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iPhone and Android: Apple Account or Google account locked

Your Apple Account (formerly Apple ID) or Google account is the key to your phone, photos, apps and backups. If you are locked out, use only the official recovery routes. Scammers pretend to be Apple or Google, and a fake page can steal your details.

First, check you are on the real site

Type the address into your browser rather than clicking a link in an email or text.

  • Apple: iforgot.apple.com
  • Google: accounts.google.com, then choose Forgot password

Apple and Google will never phone you to ask for your password or a code. Never share the six-digit codes they send.

Apple Account locked or disabled

  1. Go to iforgot.apple.com and enter your Apple Account email or phone number.
  2. Follow the steps. You may be asked for a trusted phone number, a trusted device or your passcode.
  3. If you cannot prove it is you, Apple may start Account Recovery. This can take days. It is a waiting period for security, not a fault. Do not keep restarting it, as that can reset the clock.
  4. On a trusted iPhone, you can also change your password in Settings by tapping your name, then Sign-In and Security, then Change Password.

Setting up a Recovery Contact or Recovery Key later can make this easier.

Google account locked or password forgotten

  1. Use a phone or computer you have previously signed into your account on, and at your usual location. This makes recovery much more likely to work.
  2. Go to accounts.google.com and choose Forgot password.
  3. Answer the questions as accurately as you can. If unsure, give your best guess, and try more than once.
  4. Use your recovery phone number or email if you added one.

If the account has been disabled, Google provides an appeal form.

When to get more help

Get help if recovery keeps failing, if you think someone else has taken over your account, or if you are locked out of a phone you need for work. Never pay a website that offers to unlock an account for a fee. Contact us and we can guide you through the official forms and help you keep a record of what you have tried.

Did this help? If you are still stuck, email Vision Tech and tell us what you can see on the screen. Menus and button names can differ slightly between versions and makes. If something does not match, stop and ask rather than guess.

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