6 Ways to Unlock iPhone Without Passcode

Home > HowTos > Troubleshooting Tips Updated by Robert on Sep 18, 2024 | Approved by Jennifer Allen

Setting a passcode for the iPhone is a great way to prevent data loss and protect your privacy. However, remembering constantly changing passcodes can be a hassle, and forgetting the passcode to an old iPhone can be frustrating when you want to give it away or clear its data. You must want to know how to unlock iPhone without a passcode or face ID. Don't worry. Check the following six ways to open an iPhone without the passcode.

Table of contents
Part 1. 6 Ways to Unlock iPhone without Passcode
Part 2. How to Recover Lost/Erase iPhone Data
Part 3. How to Avoid iPhone Being Locked
Part 4. Frequently Asked Questions and Answers to Unlocking iPhone Passcode

How to Unlock iPhone without Passcode – 6 Ways

Losing or forgetting the passcode on your iPhone can be a real headache. It not only restricts your access to the phone but also puts all your important data at risk. While it may seem there is no way out of this dilemma, there actually is. However, there are several ways you can unlock iPhone without Face ID or passcode:

Way #1. How to Unlock iPhone by Resetting Passcode for It

Most iPhone users know it will disable your iPhone by entering an incorrect screen password several times. Sure, it will. What is new in iOS 15.2 and later is that it also enables access to the "Erase iPhone" option. If you want to learn how to unlock an iPhone passcode without a computer, here are the steps.

  1. Please ensure your iPhone is connected to a stable Wi-Fi network.
  2. Enter the incorrect passcode to your iPhone five times until your iPhone is locked temporarily and asks you to try again later.
  3. Enter the incorrect passcode again until you see Security Lockout (sometimes iPhone Unavailable) and Erase the iPhone screen.
  4. Tap Erase iPhone at the lower bottom right of the screen and confirm the action when the pop-up Erase All Content & Settings appears.
  5. Enter your Apple ID password when it asks you to sign out of Apple ID.
  6. Tap Erase iPhone and confirm the action again when pop-ups ask you. Go through the whole erasing iPhone process patiently.
  7. After erasing the iPhone, there will be a process for setting up the iPhone. During the process, you can set a new passcode, Face ID, or Touch ID to lock the screen of your iPhone.

Please note that erasing the iPhone will erase all data on your iPhone. If you had backed up an iPhone to iCloud before the iPhone was locked, you could restore your iPhone with an iCloud backup file. If not, indeed, you have to bear the data loss pain.

Way #2. How to Reset iPhone without Password by Using iTunes Recovery Mode

If you have a locked iPhone with a password, you can unlock it with iTunes. Windows PC users and Mac users who still need to update to macOS to Catalina can unlock their iPhones with iTunes by following the steps below. For macOS Catalina and later users, check the details for using Finder to unlock iPhones without a password.

  1. Connect the iOS device to a computer and open iTunes.
  2. Put the iPhone into Recovery Mode. Depending on the model of your iPhone, the steps might vary. So, please click here for details.
  3. Click the Device icon in iTunes and navigate to the Summary window.
  4. Click "Restore iPhone". Wait for the iTunes to finish erasing your iPhone. After that, you can reset your iPhone.

Way #3. How to Unlock iPhone Passcode with Mac Finder

For MacOS Catalina and later users, they can use Finder to unlock the iPhone passcode.

  1. Use the USB cable to connect the iPhone to your Mac.
  2. Open Finder and click your iPhone in the left panel.
  3. From the main window, you can see the option "Restore iPhone." Click it and wait for Finder to finish the erasing process and let you reset your iPhone.

Way #4. How to Unlock iPhone Passcode with iCloud/Find My iPhone

Find My iPhone in iCloud performs the role of locating lost iPhone(s) or keeping track of iPhone users. To protect your iPhone data from being used by thieves, you have the Erase iPhone option when your iPhone is lost. You can now use the Erase iPhone option to unlock your passcode.

  1. Find a computer and log in with your Apple ID at www.icloud.com
  2. Click Find iPhone > click All Devices and select your iPhone.
  3. Tap Erase iPhone and enter your Apple ID password to confirm the action.
  4. When the erasing is done, your iPhone will restart automatically. After that, set up your iPhone as a new device or restore from backup files.

Way #5. How to Open iPhone without Passcode via Siri

If you have enabled voice control on your iPhone, such as Siri, then you may open your iPhone without a passcode by using it. It works on old iPhones running in iOS 8-iOS 10.1. If you have an old iPhone and will give it away, unlock the screen passcode and remove all the personal information. Here are the steps to unlock an iPhone without a passcode via Siri.

  1. Activate Siri and ask, "What's the time now?"
  2. When the clock is brought about, tap it and click "+" to add a new one.
  3. Type some words in the box and select them by pressing and holding for a second. Click Share > Messages.
  4. Type some words in the "To:" box in the sending message Window.
  5. Tap "+" and then select Create New Contact.
  6. While creating a new contact, click Add Photo > Choose Photo to bring out the Photo Library.
  7. From there, press the Home button to navigate to the home screen. Yes, you have bypassed the passcode successfully.

Way #6. How to Unlock iPhone without Password Using Third-party Tools

Besides the five ways mentioned above to reset an iPhone without a password, there are tools developed by programmers to solve this problem. When you search "tools to unlock iPhone passcode" in Google, you may get to know some of them, like Mobitrix LockAway or iPhonePass. However, there might be better choices if you care about your privacy.

How to Recover Lost/Erase iPhone Data

As mentioned above, "Erase iPhone" and "Restore iPhone" are the workable solutions to solve iPhone problems. However, it also means you will have to face the reality that you will lose iPhone data, including contacts, call history, videos, photos, messages, etc. If you habitually back up your iPhone regularly when you're lucky. You can restore your iPhone with the old backup files, decreasing the lost data. If you have not done any backup, the last resort is recovering your lost data with iPhone recovery software.

iBeesoft iPhone Data Recovery

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  • It allows you to preview files before recovering them.
  • Fully compatible with iPhone models in different iOS versions.
  • Besides, it offers three modes to recover iPhone data, reducing the risk of losing iPhone data for you.
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Steps for how to recover permanently deleted photos from iPhone or get other files with iBeesoft iPhone Data Recovery

  1. Download and install iBeesoft iPhone Data Recovery on your computer. To do the Data Recovery from iPhone, you must do it via a computer. Any iPhone app can't access your iPhone, looking for lost data.
  2. Use a data cable to connect the iPhone to your computer. Please tap the "Trust This Computer" option on your iPhone.
  3. Launch it and click "Recover from iOS Device," then select your iPhone as the target device. Last, click "Scan," letting the software scan your iPhone.
  4. Wait the scanning process to finish. After that, you can see all the recoverable files are put into categories, making it convenient to find the target files. From there, you can preview all the found files.
  5. When you find the target files, select them and click "Recover” to save them to a place on your computer.

How to Avoid iPhone Being Locked

To avoid your iPhone from getting locked, here are a few tips:

Remember that these tips can help, but remembering your passcode is the only foolproof way to prevent your iPhone from getting locked.

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers to Unlocking iPhone Passcode

Conclusion

Have you found yourself locked out of your iPhone because you forgot your passcode or your Face ID isn't working? Don’t worry; with this method we provide to unlock iPhone without passcode or Face ID, you should be able to regain access to it. Finally, no matter which way you choose, it's important to remember to keep your passcode and Face ID settings up to date to avoid getting locked out of your phone in the future.