Trying to unlock your iPod Touch but get hit with the “Wrong Passcode” message?
After too many incorrect attempts, you’ll get a message like “iPod is disabled connect to iTunes” or “iPod is disabled try again in 24279824 minutes.”
What to do when you have to wait 24 million minutes to be able to use your iPod Touch? How do you unlock an iPod Touch that is disabled?
Read on to find the solutions!
Part 1. Fix “iPod is disabled, connect to iTunes” with iTunes
Now onto the solutions and to begin with, we’ll be explaining solutions to “iPod is disabled connect to iTunes” or “iPod is disabled try again in 24 million minutes” which involve using iTunes.
These are official methods and are extremely easy to follow.
1Restore Your iPod
Just like the iPod is telling you to do, you can connect your iPod to iTunes to unlock it without losing data.
Pleae note that this way can only work when you have previously synced your iPod with iTunes on your computer.
How do you unlock an ipod touch that is disabled?
Step 1 – Use a lightning cable to connect your iPod to the computer and launch iTunes.
Step 2 – Click the device icon at the top of iTunes and click Back Up Now.
Step 3 – After the backup is taken, go ahead and click Restore iPod…
Step 4 – Wait a few minutes as iTunes wipes your iPod and restores a new firmware installation.
Step 5 – Once your iPod is restored, click on Restore Backup and you can restore the backup you previously took.
Since doing this will also wipe your iPod’s data, it’s crucial that you take a backup before doing the restore.
If you skip this step, you’ll lose all of the data on your device.
2Recovery Mode
An alternative way of fixing a disabled iPod is to put the device into Recovery Mode.
As the name implies, this mode is intended specifically for recovering iOS devices in situations like this.
How do you put your iPod touch in recovery mode?
Depending on your iPod model, there are 2 methods here.
iPod Touch (7th Gen)
Step 1 – Turn off your iPod by holding the Top/Lock button and swiping the Power Off slider.
Step 2 – Hold the Volume Down key and connect your iPod via USB.
Step 3 – Only release the key once the Recovery Mode screen appears.
iPod Touch (6th Gen and Earlier)
Step 1 – Turn off your iPod by holding down the Top/Lock button, then swiping Power Off.
Step 2 – While holding down your iPod’s Home button, connect the device to your computer.
Step 3 – Your iPod will now be in Recovery Mode.
With your iPod in Recovery Mode you can now click the Restore button to unlock your disabled iPod touch.
3DFU Mode
Can’t put your iPod touch into Recovery mode? Don’t worry! You can also unlock your disabled iPod in DFU (Device Firmware Update) mode.
DFU mode is just similar to Recovery mode, if you find the recovery mode doesn’t work for you, then try this mode.
How to put iPod Touch into DFU Mode?
Here is how:
Step 1. Power your locked iPod touch completely off.
Step 2. Connect your iPod touch to computer via an usb cable.
Step 3. Press and hold the Power button for 3 seconds. Then press and hold the Home button.
Note that you should keep holding the Power button at the whole process.
Step 4. Keep holding both buttons for 10 seconds, then release the Power button.
Step 5. Keep holding the Home button for another 10 seconds.
Step 6. When iTunes report your iPod Touch in recovery mode, release the Home button.
Then just click Restore iPod… to undisable it.
Part 2. Fix “iPod is disabled, connect to iTunes” without iTunes
For this next set of solutions, we’ll show you how to unlock a disabled iPod without iTunes, although some of these will still require a computer.
1Using Tenorshare 4uKey
First up we have Tenorshare 4uKey. This software has been designed with the intent of unlocking locked iOS devices, including your iPod, and it doesn’t require you to use iTunes.
All this software does is remove the passcode from your device and it’s perfect for when you’ve forgotten the passcode or if the last owner didn’t remove their passcode.
How do you unlock a disabled iPod without iTunes?
Step 1 – Download and install Tenorshare 4uKey onto your computer, launch the program, and connect your iPod Touch via lightning cable.
Step 2 – The program will detect the iPod connection and when it does, click Start to begin.
Step 3 – The following page will prompt you to select a firmware version and a download location. If the default firmware version or device model are incorrect, be sure to change them. Click Download to proceed.
Step 4 – Once the firmware has been fully downloaded it will be used to remove your iPod’s passcode and bypass the lock.
Then wait until 4uKey unlock your disabled iPod Touch.
To use Tenorshare 4uKey in this situation you will need to buy a license.
Thankfully, you can use the free trial version to get an idea of what the program does and what you can expect from using it.
2iCloud
Another way to unlock a disabled iPod without iTunes is to use iCloud.
You can do this from a computer, a tablet, or even another iOS device, and we’re going to be doing this through the iCloud dashboard.
How to unlock disabled iPod without iTunes
Step 1 – Using a computer or any device, head over to iCloud.com in a browser and sign in with your iCloud account.
Step 2 – Click the Find My icon.
Step 3 – click on All Devices at the top of your screen, and select your iPod from the list.
Step 4 – On the menu that pops up, click on Erase iPod and wait as iCloud remotely resets your device.
Step 5 – After the reset is complete you’ll have to set up your iPod from its factory state.
This will, of course, wipe your iPod and the data will be lost. But if you have iCloud backups enabled then once you’ve reset your iPod you can then restore one of the backups to your device.
3Dr.Fone – Screen Unlock
Similar to Tenorshare 4uKey is Dr.Fone – Screen Unlock, another software that is very effective when you see iPod is disabled connect to iTunes.
This software guides you through every step of the way allowing everyone to take advantage of its capabilities, and it’ll work with all of the latest iOS versions.
