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How Do I Recover iTunes Backup Password?

I set a password when backing up my iPhone with iTunes. It has been a while and I forgot to write it down. I tried my apple id password but it doesn’t work.
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Chris Canvas

Comments: One Response to “How Do I Recover iTunes Backup Password?”

    7 years ago

    You are probably out of luck. There are two types of passwords: ones that operate as "gatekeepers" and ones that operate as encryption keys. A gatekeeper is like a lock on a door. If you can break the lock, or get around it, then the things in the room beyond are there for you. But an encryption key means that all of the data is actually encrypted. The password isn't just a way to "get in" -- it is the code used to decrypt the data. Without it, there is no way to deconstruct the bits of data to get your backup files.
    So your only hope is to remember the password. Otherwise, I hope this is the sort of situation where you can simply kill that old backup and start a new one, this time storing the password in a safe place like a password manager, the keychain, or writing it down. But if this is a situation where you lost your iPhone and are restoring to a new one, then you are probably out of luck unless you can remember the password.
    Otherwise, you may be able to get some of your data from its original sources. For instance, all of my photos are in iCloud Photo Library and all of my documents are on iCloud Drive. If I lost my iPhone and my iPhone backup, the worst I would have to deal with is losing the preference settings for some apps.

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