How to Fix It When You Forget Your iPad Password or Passcode

If you lose your Apple ID password or iPad passcode, here are some methods you can use to recover them. The steps in this article work with all iPad models.

How to Recover a Forgotten Apple ID

If you haven't downloaded an app in a while and have turned on Touch ID for App Store purchases, it can be easy to forget your Apple ID password. Apple has a website where you can manage your Apple ID account, and it helps with forgotten passwords. Here's how to use it.

1. Go to appleid.apple.com.

2. Select Sign in.

3. Select Forgot password.

4. Enter the email address associated with your Apple ID and the Captcha code, then select Continue.

5. Choose to reset your password or your security questions, then select Continue.

6. Enter you birthday and select Continue.

7. Answer the security questions and select Continue.

8. Confirm your phone number, then click Continue.

9. Apple will send a notification to every device that's signed in with your Apple ID. Tap Allow or click Show, depending on the device you're using, and then follow the instructions to reset your password.

10. The next page provides additional options to reset your Apple ID password:

    • Reset your password while signing in on a new device, like a new iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Mac.
    • Use someone else's iOS device.
    • Use an iOS device at an Apple Store.

    If you can't use another phone, iPad, or Mac, select Can't use any of these options? at the bottom of the page on the Apple ID site.

11. If you cannot access any of these options, Apple will provide an account recovery that will take several days to unlock. Select Continue anyway to begin the recovery process. Apple will send an automated text or phone call with instructions to gain access.
    

12. One of these options should get you set up with a new Apple ID password.

How to Recover a Forgotten iPad Passcode

No long-term trick exists to get past the passcode you need to unlock your iPad. You can use Touch ID or Face ID to bypass it for a time, but after the iPad reboots, you'll have to enter the passcode.

The only way to fix the problem of a forgotten passcode is to reset the iPad to factory default settings. This means erasing everything on the iPad. However, during the setup process, you can restore your iPad from a backup.

The easiest way to deal with a forgotten passcode is to use iCloud to reset your iPad. Use the Find My iPad feature to reset your iPad remotely.

1. Open a web browser and go to www.icloud.com.

2. Sign in to iCloud when prompted.

   If you have two-factor authentication set up on your account, a code is sent to all your Apple devices. You'll need this code to continue signing in to iCloud.

3. Select Find My.

4. You will be prompted to enter your login credentials to use Find My.

5. When the map appears, under All Devices, select your iPad from the list.

   Your iPad will be named whatever you named it. Not simply iPad.

6. When you select the name of your iPad, a window appears in the corner of the map. This window has several options: Play Sound, Mark As Lost (which locks the iPad down), Notify When Found, Erase iPad, and Remove This Device.

   Verify that the device name above these buttons is your iPad. This way, your iPhone won't be erased by mistake.

7. Select Erase This Device and follow the directions. It'll ask you to verify your choice. Once done, your iPad will reset.

8. Your iPad will need to be charged and connected to the internet for this to work, so it's a good idea to plug it in while it is resetting.

How to Deal With a Lost Passcode Using iTunes

If you synced your iPad to iTunes on your PC, whether to transfer music and movies to it or back the device up on your computer, you can restore it using the PC. However, you must have trusted that computer in the past, so if you never hooked up your iPad to your PC, this option won't work.

1. Connect your iPad to the PC you use to sync and boot iTunes.

2. iTunes syncs with the iPad. Wait until this process finishes, then click the Device icon at the top of the screen.

3. Click Restore iPad.

4. The computer erases the iPad. Set up a new passcode when the iPad restarts.

Access Your iPad Using Recovery Mode

Even if you haven't turned on Find My iPad, and you've never plugged your iPad into your PC, you can reset the iPad by going into recovery mode. However, you'll need to plug it into a PC with iTunes afterward. If you don't have iTunes, download it from Apple. If you don't have a PC, use a friend's computer.

1. Connect the iPad to the PC using the cable that came with the iPad. Then open iTunes.

2. Press and hold the Sleep/Wake button and the Home button on the iPad and keep holding when the Apple logo appears. When you see the graphic of the iPad connected to iTunes, release the buttons.

3. Select Restore and follow the directions.

4. It takes a few minutes to restore an iPad, which powers off and powers on during the process. Once it restarts, you are prompted to set up the iPad like you did when you purchased it. You can restore it from a backup during this process.