that code, such as when you start up an iPhone after it’s been powered down, or when you want to check a password.
This won’t be a problem if you know the code, but what if you had recently changed the passcode and didn’t note it down, or the phone belongs to someone else who has forgotten the passcode (or died, if so read: How to unlock an iPhone, iPad or Mac when its owner passed away)?
Perhaps you have found an old iPhone in a drawer and decided to make some money by selling it only to realise you don’t remember the code you were using a few years ago and can’t unlock it in order to prepare the iPhone for sale.
Panic not – it’s relatively simple to circumnavigate an iPhone’s passcode, but it will require your Apple ID and password, a PC or Mac, and some time, because doing so will essentially wipe your device back to factory settings for a clean setup on the same Apple ID.
This works for both iPhone and iPad, but we’ll also cover the use of forensic software you may see used by law enforcement agencies to ‘crack’ Apple phones and tablets on occasions where a passcode simply isn’t able to be recalled.
Finally, we cover the basics of removing or resetting the passcode once you’ve managed to access your iOS device.
Is it legal to hack an iPhone passcode?
If you’ve forgotten your passcode and you’re looking to regain access to a device you own, then you’re naturally well within your rights to do so. Things get murkier in legal terms if you want to access a device that’s not yours, and veers into “black hat” (legally questionable) tech support.
If you’re reading this page because you stole an iPhone and then discovered it was locked, however, you are very obviously breaking the law, and you will find nothing to help you in this article.
How to unlock your iPhone using Recovery Mode
Foundry
If you’ve ever change an iPhone passcode you’ll know that iOS, iPadOS, and watchOS all ask for your existing passcode beforehand, which means simply hopping in and changing it isn’t an option if you don’t have it to begin with.
It’s also not as if you can keep trying since, after a certain number of tries, your iPhone or iPad will lock you out for an increasing period of time – not ideal.
That means you’ll need to use Recovery Mode. What was once the jailbreakers best friend is also the best way to get back into an iPhone sans passcode, and works by essentially removing all personal data from the device and reinstalling latest version of iOS or iPadOS before letting you restore your data (if you have a recent backup).
It’s worth noting it doesn’t give you an entirely clean slate – the device will still be tied to your Apple ID, meaning you’ll need the Apple ID and password that were used to originally set up the device to use it, but it will reset the passcode system so you can set a fresh one (hopefully one that’s easier to memorize).
Follow these steps to restore an iPad or iPhone using Recovery Mode:
- Ensure your device’s battery has 20% of charge.
- On macOS Catalina or later: Open Finder on your Mac and find your device in the sidebar. (On macOS Mojave or earlier or Windows: Open iTunes and find your device. iTunes may open automatically.)
- Force-restart your iPhone or iPad: The method varies depending on the model.
- Select Update or Restore (in Finder or iTunes, depending on your platform): Update will install the latest iOS or iPadOS firmware, but either works.
- Set up your device as if it were new, following the prompts once it reboots.
Once you’re logged back in with your Apple ID, you’ll be able to follow steps to set a fresh passcode, or operate without one. We wouldn’t recommend the latter, but if you do choose to add a passcode later, you can do so by heading into Settings, then Face ID & Passcode (or Touch ID & Passcode in models with a home button).
Similarly, if you decide you want to remove a passcode from the iPhone–which for security reasons we don’t recommend–go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode (or Touch ID & Passcode in models with a home button), then tap ‘Turn Passcode Off’. But you will need to know the passcode in order to do this.
Also read: How to put an iPhone into recovery mode and return to factory settings.
How to unlock your iPhone using forensic software
Every so often someone discovers (or claims to discover) a technique to bypass the Apple passcode. This is sometimes a sort of ‘finger-tapping’ trick that enables the person to access something on a locked device: typically either Contacts or Messages. This isn’t hacking the passcode, it’s merely bypassing it.
Forget the finger tricks you’ll see in YouTube videos. It is possible to hack the passcode, but you need serious software to do so. This is known as forensics software because law enforcement agencies use it when analysing mobile phones used by suspects in serious criminal cases. Software of this kind is sophisticated, complex, frequently expensive, and massive overkill (and potentially illegal) for most consumer uses. But if you feel certain this is for you, there are options you can consider.
Some years ago we tested Elcomsoft iOS Forensic Toolkit ($2,199/£2,199), and found it a reliable means of cracking an iPad’s passcode, although we have to add that this is a Russian company so we might not recommend it now. Read this review of Elcomsoft iOS Forensic Toolkit for more information about how forensics software works.
Another option is Wondershare’s Dr.Fone which has an iPhone unlocker called Screen Unlock. We have reviewed Dr.Fone’s iPhone Data Recovery tool.
You could also try Tenorshare 4uKey, which promises to bypass iPhone and iPad passwords instantly. We’ve not yet tested the software ourselves, but there’s a free trial available so it can’t hurt to try.
How do law enforcement unlock iPhones?
iPhone passcodes hit the headlines in March 2016, with the news that the FBI had obtained an iPhone 5c used by one of the shooters in the San Bernardino terrorist attack, but couldn’t get past the passcode security. The Feds managed to get a court order instructing Apple to assist them and break into the phone. Apple refused.
As the case progressed, public opinion started to turn against the law enforcement officials, and the day before the Department of Justice was due to present its arguments, it was announced that actually, they didn’t need Apple’s help after all, and that a third party had agreed to do the hacking for them. A week later the case was dissolved, and the FBI announced it had opened up the phone without Apple’s help.
Apple asked how this was done–arguing that if a security vulnerability was exploited this represented a danger to other iPhone owners and needed to be patched–but the FBI refused to say, even when a Freedom of Information lawsuit was filed by a number of media organisations. A court subsequently ruled that these details were national security secrets and therefore exempt from disclosure.
It’s comforting for iPhone owners that Apple is so determined to protect their privacy that it will stare down the might of the U.S. government, but worrying that someone has worked out how to bypass the security. And we don’t know who or how. It was initially reported that the Israeli firm Cellebrite bypassed the passcode, but the Washington Post later claimed professional hackers used a zero-day vulnerability.
Can iPhones be hacked?
It was believed at the time that the method, whatever it was, would not work on later models of the iPhone: the iPhone 5s and later have superior security features (the Secure Enclave) and Apple has claimed its own engineers wouldn’t be able to break into these devices, even if they wanted to. But that’s been thrown in doubt by the news that US law enforcement later unlocked an iPhone 11 and an iPhone 11 Pro Max, yet still carried on demanding that Apple give it backdoor access to the iPhone range.
It’s all about time and money; it took the FBI two months to get into that iPhone 11, and former director James Comey has implied that it cost well over a million dollars to crack the iPhone 5c in 2016. In other words, unless the person hacking your handset is incredibly rich and/or incredibly patient, your privacy should be assured.
We discuss these matters in far more depth in two other articles: How to protect your iPhone privacy and How secure is the iPhone?
Need some help coming up with a safe and secure password? Read our tips to make your passwords even stronger and try a Password Manager – we recommend some we have tested here: Best password managers for Mac and iPhone.
