This iPhone Was Lost and Erased - Unlock iPhone Lost Mode

This iPhone Was Lost and Erased

I have an iPhone X which I bought second. Now I cannot use it after iOS 18 update because it wants me to enter the original owner’s Apple ID and password. What should I do?

- Question from Apple Forum

How to Unlock iPhone Lost Mode?

I thought I had lost my iPhone so I turned on the Lost Mode. Luckily, I found it the next day. However, I have forgotten my password. How can I bypass iPhone Lost Mode?

- Question from Reddit

Why It Says “This iPhone Was Lost and Erased”?

You cannot use your iPhone because it is stuck on the “Activate iPhone” screen. It says that “This iPhone was lost and erased. Sign in with the Apple ID that was used to erase this iPhone.” Like the picture shown below.

Well, it seems that your iPhone is in Lost Mode. The Lost Mode is a useful function to help users protect privacy when iPhone gets lost. If the Find My iPhone is enabled, users can go to iCloud.com to put the device into Lost Mode. In this way, the iPhone is well protected and can prevent others from using the device. Besides, it’s possible to add a message to the iPhone’s display to tell your contact information to the person who found your device.

However, the problem is that you have forgotten the passcode and have no idea on how to unlock iPhone Lost Mode. Don’t worry! Keep reading to learn the solution.

► If you bought iPhone from others, you may need to contact the previous owner to remove this device from his or her account. It seems that he or she has not logged out the iCloud account properly. If you are relatively close, you can ask him or her to enter his password. Otherwise, he or she should go to iCloud.com to delete this iPhone from his or her account.
► If it’s your own iPhone but you get the “This iPhone was lost and erased” message, it is likely that someone has hacked into your iCloud account and marked it as lost. In this situation, you may need to reset the password.

How to Unlock iPhone Lost Mode?

The direct way to unlock iPhone Lost Mode is to enter the passcode and then you will give the authority to access the device. Or if you have forgotten the passcode, you can recover the iCloud email and password.

Turn Off iPhone Lost Mode via iCloud

1. Visit iCloud.com on a computer or another mobile phone.

2. Sign in to your iCloud account and passcode - the one you use on your iPhone.

3. Choose the Find My iPhone option > Select All Devices > Choose your iPhone.

4. Choose the Lost Mode option > Select Stop Lost Mode. It may take a few minutes to register on your iPhone.

→ Recover iCloud Email and Passcode

If you have forgotten your passocde, you can try to find the passcode back.

1. Visit https://appleid.apple.com.

2. Choose Forgot ID or Password > Type in your Apple ID and press Next.

3. Then it will give you two ways to find your passcode:

>> Email Authentication: you will receive an email and you can follow the instruction to complete the process.

>> Answer Security Question: you need to enter the answers to the security question you set before.

4. Enter your new passcode and click Reset Passcode to confirm.

How to Wipe An iPhone Completely

People need to enter the previous iCloud account and passcode to access the iPhone because the iPhone has not been erased properly. If you are going to sell your iPhone or give it to friends, please remember to delete the iPhone from the iCloud to make sure others can easily access the device.

Besides, you should also make sure all contents on iPhone have been erased completely. The Factory Reset is not enough - the data can be recovered through iOS data recovery tool. If you want to sell your iPhone, it’s recommended to deeply wipe iPhone using iPhone data eraser.

FoneTool is such a tool, it will scan and erase all deleted and existing data multiple times to make sure there is no chance of recovery. You can click the button below to get it for free. For detailed steps to erase your iPhone, you can refer to this How to Wipe iPhone Clean guide.

Conclusion

That’s all about how to unlock iPhone Lost Mode. You can simply go to iCloud.com to stop the Lost Mode. If you still have any questions, please feel free to contact us and we will reply to you ASAP.