Passcodes are almost an essential feature to have enabled on iPhones, even if you choose to use Fingerprint ID or Face ID instead.
That being said, whenever you forget the passcode there’s a good chance you’ll struggle to get back into your phone unless you find a way to remove it.
To add to this, not everyone has computer access, making a lot of the available solutions unsuitable. Keeping that in mind, this article will show you the top ways to unlock iPhone passcode without computer or iTunes.
Part 1. Things You Need to Know Before Unlocking iPhone Passcode
Before we get into how you can unlock iPhone passcode without computer or Siri, there are two important things we feel as though you should know first.
1What Happens if Too Many Wrong Passcode Attempts
Most importantly, if you try to unlock your iPhone too many times using the wrong passcode, you’re going to get locked out.
This is meant to prevent thieves from getting into stolen iPhones but it also becomes an inconvenience to users who forget their passwords.
The more you enter the wrong passcode, the longer the lockout.
- 6 wrong passcode attempts: disables the iPhone for 1 minute
- 7 wrong passcode attempts: disables the iPhone for 5 minutes
- 8 wrong passcode attempts: disables the iPhone for 15 minutes
- 9 wrong passcode attempts: disables the iPhone for 1 hour
- 10 wrong passcode attempts: disables the iPhone until it is connected to iTunes and restored
When you reach the 10 wrong attempts threshold, you won’t be able to do anything until you connect it to iTunes and effectively do a factory reset.
So try to avoid reaching that threshold.
2Why You’ll Have to Reset Your iPhone
There’s essentially no way to avoid resetting your iPhone if you don’t know the passcode, but why is that the case?
Apple’s system is so intricate that years ago the FBI weren’t able to bypass a locked iPhone [1] without putting the data on the device at risk. Although the FBI proposed to have Apple design an alternative iOS version that would have enabled them to bypass passcodes, Apple refused and successfully legally fought against that request.
The point we’re making is: if the FBI aren’t able to get passed an iPhone’s passcode, you probably won’t be able to either!
Part 2. How to Unlock iPhone/iPad Passcode without Computer or iTunes?
Now we’re going to dive into the details that you need to know: the strategies you can try to unlock your iPhone without a computer’s help.
1Using Find My App to Unlock iPhone without Siri or Passcode or iTunes or Computer
This is something you’ll likely know about, but the Find My service can be extremely handy.
Usually, we’d recommend going to the iCloud website but without a computer, it’s easier to use another iOS device and use the app.
Step 1 – Open the Find My app on your another iOS device.
Step 2 – Locate your locked iPhone on the map and tap on it.
Step 3 – Tap Actions > Erase iPhone, then it will completely wipe the iPhone (including the passcode).
Step 4 – When the iPhone has been erased, set it up normally and if possible restore a backup.
Like we mentioned, you can also do this through the iCloud website if you have access to a computer. However, in the event of not having computer access, this method works just as well.
Limits
- You will need another iOS device, e.g. an iPad or iPod which is associated with the same Apple ID with your locked iPhone
- Find My iPhone must be enabled on your iPhone & another iOS device before it was locked
- You must have the iCloud account details that were used on the iPhone (if you bought a second-hand iPhone then this method won’t help!)
2Using Mobile Browser to Unlock iPhone Passcode without Computer or Siri or iTunes
To add to the previous method, you can also unlock iPhone passcode without computer or Siri by going to the iCloud dashboard on another smartphone.
The steps are very similar but there are a few minor differences, so follow these steps carefully.
Step 1 – Launch a browser app on any other mobile device and go to iCloud.com.
Step 2 – Sign in with the same iCloud account that you used on your locked iPhone and navigate to Find iPhone.
Step 3 – Tap on your iPhone from the list of linked devices and tap Erase iPhone.
Step 4 – Doing this will remotely factory reset your iPhone and after this, you can set it up from scratch.
Doing this also gets rid of any data, so having a backup is important. If you don’t frequently take backups then you’ll likely lose some personal data.
3Using Siri to Unlock iPhone Passcode without Computer or iTunes
For people who have older iPhones or don’t keep their iOS updated, you’re in luck because this next method works great.
It involves a Siri bug and although it only works for a very small group of devices, it has a high success rate to unlock iPhone passcode without restore.
Step 1 – Press and hold the Home button to prompt Siri, then say “Hey Siri, what is the time?”.
Step 2 – The Clock app will be displayed, tap on it and you’ll be taken to the app.
Step 3 – On the World Clock page, tap the + icon at the top-right of the screen and type something in the search bar.
Step 4 – Tap the text and tap Select All, then tap Share, and choose the Message app.
Step 5 – Next to the To bar, enter something and tap Return.
Step 6 – Tap the + icon next to your name then select Create New Contact.
Step 7 – Once you’re taken to the new contact page, tap on add photo and select Choose Photo.
Step 8 – The Photos app will then launch. Simply tap on any album, wait a few seconds, then press the Home button to access your unlocked iPhone.
The huge downside is that although this will unlock iPhone/iPad passcode without computer or iTunes, it doesn’t work for most people.
It will only work if you have an iPhone that runs iOS 8 to iOS 10 – this bug has been patched in the latest iOS versions.
Part 3. Problems You May Encounter After Unlocking iPhone Passcode
After using a solution to unlock iPhone passcode without computer or Siri, you’re not out of the woods just yet. There are 2 problems that you might encounter.
1If it’s Stuck at Activation Lock Screen
The first thing you’ll probably run into is the iCloud Activation Lock.
If you have Find My iPhone enabled then the iCloud Activation Lock is also enabled by default. What this means is simply that after a factory reset, you have to enter your iCloud credentials to unlock the iPhone.
If you don’t sign in with the same iCloud account, certain features will be restricted (such as iMessage and Facetime).
Solution: Using AppleiPhoneUnlock
Our recommended solution is to use AppleiPhoneUnlock. This website offers an iCloud Unlock service which will effectively remove any iCloud account from your iPhone, even if you don’t have the email and password.
Of course, this service comes with a fee. But keep in mind that this is one of the few solutions you have and this high-quality service will remove the iCloud lock in no time at all.
2If You Don’t Have an iCloud or iTunes Backup
After getting passed the iCloud Activation lock, you might then realize that you don’t have a backup on iTunes or iCloud.
As such, lots of your data could be lost due to the factory reset.
So, what can you do to resolve this?
Solution: Using Tenorshare UltDate
Using an iOS data recovery program like Tenorshare UltData is the perfect solution.
This tool scans your device for all data – even data that was deleted or wiped in a factory reset – and you have the opportunity to recover it.
If, however, you do have an iCloud or iTunes backup available, restore that instead since it is a direct copy of the data.
Bottom Line
Given that most of the solutions on the internet for bypassing an iPhone’s passcode require a computer, it can be difficult finding ways to unlock iPhone/iPad passcode without computer or iTunes.
For some users the Siri bug might help but, in most cases, a factory reset through the Find My iPhone app or iCloud will be the best step to take.
Hopefully, this guide has shined some light on the situation, and you’ll be able to get rid of the passcode with ease!