How do you reset a disabled iPod touch?
The following steps will help you to use it.
Step 1 – Install the Dr.Fone – Screen Unlock software on your computer and then launch it.
Step 2 – From the main menu click on Screen Unlock, connect your iPod with a USB cable, and press the Start button.
Step 3 – On the following page you’ll be given instructions on putting your iPod into DFU Mode. Once you’ve done that, Dr.Fone will automatically proceed.
Step 4 – Next, enter your device’s details including the iPod model and iOS version. Confirm that the correct information is selected (if there is anything wrong, click the drop-down menu and correct it) then click Download.
Step 5 – To finish this method, wait for the firmware to download and then click Unlock Now to complete the passcode lock removal process.
As with the other solutions we’ve gone over so far, Dr.Fone – Screen Unlock does involve wiping your iPod Touch to bypass the lock. Nonetheless, it gets the job done.
For more details, just check out our review on Dr.Fone Screen Unlock (iOS).
4On Windows
Differing from the above solutions, this final solution will help you fix a disabled iPod without restore.
This can be done without any special tools, in fact, it is done completely through Windows.
Note that this is only a viable solution if you’ve got an older iPod model as it won’t work for newer models.
How do you bypass iPod Password without restoring it?
Step 1 – Use a lightning cable to connect your iPod to a Windows PC and close iTunes if it automatically opens.
Step 2 – Use an Explorer window to open the Computer menu and double-click your iPod to reveal its storage.
Step 3 – Before proceeding, make sure that hidden folders can be viewed. To enable this, go to File Explorer Options, click the View tab, and under Advanced Settings, enable Show hidden files, folders and drives.
Step 4 – Back in our iPod’s storage, go into the iPod_Control folder and find the _locked file.
Step 5 – Change the name of this file to _unlocked and you’re done.
To wrap up this method just restart your iPod and the lock will no longer be a problem.
As a reminder, this only works if you’ve got an older iPod, so owners of newer models will have to seek alternative solutions.
Part 3. Unlock a Disabled iPod Without Computer
To end our guide we’ll be showing one final method, and this time it’ll be how to unlock a disabled iPod without iTunes or a computer.
This method works in a similar way to the iCloud method but instead, we’ll be directing our attention to the Find My app.
How to undisable an iPod without computer?
Step 1 – On any other iOS device you have which the same iCloud account signed in on, tap on the Find My application to open it.
Step 2 – Tap on the Devices tab and locate your iPod on the map.
Step 3 – Select the iPod and swipe down to tap on Erase This Device.
Step 4 – Confirm the erase and when it’s complete, your iPod’s lock will be gone.
This results in both the iPod’s passcode lock disappearing but also any data stored on the iPod, so be prepared with a backup if possible.
Part 4. FAQs About Disabled iPod Touch
We collected some frequently asked questions about a disabled iPod Touch, this may be helpful for you.
1. Why is My iPod Disabled?
As we just touched on, your iPod gets disabled because of the user entering the passcode wrongly too many times.
Here are the different stages of entering wrong passcodes before the device gets locked:
- 6 Wrong Attempts. iPod is disabled, try again in 1 minute.
- 7 Wrong Attempts. iPod is disabled, try again in 5 minutes.
- 8 Wrong Attempts. iPod is disabled, try again in 15 minutes.
- 9 Wrong Attempts. iPod is disabled, try again in 60 minutes.
- 10 Wrong Attempts. iPod is disabled, connect to iTunes.
For old iOS versions, you may see “iPod is disabled, try again in 24 million minutes” after too many incorrect attempts.
The reason that this happens is to prevent unauthorized users from accessing the iPod.
Imagine someone stole your iPod and had unlimited password attempts – they could try hundreds of combinations without any security feature kicking in.
2. What does it mean when iPod is disabled?
As discussed above, your iPod Touch will be disabled when you enter the wrong passcode too many times.
If you can’t remember the correct passcode, you must restore your iPod touch, it’s the most effective way to undisable your iPod.
3. How long does it take to restore a disabled iPod touch?
If you use iTunes to restore it, then it depends on the size of firmware package and your Internet speed. Usually won’t take 10 minutes.
If you choose iCloud to erase your iPod, then it will take around 5 minutes.
4. How to connect to itunes when ipod is disabled?
It’s normal that iTunes won’t detect a disabled iPod Touch.
In this situation, just put your device into Recovery mode or DFU mode. Then restore it with iTunes.
5. What happens when you restore your iPod touch?
When you restore your iPod touch, all your content and settings will be erased from it, including the screen passcode.
6. Is there an easy way for me to put my iPod into Recovery mode?
Of curse yes! You can use TinyUmbrella to put your device into Recovery mode in one-click.
This is an effective way when the buttons of your iPod touch can’t work.
7. What to do if My iPod Touch locked to iCloud?
You may find your iPod Touch is locked to iCloud Activation Lock after bypassing the passcode. Don’t worry, you can unlock it by offering your Apple ID & password.
If you still can’t get your iPod unlocked, just have a look at our recent research on iPod Touch Activation Lock bypass.
To Wrap Up
We’ve covered plenty of methods on how to resolve “iPod is disabled connect to iTunes” or “iPod is disabled try again in 24 million minutes” so there’s no reason you shouldn’t find one that works for you.
Perhaps you get the results you hoped for by using iCloud, or maybe software like Tenorshare 4uKey does the job, but if you want to unlock a disabled iPod without iTunes or a computer you’ll be bound to use the final method of using the Find My app.
Regardless of the solution you choose, getting past the disabled screen should be no issue at all with our guide.
