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Have you found yourself staring at the dreaded “iPhone is disabled” message? It’s surprisingly easy to disable your iPhone – maybe you’ve accidentally entered the wrong passcode too many times, or a child has had a bit too much fun with your touch screen. Whatever the reason, knowing how to unlock a disabled iPhone can be a real lifesaver.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps on how to fix a disabled iPhone, including how to unlock a disabled iPhone without a computer. Keep reading to get your iPhone back up and running!

In this blog:

• Why is my iPhone disabled?
• How to unlock a disabled iPhone
  • Using iCloud
  • Using Finder
  • Using Find My
• Can you unlock a disabled iPhone without erasing data?

Why is my iPhone disabled?

Your iPhone typically disables itself after multiple incorrect passcode attempts. Usually, your iPhone will lock for a set time before letting you try your passcode again, and this happens several times before your iPhone is completely disabled.

If your iPhone isn’t completely disabled at this point and you’re wondering how many passcode attempts you have left, here are all the lock times and passcode attempts you have:

How to unlock a disabled iPhone

Using iCloud

Here’s how to unlock a disabled iPhone using iCloud:

1. Open your web browser and go to icloud.com.
2. Sign in to your iCloud account with your Apple ID and password.
3. Go to ‘Find iPhone’ and click on ‘All Devices’ to see the disabled iPhone.
4. Tap ‘Erase iPhone’.
5. This will erase your iPhone, unlocking it so you can create a new passcode.

Using Finder

For those who don’t use iCloud but have a Mac, here’s how to unlock a disabled iPhone using Finder:

1. Connect your iPhone to a Mac with a USB cable.
2. Open Finder on your Mac.
3. Put your iPhone into recovery mode.
4. Click ‘Restore iPhone’ to set up your iPhone.
5. This will restore your iPhone back to factory settings, unlocking it so you can create a new passcode.

Using Find My

If you don’t have a Mac but you use the Find My app on your iPhone, you should be able to use another iPhone or an iPad to unlock your disabled iPhone. Here’s how to use Find My to unlock disabled iPhone devices:

1. Open the Find My app or Find My iPhone app on another iPhone or iPad.
2. Sign into your iCloud account in the app.
3. Click ‘Devices’ and find the disabled iPhone.
4. Tap ‘Erase This Device’.
5. This will erase your iPhone, unlocking it so you can create a new passcode.

Can you unlock a disabled iPhone without erasing data?

If you’ve already disabled your iPhone, then you’ll need to follow one of the steps outlined above. However, you may have noticed a pattern between them all – they all require you to erase your device.

Unfortunately, there is no way around this, and so it’s extremely important that you keep regular backups of your iPhone to ensure none of your data is lost if you should accidentally disable your device. For more information on backing up your device, check out our ‘How to backup your iPhone’ blog.

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