Can I unlock an iPhone that says Locked to Owner myself?

Only with the Apple ID and password that were on it. If you have those, enter them on the screen and the phone will finish setting up. Without them, there are three ways it comes off: the Apple ID’s owner removes it, Apple removes it on proof of purchase, or a paid removal service such as ours sends a request, with no guaranteed result.

Will a factory reset or iTunes restore get rid of it?

No. The lock is held by Apple, not stored on the phone, so the screen comes back after every reset or restore until the phone is released from the Apple ID.

Does putting in a new SIM card help?

No. A SIM card changes which network the phone uses. It has nothing to do with Activation Lock, which is about who owns the phone.

The previous owner has gone quiet. What now?

Try every way of reaching them, including the shop or marketplace you bought from. If you paid through a marketplace or by card, ask about buyer protection. If you have proof of purchase in your name, you can also ask Apple directly.

How do I find the IMEI on a locked iPhone?

Tap the small “i” on the lock screen. A list appears with the IMEI on it, and you don’t need a passcode to see it. There are more ways in our step-by-step guide to finding your IMEI.

Will Apple help if I bought the phone second-hand?

Apple usually asks for the original proof of purchase. A receipt from a private sale or a marketplace listing often isn’t enough, so it’s worth asking the seller to remove the lock first.

Guide

iPhone says “Locked to Owner”: what it means and what to do

Why the screen appears after a reset, who can remove it, and the order to try things in.

6 minute read Facts checked 25 October 2026

Rather not do it yourself? Let us handle it.

Type in the IMEI and we check the iPhone first. If Apple ID lock removal applies to it, we take on the request and keep you updated until it’s done.

We check the phone first: whether Activation Lock is on, and whether it’s been reported lost or stolen.
No chasing a seller who has gone quiet, and no back and forth with Apple support.
You send your proof of purchase and photo ID to us once, and we handle the rest.
We keep you updated by email at every step.
If we try and it can’t be done, the full fix fee becomes store credit.

Enter your IMEI number

It’s a 15-digit number. You can find it in Settings › General › About, or by dialling *#06#.

Where do I find my IMEI?

$9.99

Paid once. You won’t pay anything else unless you choose a fix.

Results by email
No obligation to buy a fix
Secure card payment

The check costs $9.99. If the fix applies to your phone, it’s $49.99, and you choose whether to go ahead after you’ve seen your results.

You reset an iPhone, or picked one up second-hand, and now it stops on a screen that says “iPhone Locked to Owner”. It asks for an Apple ID and password, and it won’t go any further without them.

It’s a frustrating screen, but it isn’t a fault. It’s doing exactly the job it was built for. This guide explains what it is, who can remove it, and the order to try things in, starting with the free options.

What the screen means

“iPhone Locked to Owner” is Apple’s Activation Lock. It appears when an iPhone is erased while Find My was switched on. When the phone starts up again, it checks with Apple, finds it still belongs to an Apple ID, and asks for that Apple ID before it can be used.

Newer iPhones use the words “iPhone Locked to Owner”. Older ones show “Activation Lock” or simply ask you to sign in with the Apple ID used to set the phone up. They are all the same lock. iPads and Apple Watches have their own versions of it too.

In short

The phone isn’t broken. It’s waiting for the Apple ID it belongs to. Whoever owns that Apple ID can release it in a couple of minutes.

Why a reset doesn’t clear it

Most locks you meet on a phone live on the phone itself, so wiping the phone wipes the lock. Activation Lock is different. The record that says “this iPhone belongs to this Apple ID” is kept on Apple’s servers.

That’s why resetting the phone, restoring it from a computer or putting in a different SIM card makes no difference. Each time the iPhone starts up, it asks Apple again, and gets the same answer. It’s also why stolen iPhones are hard to sell on: the lock travels with the phone wherever it goes.

Who can remove it

There are three ways the lock comes off for good:

The owner of the Apple ID. They can sign in on the phone itself, or remove it from their account remotely from another device or a computer.
Apple. Apple has a support request for Activation Lock, and it may help if you can show the phone was bought by you, usually with the original receipt.
A paid removal service. Some services, including ours, send removal requests through supplier channels. Whether a request goes through depends on the phone, so nobody honest can promise a result.

Nobody has a master key. A “bypass” that gets you past the screen without removing the lock is something else, and we explain it further down.

