William Gallagher
Recovering a lost Apple ID account can take several days for security reasons, but there are actions desperate users should avoid if they want it to go off without a hitch.
Anyone can forget their Apple ID password — and sometimes Apple has locked people out — so the company has to provide a way for users to get back into their iCloud accounts when they do. Apple also has to balance keeping those accounts secure, though, so it makes recovery a multi-step process. But Apple now says that the process can be cancelled if a user unsuccessfully intervenes.
According to updated support documentation, Apple does still recommend that a legitimate user's first step should be to attempt recovery by by resetting their password on another device. When that fails for any reason, users are still directed to start a recovery request via iforgot.apple.com.
They provide Apple with details of the account, and the company then begins a process that it says typically "might take several days or longer." That process can be abandoned by Apple, however, if the user persists in attempting, and failing, to reset their account password.
If you submitted your account recovery request with iforgot.apple.com through your device's browser, you should avoid using that device during this period. Using that device might cancel account recovery.
If you did not already try before beginning account recovery, you might be able to recover your account by accessing another trusted device. If you did try, then accessing another device that is signed in with your Apple ID could cancel your account recovery. To avoid delays, turn off other devices until account recovery is complete.
While acknowledging that kind of cancellation is a delay on top of an already long process involved in recovery, Apple says it's necessary. Apple also recommends that users should switch off their devices while the recovery is underway.
"To avoid delays, turn off other devices until account recovery is complete," it says. "We know this delay is inconvenient, but it's important so that we can keep your account and information safe."
Even after the recovery process has started, users can log back in to iforgot.apple.com with their correct Apple ID and password. And if they do, the recovery process is cancelled because it's no longer necessary.
Malcolm Owen
Andrew Orr
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Wesley Hilliard
13 Comments
In other words, try every password imaginable before contacting Apple.
Users scream and holler about security policies cramping their ‘style’ but when something goes wrong they are the first to blame (and possibly sue) Apple over it. On the Apple Discussion Forums there is a thread, now 67 pages long, of outraged users demanding they be allowed to turn off 2FA. It’s too ‘inconvenient’ for them they say. They go on and on about how security is their business and not Apple’s... yada, yada, yada. There are also a dozen or more posts per day from people wanting to know how to get around Activation Lock. Their stories vary but the motive is always the same. They ‘obtained’ an iOS device from somewhere/someone, or ‘found’ it, and need to get around the lock in order to be able to use it.
Just curious. If I turn off my devices how will I be able to see that the recovery is complete?