How to unlock a disable iPhone SE using macOS finder

Vivienne Lv12

Unlock Disabled iPhone SE Without A Computer

here are millions in the world who do not use the traditional computer so to speak. They have entered the post-PC era as they say, and their needs are met without a regular desktop or a laptop. They live wirelessly. They travel the world. Are you one of them? How would you unlock disabled iPhone SE with no desktop/ laptop computer around? You have a few options.

You can use your other iOS device with Find My iPhone app to unlock your disabled iPhone SE or you can use the iCloud website from your other device and Find iPhone app to unlock your disabled iPhone SE.

The second option is to get a loaner device from someone you know. A loaner device is a device you borrow from someone to use for a purpose and return it when you are done with it. In this case, you can ask for a computer from someone you know and use it to unlock your disabled iPhone SE and return the device back. That way, you can use iTunes or macOS Finder if you’re more favorable to using that method.

When using a computer, the simplest, easiest, most flexible, and robust method to unlock disabled iPhone SE is using third-party tools such as Dr.Fone – Screen Unlock (iOS). However, Dr.Fone is not just for troubleshooting and unlocking your disabled devices. Dr.Fone is like that multi-utility knife that can do a variety of things.

Using Dr.Fone you can not only unlock your iPhone SE with ease, you can also use it periodically as a backup and restore tool that gives power in your hands. How does it do that? When you launched Dr.Fone , you had several modules to choose from and you chose Screen Unlock to unlock your disabled device. Instead of that, you can choose the Phone Backup module to backup and restore data from and to your device. Why would you use a third-party tool to backup and restore?

As you may be aware, using iTunes or macOS Finder allows you to backup and restore data onto your iPhone easily, but, the one glaring omission here is that it does not allow you to choose what you want to backup and what you want to restore. This is a much-coveted feature that is glaringly absent from the Apple world so far, and with Dr.Fone ‘s iOS Phone Backup feature you can have that choice in your hands, just like you do with Android. Dr.Fone allows you to choose what you want to backup, so, you can back up just your photos, just your text messages, just your files, or any combination thereof, for the matter. And, when it comes to restore, you can restore selectively as well. So, suppose you backed up your entire data using Dr.Fone , now you can restore just the text messages if you so want.

Unlock Disabled iPhone SE Using Find My iPhone App

There are times you have another iOS device in the family or just lying around, you can use that device to unlock your disabled iPhone SE. This method is particularly useful if you’re traveling with family or alone, and only have family members with their own iOS devices or, say, your iPad with you. As always, note that all these methods will wipe your data from your iPhone.

  • Step 1: Open the Find My app on your other iOS device or Mac.

Open the Find My app on your other iOS device or Mac

  • Step 2: Select your disabled iPhone SE from the devices from the left pane, click/ tap your disabled iPhone SE and click/ tap Erase This Device

The disabled iPhone will be wiped and reset to factory settings. You can then set it up again.

Unlock Disabled iPhone SE Without iTunes/ iCloud

We know and understand that the word troubleshooting can remind you of long telephone calls with support or making appointments and driving down to specialists and spending obscene amounts of money to get solutions. You do not want that. How about a way you could unlock your iPhone SE in a simple, 1-click way instead?

Dr.Fone - Screen Unlock (iOS) is a tool that can help you unlock your iPhone SE without iTunes or iCloud. It is a simple and easy-to-use tool that can help you unlock your iPhone SE in a few minutes. It is a safe and reliable tool that can help you unlock your iPhone SE without any data loss. It is compatible with all iOS devices and all versions of iOS. It is a simple and easy-to-use tool that can help you unlock your iPhone SE in a few minutes. It is a safe and reliable tool that can help you unlock your iPhone SE without any data loss. It is compatible with all iOS devices and all versions of iOS.

  • Step 1: Launch Dr.Fone and click the module titled "Screen Unlock"

  • Step 2: Choose the "iOS" option, then select "Unlock iOS Screen" on the subsequent screen to continue unlocking your iPhone SE.

Unlock iOS Screen

  • Step 3: Follow the provided instructions to start the disabled iPhone SE in Recovery Mode to unlock it. If for any reason the phone does not boot in Recovery Mode, there are instructions provided at the bottom to enter what is called DFU mode.

Enter Recovery Mode

  • Step 4: Dr.Fone will read and display your phone model and the software installed on it. If the model displayed is incorrect, use the dropdown to pick the correct detail. Click "Start" to download the specific firmware file for your particular iPhone SE model.

Download Firmware

  • Step 5: After the download completes, please click Unlock Now to start unlocking the disabled iPhone SE.

