How To Reset Your Iphone Without Screen Time Passcode
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Someone asked me to help them erase an iPhone 8 so they can trade it in. The phone belonged to their child and the parent had setup screen time and content restrictions on the child's phone. When I try to erase it I'm asked for the normal screen unlock pin, which it accepts, and then it asks for the screen time passcode. This is where the problem begins.
I finally got it! I just wanted to report back in case anyone else ever runs into this.
TL;DR version: On the iPhone the Personal Hotspot was turned on, preventing my laptop from accessing the Apple servers in iTunes when I was trying to Reset the iPhone.
According to Apple; the official method to erase and reset an iPhone or iPad if you don't know the screen time passcode is to plug it into a computer running iTunes, sign into iTunes using a parent's account, then click on the icon for the device and click Restore. When I tried that I was getting an error message that said, " iPhone Software Update Server Could Not Be Contacted".
When I tried to Google that message most of the results were about making sure the computer the iPhone was plugged into had internet access and checking that the firewall settings were not blocking iTunes. I knew that wasn't the case here. My laptop was connected to my WiFi and I could definitely access the internet. I even made sure I was using an genuine Apple usb cable and it was pure luck when I plugged it in for the 100th time I noticed in the bottom right corner of my laptop the network name changed. Even though it showed that my WiFi was connected I was also connected to the iPhone. My laptop was tethered to the iPhone!!!
My laptop was using the old iPhone as it's primary internet connection and they had already activated the new iPhone so it had no cell service (and no internet access). On the iPhone I went into Settings and turned off the Personal Hotspot and tried iTunes again and then it worked! I noticed iTunes had to download a 3.5GB file which I assume was a factory default image for the iPhone. The whole process took about 15-20 minutes and when it was over the iPhone was erased! Then I logged into both the child's and parent's Apple accounts and removed the device.
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11 Replies
This question might sound daft, but does the iphone have connectivity to the internet? If not it may not be able to refresh the password from apples servers. (I'm guessing based on your description it was setup using Family sharing)
If you've forgotten your Screen Time passcode – Apple Support: https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT211021
That is a great question actually but yes I connected it to WiFi and it has internet access. I also read that sometimes you can log out of iCloud on the phone and then log back in to refresh it but of course I can't sign out due to restrictions!
I'm still going to keep chopping away at this. Hopefully I can figure out a way.
Plug the phone into a computer and try restoring it though iTunes
I would suggest that you put the device into recovery mode and attempt a restore through Itunes. Just to be aware that you may run into some further issues if the device is still logged into icloud with find my iphone enabled. The only way to get this removed if you do not have access to the icloud account is to provide proof of purchase to apple and they may be able to remove this for you. I hope this helps :)
I tried to use a laptop with the latest iTunes but when I click on Restore I get an error message that says: "iPhone Software Update Server Could Not Be Contacted".
Ok then have the person that is trading it in take it to the Apple store
Hi John I would suggest having a go at putting the device in DFU mode I have attached an article from Ifixit to see if this helps. https://help.ifixit.com/article/108-dfu-restore
I finally got it! I just wanted to report back in case anyone else ever runs into this.
TL;DR version: On the iPhone the Personal Hotspot was turned on, preventing my laptop from accessing the Apple servers in iTunes when I was trying to Reset the iPhone.
According to Apple; the official method to erase and reset an iPhone or iPad if you don't know the screen time passcode is to plug it into a computer running iTunes, sign into iTunes using a parent's account, then click on the icon for the device and click Restore. When I tried that I was getting an error message that said, " iPhone Software Update Server Could Not Be Contacted".
When I tried to Google that message most of the results were about making sure the computer the iPhone was plugged into had internet access and checking that the firewall settings were not blocking iTunes. I knew that wasn't the case here. My laptop was connected to my WiFi and I could definitely access the internet. I even made sure I was using an genuine Apple usb cable and it was pure luck when I plugged it in for the 100th time I noticed in the bottom right corner of my laptop the network name changed. Even though it showed that my WiFi was connected I was also connected to the iPhone. My laptop was tethered to the iPhone!!!
My laptop was using the old iPhone as it's primary internet connection and they had already activated the new iPhone so it had no cell service (and no internet access). On the iPhone I went into Settings and turned off the Personal Hotspot and tried iTunes again and then it worked! I noticed iTunes had to download a 3.5GB file which I assume was a factory default image for the iPhone. The whole process took about 15-20 minutes and when it was over the iPhone was erased! Then I logged into both the child's and parent's Apple accounts and removed the device.
yalestark wrote:
Ok then have the person that is trading it in take it to the Apple store
That was my next suggestion but I finally figured it out.
I had the same issue, but could solve it with the apple instruction here https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT211021
How To Reset Your Iphone Without Screen Time Passcode
Source: https://community.spiceworks.com/topic/2278567-can-t-erase-iphone-8-because-of-screen-time-password
Posted by: russellwheyed.blogspot.com
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