You may have bought a new iPhone and want to give the old one to your family. You reset it to factory settings so that your family can be able to use it, but unfortunately, after the initial setup, the phone is asking for a passcode even after being reset. Such kind of problem happened to many iPhone users who reported this issue in the Apple forum. This can be pretty annoying, so today you’ll learn a few ways to fix this issue and make your iPhone usable.
Why Is iPhone Asking For Passcode after Factory Reset?
Doesn’t a factory reset remove the passcode from iPhone? Yes, a factory reset usually does remove the passcode of an iPhone if the phone was properly prepared before being reset. Unfortunately, your iPhone may not be reset correctly if it is asking for a passcode after a factory reset.
There could be a few different reasons why your iPhone may be asking for a passcode after being reset. One of the most common reasons is that the data of the previous owner (you) has not been completely erased by the factory reset feature built in iPhone. Besides, there also could be a problem with the setup process.
What to Do If iPhone Asking For Passcode After Factory Reset?
There are some solutions you can try to enter the passcode or remove the passcode. Some are proven to work for some people online. We recommend that you try the methods one by one.
1. Try some passcodes
If the iPhone is asking for the passcode even after being reset then your best bet may be to try out some codes to get it unlocked.
If the iPhone is yours and doesn’t have a previous owner, you should try putting in your most currently used passcode to see if that will work.
If the iPhone belonged to another person before you, then you will need to try and get in contact with the person you got it from and ask them to give you the passcode. You can also try to guess the passcode by using some of the most common codes used, like 0000 (4-digit) or 000000 (6-digit) for example.
Keep in mind though that you are only allowed to guess a few times before the phone ends up being disabled. You can attempt to guess the passcode 5 times before the iPhone is disabled. On the 6th try, it will get disabled for one minute. Your best bet is to try a passcode that you previously used if the iPhone was yours or to contact the previous owner if it belonged to someone else.
2. Remove the iPhone From Trusted Devices
Another reason your iPhone may be asking for a passcode after being reset is that it is still connected as a trusted device somewhere. If this is the case, you will have to find a way to remove it as a trusted device from everywhere that it’s connected. If you are the sole owner of the device, you can do this yourself. If not, you will have to get in contact with the previous owner and ask them to do it for you. It’s a pretty simple and quick process. It can be done in a couple of different ways. If you have another Apple device with the same iCloud account connected to the iPhone you want to disconnect then you could use that device to do it. If you don’t have another device, you can use your computer to get it done.
On a separate iOS device:
- Open up the “Settings” app
- Tap on your name.
- Select your iPhone from the list of connected devices and disconnect it.
On MacOS Catalina or later:
- Open up the “Apple Menu”
- Click on “System Preferences”
- Select your Apple ID
- Then choose your iPhone from the list of devices in the sidebar and disconnect it.
On MacOs Mojave or earlier:
- Open the “Apple Menu”
- Select “System Preferences”
- Click on iCloud then open “Account Details”
- Click on the “Devices” tab
- Then choose your iPhone from the list and disconnect it.
On a PC:
- Go to iCloud.com
- Use your Apple ID email and password to sign in.
- Click on “Account Settings”
- Then select your iPhone from the list of “My Devices” and disconnect it.
Once you’ve gotten to the list of devices in either one of these methods, you can then select your iPhone from the list and choose “Remove from Account” to disconnect it. If the device is not yours, ask the original owner to do the above thing.
Use Recovery Mode to Restore iPhone
Another thing you can do to gain access to your iPhone if it keeps asking for a passcode after resetting it is, to use iTunes to restore it. You can do this by putting your iPhone into recovery mode while connected to iTunes and then restoring it. Follow the steps to begin restoring your iPhone. Make sure that you have installed the latest version of iTunes on your computer.
- Open up iTunes on your computer. If it’s already open, you’ll have to close it and open it again for this to work.
- Connect your iPhone to iTunes using your USB to lightning cable.
- For the latest iPhone models, put your iPhone into recover mode by quickly pressing then releasing the volume up button, then the volume down button. Then Press and hold the power button until your iPhone shows the recovery mode screen. For other models, check this guide.
- When the message pops up on iTunes giving you the option to “Update” or “Restore”, choose the “Restore” option.
When iTunes finishes downloading and restoring your iPhone, you can then start setting it up as a new device.
Use A Tool to Remove the Passcode
If you’ve tried everything and so far nothing is working then your last resort may be to use third-party software to remove the passcode. Luckily there is a program called Tenorshare 4uKey that you can use. Tenorshare 4uKey is a third-party tool that can be utilized to remove any type of passcode from Apple devices. Download it for free and let’s get started.
- First, open up Tenorshare 4uKey
- Connect your iPhone and press the “Start” button on Tenorshare 4uKey
- A firmware package will be chosen for your specific device then click “Download”
- When the download is complete click “Start Remove” to begin removing the passcode.
The removal process should be done in about 10 to 15 minutes. This is a very simple tool to use and once the removal is done, your iPhone will be ready to use.
