real troubles helping a student retrieve/update their apple ID, could really use help

By Moopie Curran, 19 December, 2024

Forum

iOS and iPadOS

Hi,
I am trying to help a student retrieve their apple ID password. They want to download an app, which is free, but I guess whoever set up their iPhone many moons ago had it set to have to enter the password for even free apps. We entered the email and password that they had thought was associated with their apple ID, no luck. Then, we proceeded to click the forgot password, we filled in the appropriate info, and we picked the phone number we wanted the code sent to. Then, it asked for the passcode to (student's iPhone), which is apparently their old original iPhone SE, which was traded in back in 2022. Because on the current phone, there is no 6-digit passcode, or passcode of any kind set up (I know, not my choice, lol.). But of course, my student didn't know the passcode that went to their old, probably non-existent iPhone. I've never seen a forgot password do that. Usually, when someone forgets their apple ID password, don't you choose the associated phone number and get a verification code by text? That's what it acted like it was going to do, but then when I clicked the associated number, that rubbish about entering the passcode from the old iPhone came up. Unfortunately, they can't get a code via email, because the email address that the apple ID was associated with is also null and void, because it was an address associated with a cable provider which the student no longer has. We have called apple accessibility, my student was on the phone with them for an hour. One person said maybe it's because my student isn't at home, that's why it's not sending the verification code. I highly doubt it, lol. Even if that was the case, my student wouldn't necessarily be able to recover their password from home, they don't have a second apple device, they use a PC. And when they tried to recover the password from their PC, it said they needed to do it from an apple device. My student is getting more proficient with the iPhone, however, with the potential complexity of the task of recovering and resetting the password, I'm not sure they'd be able to complete it successfully without my help at home, that's nothing against them, everybody is a beginner at one time or another. :) Any ideas of how I might be able to help my student? I'm seriously confused, I didn't think recovering someone's lost apple ID password was like pulling teeth.

Options

Comments

icloud on the web?

I'd recommend trying to go to icloud.com and trying to sort it out through there.

can they go to iCloud.com on a PC

Hi,
Since my student only uses a PC for a computer, can they maybe go to iCloud.com through their PC? Or will I have to use my mac and help them during the next lesson?

No Idea if this can help

When I upgraded from my iPhone to a newer one, I had difficulty activating some apps with the phone number, it turned that I need to have some credit in my phone, not sure what the istuation is where you are, but where I live there is the PAYG (pay as you go) and prepaid plan. For the prepaid plan it is problematic to receive activation messages and it is should always be topped up with some extra credit to receive activation messages.

Moopie Curran

They should be able to use the pc for windows if they use that. Is OK but pain to move around it.

Account recovery

When they try to reset the password from their iPhone, is there an option to start an account recovery request? I've never needed to do this before, but if they are able to provide information proving their ownership of the account, Apple may be able to recover it after a waiting period. The Apple Support article "How to use account recovery when you can't reset your Apple Account password has more information on this process.

HTH

re, icloud.com on pc

Yeah you can go to icloud.com on a pc, or any webbrowser really.

A Couple of Ideas

Being assisted with device setup is probably one of the edge-case scenarios Apple's designers never really considered when implementing the various security measures for ID recovery.

Here are a couple of ideas:

According to the Apple Support Article, If you forgot your Apple Account password, it is possible to use the Apple Support app on a borrowed device to reset the password, so long as the account holder has access to their trusted phone number and can receive verification text messages. If I understand this correctly, this would mean that you could install the Apple Support app on your device and then use it to assist your student. With the huge caveat that I have never tried this and thus don't know if it really as simple as it looks in the article, this could potentially be a solution.
If the above option doesn't work:
- Did you/your student already try any possible passwords? Is there a particular password that they use for other services that perhaps was used for this as well? Often in my experience assisting people, they have a password or a couple passwords they use, so sometimes it is just a matter of helping them think through all the passwords they use.
- Regarding entering the passcode for the previous iPhone, are there any 4- or 6-digit numbers of any significance to your student that they could try? (Birthdays, important dates, anniversaries, etc. etc.) While 6 digits is the default passcode, you can create a 4-digit passcode as well, and it might be possible that that was what the previous person did.
- Does your student have transportation access and an Apple Store nearby? I realize this might not be possible, but if it is, the Apple Store reps could very likely be able to assist them with the reset process or, if necessary, signing out of the old Apple Account and creating a new one. If they do need to create a new Apple Account, make sure that the existing contacts and other iCloud data is left on the device after signing out of the old Apple Account.