Unlock Now

Your iPhone SE will be unlocked in a short span of time. Please note that all data would have been wiped out from the device. When you set the device up again, if you set it to use iCloud, data such as Contacts, iCloud Photos, iCloud Drive data, etc. will be downloaded onto your device again. The apps you had on your iPhone SE prior to it getting disabled can be downloaded again from the App Store. If you did not use iCloud but backed up the data manually, you will have to manually restore that data onto the device again.

Unlock Disabled iPhone SE Using iCloud Website

unlock your disabled iPhone SE is using the iCloud website to gain access back. This is a fairly easy way and doesn’t require going through complex hoops.

Find My is available both online via the iCloud website and on iOS devices and on Macs. In case the only Apple product you own is the currently disabled iPhone SE, you can use Find My on the iCloud website from any other computer you may have to unlock your disabled iPhone SE.

  • Step 1: Visit https://icloud.com and log in into the same iCloud account/ Apple ID as the disabled iPhone SE.

  • Step 2: Go to Find My, select your iPhone SE.

Select your iphone

  • Step 3: Click Erase iPhone and confirm.

This will start the wipe process on your iPhone remotely and your iPhone will be reset to factory settings. You can now proceed to setup your iPhone once again.

Unlock Disabled iPhone SE Using iTunes or macOS Finder

Of course, there is an official way that Apple provides for users to restore device firmware using iTunes or macOS Finder. For this, iPhone SE is put under Recovery Mode manually and Finder or iTunes is used to reinstall software on it directly from Apple. This process is fine for people who are conversant in tech, since this process can throw up a lot of errors that are just numbers, and people can get confused as to what they mean, resulting in frustration.

  • Step 1: Connect your iPhone SE to a Windows/ macOS device and launch iTunes. If you are on a Mac that runs macOS Catalina or higher, open Finder since you would not have access to iTunes anymore.

  • Step 2: Pick your iPhone SE and do the following:

    • (2.1) Press the volume up button and let it go.
    • (2.2) Press the volume down button and let it go.
    • (2.3) Press the Side Button (power button, on the right side of your iPhone SE) and keep it pressed till Finder or iTunes detects the phone in Recovery Mode.

Unlock Disabled iPhone SE Using iTunes or macOS Finder

  • Step 3: Choose Restore to download and reinstall the latest iOS on your iPhone SE and unlock your iPhone SE.

When the iPhone SE reboots, it will be reset to factory settings, and you can set it up again as you did when brand new.

Prevent iPhone From Getting Disabled Again

After all this to get access back, you might think let’s go passcode-less and prevent the hassle. Don’t do that - that’s worse and unsafe. Instead, here are tips you can use to make sure you don’t accidentally disable your iPhone SE again.

  • Tip 1: About Passcodes

1.1 Set a passcode that is easier to remember for you but difficult to think of for thieves and others.
1.2 Never use birthdates, years, vehicle numbers or any such numbers that may be easily tried by others.
1.3 Never use repeating numbers.
1.4 Do not use your ATM PIN as your phone passcode either. Think of some digits or combination that makes sense to you and only you. And then use it.

  • Tip 2: Use Face ID

Along with Passcode comes the option of Face ID on your iPhone SE, so use that. That will minimize instances for you to enter your passcode, and may make you forget it again, though. So, make sure that the passcode you set does make sense to you and you can remember it always without effort.

Not all of us have the memory of elephants. With Touch ID and Face ID on our iPhones minimizing the use of passcodes, we may forget them. Another factor in forgetting passcodes is being too smart for our own good and trying to set up such a secure passcode that even we are not able to remember it. If we enter incorrect passcode too many times, the iPhone disables itself and we need to restore it to factory settings to unlock it again. There are several ways to do that, depending on the time you are willing to spend on the job and your proficiency level, along with the resources that you have with you right now. For example, if a method requires use of another iOS device and you do not have it, that method is not useful to you right now, pick another. Lastly, when the device is reset, instead of going passcode-less to make sure that you do not forget the passcode again, it is best to set up a passcode that you can somehow remember.

Difference Between Activation Lock and Locked Apple ID

Apple being Apple, does a lot to make sure that users get the smoothest experience possible when interacting with their Apple products, both hardware, and software. Yet, sometimes, the messaging gets confusing, and people are not sure what is what. One such thing is the difference between iCloud Activation Lock and Apple ID Lock. While people are more likely to encounter Activation Lock and less likely to encounter Apple ID Lock, they are often confused when they encounter Apple ID Lock and struggle to figure out what that means and how to resolve the issue.

