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iPad mini forgot passcode, reset in recovery mode, still wants passcode

H

hausjam

macrumors member
Original poster
Aug 8, 2011
51
13
So, my brother, who is disabled, somehow got a passcode on his ipad. He doesn't know what it is. I don't even know how he got it in the first place.

So to get rid of it, I followed the below apple support article, to the letter, three times now. But when it finishes restoring the iOS, it boots up, and still wants the pass code. What do I do? Aside from throwing it in the trash?

How to reset your iPad passcode using your Mac or PC - Apple Support

This troubleshooting article guides users on how to reset an iPad passcode using a Mac or PC.
support.apple.com support.apple.com
 
Putting the iPad in Recovery Mode and clicking Restore are the most crucial steps. After the restore, you should be on the iPad setup screen and not getting prompted for a passcode.

Did you get to the setup screen? If so, are you sure it's asking for the passcode? It could be asking for the password for the Apple ID if it was Activation Locked.

Or are you getting prompted for the passcode right away, as if nothing happened with the restore? If so, quadruple check you did everything correctly. You could also try putting the iPad into DFU mode and restore that way. You can search the web on how to put your specific iPad model into DFU mode. YouTube videos can be helpful too, since it is pretty particular on how it's done.
 
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I plugged in the lightning cable while holding the home button. I saw the graphic on the ipad screen showing the cable plugging into the computer, so I know the ipad went into recovery mode. Then in itunes, it popped up asking if I want to update or restore the ipad. I chose restore. It downloaded ios and took about a half hour to install in the ipad. Then the ipad reboots and I get the multi-language "hello" screen that you get when you get a new device with "press home to begin". When I press home, it then asks for the passcode. Furthermore, the background is all blurry, but I am pretty sure it's the background that I set for him before. And while it definitely says "enter passcode", nothing about apple id or password, when I tap in the box, it's the onscreen keyboard that comes up, not the numeric keypad that usually comes up for passcode. So I don't know what's going on. I know when ios prompts you to set up a passcode during setup, it defaults to the 6-digit passcode, not the alpha-numeric passcode. I can't imagine him going in to the options to change it. He would have just started punching in numbers.

So even though I am going through the proper steps to restore this ipad, it is not working as it should.
 
Reading Apple's guide, it could be that the download is taking too long - you said 30 minutes - and the iPad exits recovery mode, so try manually downloading the ipsw file as shown in the video below.
'If the download takes more than 15 minutes and your device exits the recovery mode screen, let the download finish, then turn off your iPad and start again.'
 
Last edited:
If I recall correctly, doesn't password get restored if you restore a backup (I know Touch/FaceID settings don't)? Reset and don't restore from a backup, as that passcode is probably getting re-set.

A setup as new situation.
 
NoBoMac said:
If I recall correctly, doesn't password get restored if you restore a backup (I know Touch/FaceID settings don't)? Reset and don't restore from a backup, as that passcode is probably getting re-set.

A setup as new situation.
Click to expand...
No, the backups don't include the passcode (link). The OP is not restoring from a backup anyway...this 'Restore' button should be wiping the iPad and restoring the OS.
 
I didn't get far enough to restore any backups. I am just trying to restore iOS through itunes. I have been trying on itunes from my PC. I am going to try doing it from my wife's Mac next to see if it works there.

As far as it taking too long, the ipad stays on the recovery mode screen the entire time the iOS is downloading and doesn't reboot until the download is complete.
 
When I decided I didn't need to use a passcode, my recollection is that I just went into settings and turned it off. I don't recall for sure if I needed to enter the current passcode to do this. After that, whenever I do an update, I have to click on "don't use passcode" a couple of times to maintain the no passcode status.
 
If your ipad is restored correctly . it will ask the usual HELLO and follow up with Language selection as if its a new ipad.
If you still see only see Hello and your old background and it ask for your pin then it was not really restore correctly. That looks more like just an IOS update.
 
Final update on this.

I finally had a chance to restore the iOS from a macbook. It worked.

So, for whatever reason, doing the OS restore from my windows pc simply would not clear the passcode.

Doing the OS restore from a Macbook DID clear the passcode.

Go figure.
 
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