iPhone backup password incorrect: which password it wants, and how to reset it
“That password is incorrect. Enter the password you set when you turned on encrypted backups.” is the message ChatExport, a Windows program for exporting iPhone messages, shows when the password typed for an encrypted backup does not open it. The password it wants is a specific one: not the phone’s passcode, not the Apple Account password and not the Windows sign-in, but the one chosen in iTunes, the Apple Devices app or the Finder when the Encrypt local backup option was first turned on. Apple’s own description is that from then on the system encrypts the backups of that device, so the same password has been in use on each backup since.
Which password does an encrypted iPhone backup actually want?
The one set at the moment encryption was switched on, and nothing else. Apple’s support page on forgotten backup passwords puts the consequence in one line: “You can’t restore an encrypted backup without its password.” Reading one is the same. This program, on Windows, opens an encrypted backup with the password you type and has no other key to try.
| What you want | Whether a program on this PC can do it |
|---|---|
| Open an encrypted backup when you know the password | Yes. That is an ordinary read |
| Recover, reset or bypass a password nobody remembers | No. Nothing here can read a file it has no key for |
What does the program do with the password once you type it?
It uses it for that one run and does not write it down. The prompt shown when a backup is taken straight from the phone says so in the interface, in these words: “Without it the iPhone usually sends nothing. Used only for this run, never saved, and it stays on this PC.” Because it is never saved, it is asked for again on the next run.
Do you have to turn encryption off to export your messages?
Not for this program, which reads both encrypted and unencrypted backups on Windows, from iOS 11 to iOS 26. Export programs differ on this point, and the comparison of iPhone message export software for Windows covers how.
Turning encryption off has a cost. Apple’s page about encrypted backups lists five things an encrypted backup can include and an unencrypted one does not: saved passwords, Wi-Fi settings, website history, health data and call history.
Does an encrypted backup carry more of the conversation than an unencrypted one?
No. Messages are not on Apple’s list of what only an encrypted backup carries, and this program reads the same message database from either kind. Nor does encryption cost you the warnings: the phone’s setting for how long to keep messages, and whether Messages in iCloud is on, are read out of an encrypted backup as well. Those two feed the panel headed “Before you export, check how far this backup reaches”, which tells you when a backup may not reach as far back as you think.
Can the program read an iCloud backup instead?
No. It reads iPhone backups stored on this PC and does not connect to iCloud at all. If the only backup that opens is in iCloud, this program cannot export from it.
What to try, in the order that costs you least
1. Type the password you used in iTunes or Apple Devices, not the one you use on the phone
If the backup was made through iTunes or the Apple Devices app on a PC, the password belongs to that program’s encryption option, not to the phone’s lock screen.
2. Try the passwords you used when encryption was first turned on
That can be long before the date of the backup you are opening, so the passwords from that earlier time are the ones worth trying.
3. Check that it is the backup you think it is
The backup list shows each backup’s device name, date and iOS version. A backup of an older phone
may carry a different password from the one you have in mind. The program looks in exactly two
places. %USERPROFILE%\Apple\MobileSync\Backup is where Apple says backups go when you use the Apple
Devices app or iTunes from the Microsoft Store. %APPDATA%\Apple Computer\MobileSync\Backup is
where the older iTunes, installed from Apple’s website, keeps them. Which folder holds what, and how
to read the names inside them, is in where Windows stores iPhone
backups.
4. If nobody remembers it, reset the password on the iPhone and make a new backup
This does not open the old backup. Apple says so directly: “Creating a new password doesn’t allow you to access previous encrypted backups.” What it gives you is a new encrypted backup with a password you choose, holding the conversation as it stands today. The old backup holds the state on the day it was made, and only the old password opens it.
Copy the old backup aside before you make the new one. Apple’s page on encrypted backups says that once you confirm a new password, “the backup starts and immediately overwrites and encrypts your previous backups.” To keep the old one, open Manage Backups in the Apple Devices app, right-click the backup and choose Archive, or choose Show in Explorer and copy its folder somewhere else. A copy outside the two folders above is not listed by this program, so it is a copy for safekeeping, in case the old password turns up later.
On a current iOS version, Apple’s page on forgotten backup passwords gives these steps: go to Settings, tap General, tap Transfer or Reset [Device], tap Reset, tap Reset All Settings and enter your device passcode, then tap Reset All Settings and follow the steps. Apple’s iPhone User Guide for iOS 12, 13 and 14 gives the shorter path Settings > General > Reset, and from iOS 15 it is Transfer or Reset iPhone. Apple says the reset leaves your photos, messages, apps and documents in place and removes the encrypted backup password; the full list of what it does reset is on Apple’s page Reset All Settings on iPhone or iPad. Then connect the phone to the Apple Devices app or iTunes again and create a new encrypted backup.
On iOS 10 or earlier, Apple says the password cannot be reset. Its three alternatives are to ask whoever set up the device for the password, to use an iCloud backup instead, or to use an older backup made with the Apple Devices app, iTunes or the Finder.
Once a backup opens, the full guide to backing up iPhone text messages to a PC without iCloud covers what a backup holds, how far back it reaches and what the finished document says about its own source. The narrower mechanics of reading one on Windows are in how to read an encrypted iPhone backup on Windows.