iPhone SE (2016) Configure 'new' iPhone, forgot iCloud password...

[Dr. McKay]

Long story short : in November last year, I bought my daughter a new iPhone SE2 and I gave her old iPhone SE to a friend of mine, whose iPhone 5S's battery was starting to have tantrums (I reset the iPhone SE to factory settings, of course).

Anyway, his old 5S died yesterday and he tried to configure the iPhone SE with his iCloud account. Sure enough, he forgot his password. What's the easiest way to reset his password ? Oh, there's no secondary mail account he can use to try and reset his iCloud password, he has no other Apple devices, only a PC laptop...

 

[eyoungren]

Apple ID

Your Apple ID is the account you use for all Apple services

appleid.apple.com

Click on Forgot Apple ID or password and go from there.

Unfortunately, if your friend cannot reset this somehow your only option is going to be visiting the Apple store with the original receipt. Or use the phone as a paperweight.

 

[Puonti]

Here are all the relevant instructions directly from Apple. Have your friend read through the page until they find a method they are able to use:

If you forgot your Apple ID password - Apple Support

Use these steps to reset it and regain access to your account.

support.apple.com

 

[Dr. McKay]

Well, I'l try and help him as much as I can, but he's about as tech savvy as my great-grandmother's sister-in-law...
He also has a Gmail account but doesn't know whether he used that as a rescue address or not (most of the time and obviously doesn't remember the password to that address either. Sigh...

 

[piattj]

It's always astonishing how often recovering devices from faults is stymied by the inevitable refrain "But I don't know my password". I was helping my cousin reset his ISP password. He's with Post Office so needed to phone them. He did so, came back 2 minutes later with a scruffy old piece of newspaper on which he'd 'written' the password provided by Post Office... In that 2 minutes between being told the password andf presenting it to me, he had managed to 'not remember' whether several of the characters were 0 or O, I or l, uppercase or lowercase etc. "Does it matter?" he says. Unbelievable.

 

[eyoungren]

It's always astonishing how often recovering devices from faults is stymied by the inevitable refrain "But I don't know my password". I was helping my cousin reset his ISP password. He's with Post Office so needed to phone them. He did so, came back 2 minutes later with a scruffy old piece of newspaper on which he'd 'written' the password provided by Post Office... In that 2 minutes between being told the password andf presenting it to me, he had managed to 'not remember' whether several of the characters were 0 or O, I or l, uppercase or lowercase etc. "Does it matter?" he says. Unbelievable.

I think because the prompt for a password mostly just annoys the average person and because they make assumptions, they don't put any care into creating or remembering the password. That's not an excuse of this behavior of course, just my opinion.

 

[Knowlege Bomb]

My wife is a prime example of a "password illiterate". She grew up with computers too so I'm not sure what went wrong. She currently has about four notes (unsecured) in her Notes app where she stores her passwords. She also has 1Password but the only passwords in there are the ones I entered for her.

The best part of all of this? She has FaceID turned off because she "doesn't like it".

 

[eyoungren]

My wife is a prime example of a "password illiterate". She grew up with computers too so I'm not sure what went wrong. She currently has about four notes (unsecured) in her Notes app where she stores her passwords. She also has 1Password but the only passwords in there are the ones I entered for her.

The best part of all of this? She has FaceID turned off because she "doesn't like it".

I have managed to drag my wife into the semi-modern era - enough to where she's capable of solving lower-level problems on her own. The other day she told me she worked through enabling 2FA on an account that recently started requiring it. Big step.

 

[DeepIn2U]

Well, I'l try and help him as much as I can, but he's about as tech savvy as my great-grandmother's sister-in-law...
He also has a Gmail account but doesn't know whether he used that as a rescue address or not (most of the time and obviously doesn't remember the password to that address either. Sigh...

Well if he knows how to use the device just explain the issue and your task to resolve it in layman's terms. No need to make someone look like they'll not get it, just explain it differently. You may find his reply/answer may jog an alternative thought or question to resolve the issue.

Not everyone thinks in the same box