If you forgot your Apple ID password, iOS 15 has a great account recovery feature. Here’s how to take advantage of it.
If you forgot your account password Apple ID, do not panic. It happens to forget a password from time to time. Lose that of the Apple ID account for theiPhone, iPad or Mac is as frustrating as losing your car keys. Your password, like your keys, unlocks access to something very important: your account iCloud, and all your Apple devices. Like Face ID and Touch ID, the passcode is designed to keep your information safe, but get it wrong a few times and you’ll be left with no choice but to contact Apple for help.
Apple released iOS 15 last September, 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 define one or more trusted contacts who can give you a special code to unlock your account. It’s pretty cool and it 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(s)
Before you can set up Account Recovery, all of your Apple devices, whether 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 these builds are installed, select your recovery contacts 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 the contact can see or do with your account (they don’t have access to your iCloud account) and briefly detailing what to do if you get locked out.
- 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 need to call one of your Account Recovery contacts with your iPhone. This contact will then give you a short code which they can access directly on their iPhone. Once this code is entered, you will be able to unlock your account.
Once the account is unlocked, you will be asked to create a new password. Rather than keeping it in memory or choosing a simple password, prefer to use a password manager. This will generate a complex password for you, store it and even be able to enter it for you when requested.
