(Tested)How to Erase iPhone Without Passcode/iCloud Password
Last Updated on September 15, 2021 by Jack Robertson
Having an old iPhone for sale but forgetting the passcode or password to erase it? Cannot use your iPhone properly due to forgetting your passcode or password? Don’t worry, this tutorial will show you how to erase your iPhone without passcode or iCloud password.
Details about passcode & iCloud password
Normally, you’ll set a screen lock on your device, and a passcode is the one to unlock it and enables you to get into your iPhone.
The iCloud password is what you use to log in your iCloud account and it also refers to the password for your Apple ID, you need to enter it when you try to log in your account on devices or purchase certain items on App Store.
Most of the time, to reset an iPhone, you need the passcode and the password. Because you need to get into the iPhone with a passcode and reset it with a password. But, you can still manage to do the erase with some special methods, check the following sections of this tutorial, and find out one method that helps you most.
- Situation 1: Erase your iPhone without screen passcode
- Situation 2: Erase your iPhone without iCloud password
Situation 1 Erase your iPhone without screen passcode
There’re multiple ways for you to erase your iPhone even if you forget the passcode on it. Depending on different scenarios, you can choose one method below.
By the way, be aware of that erase your iPhone will delete all the data on it, so you’d back up your locked iPhone if you need to.
Method 1 Erase your iPhone via iCloud
When Find My iPhone is enabled on the iPhone, you can try to log in to iCloud.com and erase your iPhone.
Step 1 Log in iCloud
Open a browser and visit iCloud.com, log in with your Apple ID and password.
Step 2 Erase your iPhone
On Devices, choose the one you need to erase, click Erase iPhone, enter your iCloud password to confirm. iCloud will start to erase your iPhone after that.
When iCloud finishes erasing your iPhone, power it on, and set it up again. You might encounter Activation Lock, just enter your Apple ID and password to unlock it. You can have your iPhone back to normal later.
Method 2 Erase your iPhone via iTunes
If you’ve synced your device to iTunes before, just do that one more time and use iTunes to erase your iPhone by restoring it. On your iTunes, go to Devices > Summary > Restore iPhone to erase your iPhone.
If iTunes cannot sync successfully, you can still connect your iPhone to iTunes and erase it by setting your iPhone to Recovery Mode.
Here’s how you can do it.
Step 1 Enter Recovery mode
Power off the iPhone and connect it to your computer with a USB cable,
Next, since different iPhone model shares different ways of entering Recovery Mode, you can follow the instructions below and set your iPhone to Recovery Mode.
For iPhone 8/8 Plus or earlier models: Press and release the Volume Up button and the Volume Down button, then hold the Side button till you see the Recovery-Mode screen.
For iPhone 7/7Plus: Keep holding the Volume Down button and release it when you see the Recovery-Mode screen.
For iPhone 6/6s or earlier models: Press and hold the Home button until the Recovery-Mode screen appears.
Step 2 Restore your iPhone
iTunes will launch automatically as it detects your device. Then, on the interface, go to Devices, and click the icon of the iPhone.
A notification pops out, saying your device has a problem and is needed to be restored or updated. Here, we need to click Restore to erase your iPhone.
iTunes will start to erase your device then. During the process, you might need to enter your ID and password to pass Activation Lock.
Once iTunes finishes its work, you can power on your device and set it up again.
Cautions:
- A 15% chance of being stuck in Recovery mode exists, if it happens, you can fix the iPhone stuck in Recover Mode issue.
- If the process of restoring takes more than 15 minutes, your iPhone will exit Recovery Mode, you need to enter it again.
Method 3 Erase your iPhone via iPhone Unlocker
There’s one powerful tool that you can use to erase your iPhone, iPhone Unlocker. iPhone Unlocker can help your erase your iPhone without a passcode or password, you don’t need to enter Recovery Mode too. All you need is to plug your iPhone into a computer and launch iPhone Unlocker. The program will then take a few minutes to erase your iPhone.
Let’s see how it works.
Step 1 Download iPhone Unlocker on your PC
Step 2 Launch it and choose Wipe Passcode
iPhone Unlocker offers 3 features on the interface, Wipe Passcode for erasing passcode and data; Remove Apple ID for deleting Apple account; and Screen Time for resetting Restriction passcode.
Here, choose Wipe Passcode to erase your iPhone.
Step 3 Wipe your passcode
Click Start to begin the process. Connect your iPhone to the PC with a USB cable.
Confirm the information of your device and download a firmware in accordance with your iPhone model.
When the firmware is downloaded on your PC, click Unlock and enter the code for wiping your device, “0000”, click Unlock to make the final confirmation.
Then, iPhone Unlocker will erase your iPhone afterward. Just wait for a while.
Your iPhone is free to set up and use after iPhone Unlocker’s work. Easy and quick, right? Come and find out on your own.
Situation 2 Erase your iPhone without iCloud password
If you forget your password, it’ll be much more difficult to erase your iPhone and make it back to normal, but there’re still some methods for you to do that, or to retrieve your password. Check this out.
Method 1 Regain your iCloud password
Once Keychain is enabled on your iPhone, you will have the change to reset your iCloud password with the screen passcode
Keychain is an iCloud feature that keeps the passwords and credit card information you save up to data on the iOS devices you approve. Once you turn it on, you can use the screen passcode to reset the iCloud password since the system will consider as the owner of the account and the device, and it will give you a shortcut to reset the iCloud password.
Go to Settings on your device, and tap on the Apple ID banner. Go to Password & Security > Change password, then, enter your screen passcode. The next moment, you will enter the page of Change password.
When you finish setting up a new password, you can now have a new password to do the erase.
On your iPhone, tap Settings, and go to General > Reset, choose Reset All Settings and Contents. Enter your new iCloud password to confirm the reset. Your iPhone will be erased after that.
Method 2 Erase your iPhone using iPhone Unlocker
To erase your iPhone completely without a password, you can try iPhone Unlocker. iPhone Unlocker is programmed as an efficient iOS unlocking tool, but you can also use it to erase your iPhone due to its special capacity. Once installed, iPhone Unlocker can help you erase your iPhone without the iCloud password. You don’t need to worry about if it takes techniques or skills, you can easily erase your iPhone with 3 steps.
Here’s how you can erase your iPhone.
Step 1 Download iPhone Unlocker on your PC, and install it
Step 2 Choose Remove Apple ID to erase your iPhone
You can see 3 options on the interface, Wipe Passcode, Remove Apple ID and Screen Time. Here, we need Remove Apple ID to erase your iPhone and remove the ID on it, so everything on your handset will be wiped completely.
Step 3 Erase your iPhone
Click Start, connect your device to the PC with a USB accessory.
If Find My iPhone is OFF, iPhone Unlocker will start to erase your iPhone.
But if Find My iPhone is ON, you need to turn it off.
- Your device is running iOS 11.3 and earlier, go to Settings > General > Reset > Reset All Settings to turn off Find My iPhone. When the reset is done, go back to Unlocker and click Start to retry. Your iPhone will be erased then.
- Your device is running iOS 11.4 or later, go to Settings > [Apple ID] > Find My > Find My iPhone, turn it off and click Start on iPhone Unlocker to begin the erase.
Finishing these steps, your iPhone will be erased successfully. Power it on and set it up, it’s free to use.
Now, you’ve learned how to erase your iPhone without a passcode or iCloud password. All the options mentioned in this tutorial are proved to be active and useful, pick one that suits you best and have a try. Hoping that your iPhone will be erased without any problems.