Possible to restore password of iTunes backup file?

ccpaciee
New Contributor

I deleted a few photos and text messages when cleaning my iPhone this morning. I already had backed up with itunes. However, i tried a few times to input the password i thought it was right, but all went wrong. is there any way to recover the password?

P.S: This is not for Apple ID password

6 REPLIES 6

m_entholzner
Contributor III
Contributor III

If you have stored the password in your keychain, you are able to get the backup password from your keychain.
If you haven't, there is no way to get access to your backup.

Zirezmily
New Contributor
I deleted a few photos and text messages when cleaning my iPhone this morning. I already had backed up with itunes. However, i tried a few times to input the password i thought it was right, but all went wrong. is there any way to recover the password? P.S: This is not for Apple ID password

I don't agree with m.entholzner said. There are many cracking, backing forums which can help you unlock your iTunes password, but I don't recommend it because it may lead to your data loss. And there are other recovery tool like iSeePassword I know, which can recover forgotten password from iTunes, but it may take hours to recover your iTunes backup.

This is a not freeware but it works, if you found freeware, please don't forgot to share with us.

jbmaruh
New Contributor III

@Zirezmily While theoretically it is possible to run a bruteforce or similar on it depending on the strength of the password it may not be feasible in any light. And most (see: all) of those programs indicating they can reveal the password are a cash grab sham that don't work.

I'd stick to the normalized paths for things but that's just me. Per the iOS Security Guide the key is "run through 10,000 iterations of PBKDF2" -- Which most writeups on the length of time to bruteforce it is it's going to take quite awhile. Good luck in going that route.

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT205220
Have you checked to see if you have a previous backup that isn't encrypted or an iCloud backup? Or if it's in your iCloud's Photo Stream (for pictures at least), or an iCloud backup that contains the data you want, maybe another device it could have synced to like an iPad or your computer's Pictures folder?

Try your iCloud password, computer login password, pin number, leave it blank (surprising how often it's blank...)

ccpaciee
New Contributor

@jbmaruh, i tried the password combinations you suggested, still wrong password.

ccpaciee
New Contributor
I don't agree with m.entholzner said. There are many cracking, backing forums which can help you unlock your iTunes password, but I don't recommend it because it may lead to your data loss. And there are other recovery tool like iSeePassword I know, which can recover forgotten password from iTunes, but it may take hours to recover your iTunes backup. This is a not freeware but it works, if you found freeware, please don't forgot to share with us.

thanks for the suggestion, i will try it out immediately.

Donaldald
New Contributor
I don't agree with m.entholzner said. There are many cracking, backing forums which can help you unlock your iTunes password, but I don't recommend it because it may lead to your data loss. And there are other recovery tool like iSeePassword I know, which can recover passwords from iTunes backup, but it may take hours to recover your iTunes backup. This is a not freeware but it works, if you found freeware, please don't forgot to share with us.

Yes, I also know iSeePassword, which many people use to unlock iTunes backups. But before using the tool, I also saw some free attempts:
Empty password
If you use some third-party software to set passwords for users, they may use a blank backup password. In this case, just click the "OK" button on the iTunes password input box.
2. "cut off" password
If you are used to using long passwords, you can try entering the first 15 characters of the long password. This is because before iOS 10.2, the password was 15 characters long and the extra password was automatically truncated.
3. Official tips (can't retrieve backups, only iTunes passwords can be reset)
https://support.apple.com/en-US/HT205220
4. Use iTunes Backup Unlock Tool to restore iTunes backup password
For example, iSeePassword, FoneCope, Tenorshare, etc.