What to do if locked out of your iPad

Protecting your iPad® with a passcode is a great way to keep your personal information safe. But if you forget your passcode and enter the wrong one too many times, you can get locked out.

Don't worry. Here at Asurion, when tech breaks, we fix it. Our experts help millions of customers solve their device problems each day—from troubleshooting laptops that won't connect to Wi-Fi to setting up a new iPhone®. Here are their tips for unlocking your iPad.

Why is my iPad locked?

If you've entered the wrong passcode too many times, your iPad will disable itself for certain time periods to prevent a security breach. But after 10 failed attempts, your device will completely lock to block hackers or cyberthieves from stealing your information.

Luckily, there are steps you can take to restore or reset it. Here are a couple of ways to unlock it.

How to unlock your iPad using iTunes

To use this method, all you'll need is a computer with the iTunes™ app and the charging cable that came with your iPad.

Put your iPad in recovery mode

This will let you bypass the passcode on your screen. NOTE: This will delete all data from your iPad, but you can restore your information if you have an iCloud® backup.

For iPads without a Home button:

1. Connect your iPad to your computer.
2. Press and hold the Top button and the Volume Up or Volume Down button until the power-off slider appears. Drag the slider to turn off your device.
3. Hold down the Top button until the recovery mode screen appears—you should see a black screen with an image of a cable connecting to a computer.

For iPads with a Home button:

1. Press and hold the Top button until the power-off slider appears. Drag the slider to turn off your device.
2. Connect your iPad to your computer while holding down the Home button. Keep holding it until you see the recovery mode screen.

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Restore your iPad

If you have an available backup, you can use it to restore your device.

1. Make sure you have the latest version of iTunes.
2. On a PC or Mac running the Mojave operating system or earlier, click the iPad icon in the upper-left corner of your iTunes window. On a Mac® running macOS® Catalina or later, open Finder® and select your device under Locations.
3. Click Restore from the menu. If this process takes longer than 15 minutes, you'll need to repeat the previous steps to keep your iPad from becoming disabled again.
4. Once the restore is complete, you'll see an option to restore your iPad from a backup or set it up as a new device. If you have a backup saved, select this option. If not, proceed to set it up as new.

How to unlock your iPad using the Find My app

Here's how to get back into your iPad if you don't have iTunes. NOTE: This will delete all data from your iPad, but you can restore your information if you have an iCloud backup.

From iCloud:

1. Go to icloud.com/find, and sign in with your Apple ID.
2. Click All Devices at the top of the screen, then select your iPad.
3. Select Erase iPad, wait for a window to appear that says your iPad's data and settings will be erased, then select Erase.

From an iPhone:

1. Open the Find My app, select your iPad from the list, then tap Actions.
2. Select Erase iPad, then select Erase.