Activation Lock is when your supported Apple device is locked for a number of reasons. The most common reason is a stolen device that was locked by its owner, however, there are other perfectly valid reasons such as an outgoing employee forgetting to sign out and erase their Apple device before submitting it back. The IT department would not be able to reset that device without turning off Find My Phone and Activation Lock on the device.

A locked Apple ID usually happens when the user has forgotten their password to their Apple ID account and attempts to figure out the password have been unsuccessful. Sometimes, Apple ID gets locked automatically under some conditions, and that requires users to reset their password to gain access. A locked Apple ID does not mean that your device is locked for your use. You can keep using it so long as you do not try to use another Apple ID with it since to do that you would have to sign out of your current Apple ID (which is locked) and you won’t be able to do that. On the other hand, Activation Lock renders the entire device unusable till the lock is cleared.

Locked Apple ID

In short, Apple ID Lock is about a user’s account with Apple, akin to how Google Account works on Android devices. Apple ID Lock locks a user’s account with Apple while retaining complete usage of the device whereas Activation Lock locks the device and prevents anyone from using it until the correct credentials are entered. This is about verifying the ownership of the device and works to deter theft of Apple devices.

Reasons for Locked Apple ID

There can be a few reasons why your Apple ID is locked. You forgot the password and now it is locked since you entered the wrong password too many times. A scarier prospect, albeit a real one, is that some malicious actor attempted to login into your Apple ID account but failed. Had they succeeded, you would have gotten a message that ‘your Apple ID is being used on another device’ now.

Apple does a lot to ensure that your Apple ID remains safe. You trust Apple with a lot of your data, including financial data by way of your credit cards associated with Apple ID to make purchases on the App Store and iTunes Store. Therefore, some of the time, Apple preempts issues by proactively locking up your Apple ID or even disabling it. It goes without saying that sometimes it is something so simple as a software error that is believed to have locked up Apple IDs for many users around the world a while ago. It is also entirely possible that it was some malicious actor probing the servers for accounts.

All of these will result in a locked Apple ID that users will have to reset their password to in order to gain access back.

How to Set Up Face ID on Your iPhone SE

Sometimes, you may just want to disable Face ID temporarily or the issue gets solved, and want to activate Face ID again. Setting up a Face ID on your iPhone SE is easy. To set up Face ID, sit in a comfortable spot with adequate lighting and follow these steps:

  • Step 1: Go to Settings > Face ID and Passcode and enter your passcode. If you have not set up a passcode yet, you will necessarily have to create one now before proceeding forward.

  • Step 2: Tap Set Up Face ID to start the process.

  • Step 3: Hold your iPhone SE in the portrait orientation at about an arm‘s length away from your face and then tap Get Started.

  • Step 4: Adjust to have your face inside the shown circle and then slowly rotate your head in a smooth motion to complete the circle. This step will be done one more time.

  • Step 5: When done, tap Done.

In case you are getting the following error:

There are a few things you can try to resolve this, you can try to update your iPhone SE to the latest iOS. At this point, you may even try running a beta version to see if that helps. If you are running a beta version, you may downgrade back to the release version to see if that resolves the error. Betas can both make and break things.

If this does not resolve it, you need to take the device to the nearest service center. The TrueDepth camera system has components that might have been damaged or might not be working properly, for whatever reason, and the service personnel is equipped to resolve this issue for you at the earliest.

How to use Face ID on iPhone SE to pay with Apple Pay

  • Step1: If Apple Pay is supported by banking institutions in your country, you can set it up by adding a supported bank‘s credit card, debit card, or prepaid card to the Wallet app on your iPhone SE.

  • Step2: When a card is added and ready to use, check that Apple Pay is enabled under Settings > Face ID and Passcode.

  • Step3: For App Store/ Book Store/ iTunes Store purchases, it works as always, you double-press the Side Button to authenticate and use your default card.

  • Step4: Look at your iPhone SE to authenticate yourself using your Face ID and make the purchase.

  • Step5: When paying at retail outlets, hold your iPhone SE (top being close to the reader) and wait for the checkmark and Done message.

  • Step6: To pay using Apple Pay on websites, choose Apple Pay as the payment method, double press the Side Button, look at your iPhone SE, and wait for the Done message and checkmark to finish the process.

Is It Possible to Unlock iPhone SE without a Passcode?

Unlocking an iPhone SE without a passcode is possible, but it’s not as simple as entering a code. Besides, there are different methods that you can follow to unlock your iPhone SE

And we are going to teach all those methods with some simple steps. So, without any further ado, let’s get started.