Doing it yourself, or letting us handle it

Doing it yourself

Work out whose Apple ID it is. The lock screen only shows part of the email address, so you may be guessing between old accounts or asking round the family.
If it’s yours, reset the password at iforgot.apple.com. If Apple can’t confirm it’s you straight away, account recovery starts, and you can be waiting days for a text or an email.
If it’s someone else’s, get hold of them and talk them through signing in at iCloud.com, opening Find Devices and removing the phone. Then wait for them to actually do it.
Can’t reach them? Find the original receipt from Apple, a network or a big retailer. It has to show the phone’s serial number or IMEI, and a receipt from a private sale usually won’t do.
Fill in Apple’s Activation Lock request at al-support.apple.com, upload the receipt and wait. Replies come by email and often take a week or more.
If Apple asks for more documents, send them and wait again. If it turns you down, you’re back to finding the owner.

Letting us handle it

Type in the IMEI and pay for the check.
See your results straight away, with the fix and its price if one applies.
Choose the fix, send your documents once, and we take it from there.

Let us handle it

What to try, in order

Start at the top and work down. The first steps are free and usually the quickest.

1. It’s your own Apple ID and you’ve forgotten the password

This is more common than you might think, especially with an old phone found in a drawer. Go to iforgot.apple.com on another phone or a computer and follow the steps to reset your password. Once you have it, type your Apple ID and the new password into the locked screen.

If you’re not sure which email address you used, try the ones you had at the time you bought the phone. Apple may ask you to confirm it’s you with a code sent to a trusted phone number, and account recovery can take a few days if it can’t confirm you straight away.

2. It belonged to someone else: a previous owner or a family member

Ask them to remove the iPhone from their account. They don’t need the phone in front of them to do it.

They sign in to iCloud.com

On a computer or another device, they go to iCloud.com and sign in with their Apple ID.
They open Find Devices

They choose the locked iPhone from their list of devices.
They remove it

They choose Remove This Device and confirm. On some screens the option is under the device’s details.
You restart the iPhone

Turn the phone off and on again. It should now set up as new, without asking for their Apple ID.

If the person has passed away, Apple has a separate process for family members, which usually needs a death certificate and proof of ownership. If you bought the phone second-hand and the seller forgot to sign out, our guide on what to do when a used iPhone is still linked to an Apple ID goes through it step by step.

3. You have the original proof of purchase

If the iPhone is yours but you can’t get into the Apple ID, Apple accepts Activation Lock support requests. You start one at al-support.apple.com, and you’ll be asked for the serial number or IMEI and a copy of the original receipt or invoice. Replies come by email and often take a week or more. Apple won’t remove the lock from a phone in Lost Mode, or one managed by a company or school.

Apple decides each request itself, and it’s usually strict: the receipt normally needs to come from a shop and show the phone’s details. A screenshot of a marketplace listing is rarely enough.

4. None of those work

This is where many people get stuck: the seller can’t be reached, there’s no receipt, and the phone is sitting in a drawer. Before you decide anything, it helps to know exactly what’s on the phone.

Our phone diagnosis checks the records held about your iPhone: whether Activation Lock is on, whether it has been reported lost or stolen, whether a company manages it and which network it’s tied to. You get the answer straight away, in plain English.

If the results show a lock we may be able to help with, we’ll show you our Apple ID lock removal service and its price. You’d need to show us the phone is yours, with proof of purchase and a photo ID, and we can’t promise it will work on every phone. If the phone has been reported lost or stolen, we won’t offer it at all. Our guide to Activation Lock removal and what to expect explains how to tell a real service from a scam.

You’ll need the IMEI

On the “iPhone Locked to Owner” screen, tap the small “i” in the corner and the IMEI is shown, no passcode needed. Our step-by-step IMEI guide shows you where to look, with pictures.

If it says the phone is lost

Sometimes the locked screen shows a message from the owner, a phone number to call, or the words “This iPhone has been lost”. That means the owner has put it in Lost Mode from their account.

If that happens, please don’t try to get round it. Call the number shown or hand the phone in to the police. If you bought it, the seller may not have had the right to sell it, so contact your marketplace or bank about getting your money back. No honest service will unlock a phone that has been reported lost or stolen, and we won’t either.

Buying a used iPhone?

Check for Activation Lock before you hand over any money. Our guide on checking a second-hand iPhone before you buy shows you how to do it in a couple of minutes, in person.

A word about “bypass” tools

Search for this screen and you’ll find programs and videos promising to “bypass” it. Some let you reach the home screen for a while, but they don’t remove the lock from Apple’s records. Calls, mobile data and iCloud usually don’t work, and the lock comes back the next time the phone is reset or updated. Some of these downloads also carry malware, so we’d steer clear.

If you’re not sure where to start, our page for people locked out of an iPhone walks through each situation, and you can check your phone from there.