Guides

How To Fix Disabled iPhone

By Official SIM Unlock  •  03 August, 2020

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Entering your passcode too many times will disable your iPhone and you won’t be able to get into it - this is Apple’s security measure in case someone tries to attempt to hack into your phone. However, for most of us, this usually happens when we forget our passcode or we’ve left it lying around children. So what do you do when you stumble upon the dreaded ‘iPhone is disabled’ message? We are here to guide you through some simple steps you need to take to get your iPhone back up and running without the need to take it to an Apple store.

 

**Looking to switch network providers? Use Official SIM unlock to unlock your phone.

 

What does ‘iPhone is disabled’ mean?

 

For security reasons, your iPhone is built to protect unwanted users into your phone, the same way that Apple allows you to create a passcode when you get your iPhone. But entering your passcode too many times will disable your iPhone for a certain amount of time - but be careful, if you enter your passcode up to 10 times incorrectly then you may lose all of your data. We suggest that if you have entered an incorrect passcode up to 8 times you shouldn’t try again as you could run the risk of losing all your photos, videos, texts and other information on your iPhone if it’s not backed up.

 

Failed passcode unlock attempt penalty:

 

• Enter an incorrect passcode 5 times - Your iPhone is disabled and you can try again in 1 minute
• Enter an incorrect passcode 7 times - Your iPhone is disabled and you can try again in 5 minutes
• Enter an incorrect passcode 8 times - Your iPhone is disabled and you can try again in 15 minutes
• Enter an incorrect passcode 9 times - Your iPhone is disabled and you can try again in 1 hour
• Enter an incorrect passcode 10 times - The system will lock you out of your phone completely or erase your data depending on your settings

 

It’s best to not attempt to unlock your phone with an incorrect passcode for more than 9 times, as you can see above the penalty of entering your passcode 10 times runs the risk of erasing your entire phone of all its data and if you haven’t backed up your iPhone in some time, your data will be lost with no way of getting it back.

 

My iPhone is disabled but I didn’t try to unlock it

 

If you’ve been unfortunate enough to see the ‘iPhone is disabled’ screen on your phone without you entering your passcode, it could be that you have accidentally done this while your phone has been in your pocket the entire time. Especially if you have had your hands in your pocket - your iPhone screen may have detected your hands and mistaken it for entering your passcode. Another way that your iPhone has been disabled is due to leaving it around the house where children can get a hold of it and if they touch the screen and the home button, your iPhone will think you are trying to enter your passcode and thus, disabling your iPhone with the incorrect passcode being entered too many times. 

 

How to fix ‘iPhone is disabled’ manually

 

If you’ve picked up your iPhone and you notice that it is now disabled, but you know your passcode, we recommend waiting for the locked out time to pass before entering in your correct passcode. This option is ideal if you’ve noticed that your iPhone has disabled itself and you are certain you can unlock it by simply entering in your right passcode. Don’t try this method if your incorrect passcode has been entered incorrectly 8 times. 

 

Follow our next suggestions if your iPhone has been completely locked and you know you can’t unlock your iPhone using your passcode. Your iPhone will say “iPhone is disabled. Connect to iTunes”. 

 

What you will need:

 

• A USB cable to connect your iPhone to a computer or laptop.
• If you don’t have this, take your iPhone to your nearest Apple Store.

 

Remove the passcode on iPhone X or later, iPhone SE (2nd Gen), iPhone 8 and iPhone 8 Plus

 

• Don’t connect your iPhone to the computer yet.
• Press and hold the side button and one of the volume buttons until the power off slider appears - drag this to turn off your iPhone. 
• Now connect your iPhone to your computer using the USB cable.
• If you have backed up your iPhone you will have the option to restore your data and settings to your last backup.

 

Remove the passcode on iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus

 

• Don’t connect your iPhone to the computer yet.
• Press and hold the side button until the power off slide appears - drag the slider to turn off your iPhone. 
• Now connect your iPhone to your computer while you hold down the volume button - keep holding this down until you see the recovery mode screen appear.
• If you have backed up your iPhone you will have the option to restore your data and settings to your last backup.

 

Remove the passcode on iPhone SE (1st Gen) and iPhone 2s and earlier

 

• Don’t connect your iPhone to the computer yet.
• Press and hold the side (or top) button until you see the option to turn off your phone using the slider - then turn off your iPhone.
• Now connect your iPhone to your computer or laptop using the USB cable while you hold down the Home button - keep holding this down until you see the recovery mode screen.
• If you have backed up your iPhone you will have the option to restore your data and settings to your last backup.

 

Restore your iPhone on your computer

 

Now you have the option to restore your iPhone, you can do this from your computer. Firstly, you will need to locate your iPhone on your computer. To do this, you can find your iPhone in your ‘Finder’ or in iTunes. 

 

After you have found your iPhone on your computer in Finder, click on it. You will then get a prompt message stating: ‘There is a problem with the iPhone that requires it to be updated or restored’. You then have the option to ‘Restore’ or ‘Update’ your iPhone. 

 

If you are locating your iPhone in iTunes, you can see your iPhone in iTunes and restore your phone to the last backup you did on your iCloud. 

 

Important note: You will need to enter your passcode to do this step. Follow the next step if you don’t know your passcode. 

 

If you don’t know your passcode and you have connected your iPhone to iTunes:

This step is your last resort option as unfortunately, you will need to return your iPhone back to its factory settings by using the recovery mode. Although this step isn’t ideal, you can restore your iPhone back to its factory settings, but then restore your backup from iTunes once this is done so that you can create a brand new passcode and transfer all your backed up data onto your iPhone. 

 

We hope our tips on how to recover your ‘iPhone is diabled mode’ - to prevent future mishaps, keep a copy of your passcode somewhere where you can find it. We also highly recommend backing up your phone as frequently as possible so that in the event your phone does get locked, at least you will be able to restore your data if you need to factory reset your iPhone.