How to Restore Access to Your iPhone if You Forget Your Apple ID Password

Humans can not escape from mistakes and forget, including me and you. If you forget your Apple ID password, iOS 15 has a great account recovery feature. Here's how to use it.

If you forget your Apple ID account password, don't panic. It is common to forget passwords from time to time. Losing your Apple ID account for your iPhone, iPad, or Mac is just as annoying as losing your car keys.

Your password, like your lock, unlocks access to something very important: your iCloud account, and all of your Apple devices. Like Face ID and Touch ID, passcodes are designed to keep your information safe, but they are wrong several times and you have no choice but to contact Apple for help.

Apple released iOS 15 last September 2021, and one of the new features allows you to regain access to your account with a simple phone call to a loved one.

This feature, called Account Recovery, allows you to specify one or more trusted contacts who can provide you with a special code to unlock your account. It's pretty cool and makes recovering your Apple account much easier.

As long as you have iOS 15 installed on your iPhone, you can add trusted contacts for Account Recovery.

Choose your Account Recovery contact

Before you can set up Account Recovery, all of your Apple devices, whether it's a Mac, iPad, or iPhone, must be running the latest version of Apple's OS. In other words, macOS Monterey, iPadOS 15 and iOS 15, respectively.

Once this build is installed, select your recovery contact for Account Recovery by following these steps.

Open the Settings app and tap your name at the top of the screen.
Select Password and security then Account recovery and Add contact. A page will appear explaining what contacts can see or do with your account (they don't have access to your iCloud account) and briefly detailing what to do if you find yourself blocked.
Tap Add Contact at the bottom of the screen to continue.
Enter your Apple ID password when prompted and follow the prompts to select your contacts.

What to do if you can't access your Apple ID or iCloud account

If you no longer have access to your account, you will need to contact one of the Account Recovery contacts with your iPhone. This contact will then give you a short code that they can access directly on their iPhone. Once this code is entered, you will be able to unlock your account.

Once the account is opened, you will be asked to create a new password. Instead of storing them in memory or choosing simple passwords, it's better to use a password manager. It will generate complex passwords for you, store them, and may even enter them for you when prompted.