Use Find My iPhone

Once you have activated the Find My iPhone function, then you can try it to unlock your iPhone SE without a passcode. This is an easy and effective method to complete this task. Here’s how you can do it:

Use Find My iPhone

  • Step 1: Go to icloud.com from any web browser on your computer or another iOS device.
  • Step 2: Enter your Apple ID and password to log into your iCloud account.
  • Step 3: Click on the ‘Find My iPhone’ option.
  • Step 4: Select the ‘All Devices’ option at the top of the screen and select your iPhone SE from the list of devices.
  • Step 5: Click the ‘Erase’ option to confirm your action.
  • Step 6: Once your device has been erased, you can set it up again and use it without a passcode.

Unlock it with iTunes

Another way to unlock your iPhone SE without a passcode is by using iTunes. For this method to work, you must have synced your device with iTunes at least once. If you haven’t done that, this method won’t work. Here’s how you can use iTunes to unlock your iPhone SE:

Unlock it with iTunes

  • Step 1: Connect your iPhone SE to the computer you previously used to sync your device with iTunes.
  • Step 2: Open the iTunes application on your computer and wait for it to recognize your device.
  • Step 3: Once recognized, your iPhone SE will appear in the iTunes window. Click on the ‘Summary’ option present in the left sidebar.
  • Step 4: Now, click on the ‘Restore iPhone’ button in the right sidebar.
  • Step 5: Confirm your action and wait for the process to be completed. Once done, you can set up your device as new and use it without a passcode.

Use Recovery Mode

If you have never tried to sync your device with iTunes or used the Find My iPhone feature, you can use recovery mode to unlock your device. This more complex method will erase all the data on your device. So, ensure that you have backed up your data before proceeding with this method. Here’s how you can use recovery mode to unlock your iPhone SE:

Use Recovery Mode

  • Step 1: Connect your iPhone SE to the computer and launch the iTunes application.
  • Step 2: Press and hold down the ‘Volume’ and ‘Power’ buttons simultaneously for a few seconds.
  • Step 3: As soon as you see the Connect to iTunes screen, release the buttons.
  • Step 4: On your computer, you will now see a message that iTunes detected an iPhone in recovery mode. Click on the ‘OK’ button.
  • Step 5: Now, click on the ‘Restore iPhone’ button in the Summary tab.
  • Step 6: Confirm your action and wait for the process to be completed. Once done, you can set up your device as new and use it without a passcode.

Use a Third-Party Tool

If you are unable to unlock your iPhone SE using the above methods, you can use a third-party tool like Dr.Fone - Screen Unlock . This tool is designed to help you unlock your iPhone SE without a passcode. Here’s how you can use Dr.Fone - Screen Unlock to unlock your iPhone SE:

  • Step 1: Start Dr.Fone on your computer. Then, launch the program and select Screen Unlock.

screen unlock

  • Step 2: Create the connection from your iPhone SE to the computer with a lightning cable.

create connection

  • Step 3: Follow the image on the screen to make your device enter in DFU mode or Recovery mode.

  • Step 4: Once your device gets into DFU mode or Recovery mode, Dr.Fone will ask you to choose the right firmware for your iPhone SE.

choose firmware

  • Step 5: Upon selecting the right firmware, Dr.Fone will start downloading the firmware for your device. Once it’s finished, click “Unlock Now” to remove the Passcode.

unlock now

You only need to wait for some time as the process may take several minutes. So be patient and don’t interrupt the process; otherwise, it may permanently damage your iPhone SE.

Once the process is completed, your iPhone SE will be unlocked, and you can choose a new passcode.

This is the easiest and most effective way to reset your iPhone SE passcode. So, if you’re looking for a hassle-free solution, this is the one you should choose.

How to use Face ID on iPhone SE to make purchases in App Store, Book Store, and iTunes Store

  • Step1: Check if Face ID is enabled for purchases in these stores by going to Settings > Face ID & Passcode and ensuring that iTunes and App Store are toggled On.

  • Step2: On any of these stores, when you tap on the option to buy some content, a payment confirmation popup will be displayed along with instructions to authenticate yourself using Face ID.

The instructions are simple: press the side button twice to authenticate yourself using your Face ID and make the purchase.
When done, a satisfying ting and a checkmark will confirm the action.


Also read:

  • Title: How to unlock a disable iPhone SE using macOS finder
  • Author: Vivienne
  • Created at : 2024-05-19 18:09:40
  • Updated at : 2024-05-21 02:11:53
  • Link: https://review-topics.techidaily.com/how-to-unlock-a-disable-iphone-se-using-macos-finder-by-drfone-ios-unlock-ios-unlock/
  • License: This work is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0.