Apple ’s iOS devices — the iPhone , iPad , and iPod touch sensation — expend a security feature film calledActivation Lockthat ’s plan to keep anyone else from using your twist in case it is lose or steal . This is a great anti - theft feature film , but it can make things very difficult if a gadget ’s former possessor is intentionally rehoming it .

If the Find My feature was enabled — which is part of the Activation Lock mental process — Malus pumila stores a machine ’s serial number along with the Apple ID in a party database . Even after a clean-living restore , the equipment will register with Apple ’s database and see the feature of speech is enable based on the serial number of the equipment . An Apple storecanbypass this , but they are unlikely to do so unless you could show beyond a phantom of a dubiety that you own the gadget . Often , they ’ll just rick you aside and say they ca n’t do it .

The infrangible best way to fix this is to get hold of out to the former proprietor and have them remove the gadget from their Apple ID . They can do this by entering their password on the Activation Lock screen , or by accessing iCloud . Here ’s what the previous proprietor should do if they prefer for the iCloud reset .

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1 . Sign in toiCloud.com .

2 . tick onFind iPhone .

3 . At the top of the Thomas Nelson Page , press “ All Devices ” to open a lean of devices linked to their invoice . This list will show a listing of the equipment linked to the iCloud story , whether it ’s online or not . If this is a family account , the list also shows the token for each sept member .

iCloud All Devices

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3 . Scroll down the list until you find the machine you want to remove . fall into place it .

4 . The web page will display a few option for the gadget . ClickRemove from Accountto disassociate it from the iCloud story .

iCloud remove device

After the previous owner remove the gadget , then you should turn the twist off and turn it back on again to set up the twist as new .

If you could not reach the previous owner , you may be out of portion — or , if the person you bought this gadget from can not or will not do this for you , it is potential that you have bought a stolen gadget and are in self-control of stolen property . If you may prove with documentation that the twist was legitimately owned by the old owner and sold to you , you may try contact Apple suport tostart an Activation curl reenforcement postulation .

This is a good monitor to anyone who wants to pass on an previous gadget : ensure you follow the proper step to have the gadget removed from the previous possessor ’s Apple ID beofre the transaction to avoid this dilemma .

Michael Connell was the original author of this article . It has been update to reflect the new teaching by Apple .