How to Recover Your Forgotten iTunes Backup Password

Samuel Spenser Published on November 07, 2025iOS Tips3-min reading

"I never set a backup password, but iTunes says that I did, so I cannot restore my backups. How do I recover my iTunes backup password?" While Apple stopped iTunes on the latest versions of macOS, many people still use it to manage their devices with a computer, including backing up iPhone and iPad to PCs. If you forgot your iTunes backup password, you cannot restore it to your device. This guide explains what you can do.

Part 1: What Is iTunes Backup Password

When you back up your iPhone or iPad to a PC using iTunes, you have the option to Encrypt local backup. It protects your iPhone backup with a password, which is called iTunes backup password.When you choose to encrypt your backup, you'd better write the password down. Whenever you store the backup to your iPhone or iPad, you must provide the password. Otherwise, you will lose access to your backup data.This password can be different from your iPhone passcode or Apple ID password. In other words, you can set an iTunes encrypted backup password to anything you like.

Part 2: What to Do If You Forgot iTunes Backup Password

If you can't remember your iTunes backup password, you can try the passwords you have used, recover it from a password manager, or reset it on your iPhone or iPad. We demonstrate the workflows below.

Recall Your iTunes Backup Password

Once you forget your backup password on iTunes, the first thing you can do is recall your password. The good news is that there is no limitation on the number of iTunes backup password attempts. You can keep trying different passwords until you guess the right one.Perhaps you used one of the following as your iTunes backup passwords:

Your iPhone passcode or Apple ID password

Your email password

Your phone number

Your computer login password

Your or your family's birthday

Something simple like 0000, 1234, password, or so on.

Recover iTunes Backup Password on macOS

iTunes is still available on macOS Mojave or earlier. If you encrypted your iPhone backup to Mac with iTunes, you can recover your lost iTunes backup password from iCloud Keychain on your computer.

Reset Your iTunes Encrypted Backup Password

Another solution if you forgot your iTunes backup password is to reset your password and make a new backup. This solution cannot access the encrypted iTunes backup, but overwrites it with a new backup.

Part 3: Ultimate Way to Remove iTunes Backup Password

Another option to remove iTunes backup password is imyPass iPassGo. It is able to remove the forgotten backup password from your iPhone or iPad without technical skills. Moreover, the process won't interrupt existing data on your device.

How to Remove iTunes Backup Password

Note: Then, you can back up your iPhone or iPad using iCloud or iTunes.

Conclusion

This guide explained what you should do if you forgot your iTunes backup password. Firstly, you can try to recall your password. The built-in password manager, Keychain, allows you to get back a backup password on macOS. If you cannot remember the password, you have to reset it on your iPhone or iPad by resetting all settings. imyPass iPassGo is the ultimate solution to remove the forgotten backup password.