How to Reset Your Apple ID Password
Short answer
If you still have a device signed in to the account, open Settings → [your name] → Sign-In & Security → Change Password and reset it with your device passcode in under two minutes. If you have no signed-in device and no trusted phone number, you are in account recovery, which Apple deliberately makes slow — expect several days, and no amount of calling support shortens it.
On this page
There are two completely different situations hiding behind this question, and which one you are in determines whether this takes two minutes or the better part of a week.
If any device is still signed in to the Apple ID, you can reset the password yourself using that device’s passcode. Your own iPhone, an iPad in a drawer, a Mac you barely use: any of them will do. If nothing is signed in and you cannot receive a code on a trusted phone number, you are heading into account recovery, and the honest answer there is that you will wait.
Everything below assumes it is your account. Apple’s protections are specifically designed to stop anyone else doing this, and they work.
Work out which route you are on
| What you have | Route | Time |
|---|---|---|
| A device signed in to the account | Settings, with device passcode | 2 minutes |
| A trusted phone number you can receive on | iforgot.apple.com | 5 minutes |
| A recovery contact you set up previously | Code from that person | 10 minutes |
| A recovery key you saved | Enter the key | 5 minutes |
| None of the above | Account recovery | Days |
The last row is the one people arrive here for, and it is covered properly at the end. Read the earlier rows first, because people regularly overlook a device that would have solved it.
Route one: a device you are signed in to
This is the fastest path and it does not require the old password.
On an iPhone or iPad: Settings → [your name] → Sign-In & Security → Change Password. On iOS 16 and later this is the path; earlier versions put it under Password & Security. Enter the device passcode, then the new password twice.
On a Mac: System Settings → [your name] → Sign-In & Security → Change Password (Ventura and later; earlier versions used System Preferences → Apple ID).
The device passcode works here because the device itself is a trusted factor. Apple treats a device that has already passed two-factor authentication as proof enough.
Note that this signs you out of other devices and services. Have the new password ready to re-enter on each, and be aware that if the phone then starts prompting repeatedly, that has its own fix in why an iPhone keeps asking for the Apple ID password.
Route two: a trusted phone number
No signed-in device, but you still have the phone number attached to the account.
Go to iforgot.apple.com in any browser, or use the Apple Support app on someone else’s device. Enter the Apple ID email address, then the trusted phone number. Apple sends a verification code by SMS or an automated call, and the code lets you set a new password.
A few things that trip people up:
- The number must match exactly, including country code, and it must be the number currently on the account rather than your current number if you changed SIM without updating Apple.
- The code arrives on a trusted device first, if one is online, as a push notification rather than a text. Check any Apple device you own before assuming nothing arrived.
- There is no “resend to a different number” option. That is deliberate.
Route three: a recovery contact or recovery key
Both of these only exist if you set them up in advance, which is precisely why they are worth setting up now rather than when you need them.
A recovery contact is someone you nominated who can generate a six-digit code for you from their own Apple device. Ring them, they go to Settings → their name → Sign-In & Security → Recovery Contacts, and read you the code. This is the single best insurance against account recovery, and it costs nothing.
A recovery key is a 28-character code you were given when you enabled the feature. Entering it at iforgot.apple.com lets you reset immediately. The trade is severe: with a recovery key enabled, Apple cannot help you if you lose both the key and all your devices. The account and everything in it is gone permanently. Only enable it if you will store the key somewhere durable.
Route four: account recovery, and why it is slow
If none of the above applies, iforgot.apple.com will put you into account recovery. You enter what you can: the Apple ID, a phone number, sometimes a payment card on file. Apple then sets a waiting period before granting access.
Three things worth understanding about it:
The wait is the security measure. It exists so that someone who has stolen your email access cannot take your account the same afternoon. During the waiting period, Apple notifies every trusted device and the account email, which gives the real owner a chance to cancel the request.
Apple does not publish a fixed duration. It depends on how much verifying information you supplied, and a request with a card on file and a recognised device resolves faster than one with an email address alone. Plan for several days rather than hours.
Support cannot shorten it. This is the part people refuse to accept and spend two days discovering. Phone support can confirm the request is active and check the details are correct. They have no mechanism to override the timer, because a mechanism that could be talked into existence by a persuasive caller would defeat the entire design.
While you wait: do not start a second recovery request, because it restarts the clock. Do not change the phone number on file. Do keep the device you listed powered on and connected, because Apple may approve access through it.
What to do once you are back in
Three things, immediately, so you never repeat this:
- Add a recovery contact. Settings → [your name] → Sign-In & Security → Account Recovery. Pick someone who will still answer the phone in five years.
- Check the trusted phone numbers on the same screen and remove any old number you no longer have.
- Review where the account is signed in. Settings → [your name], then scroll to the device list. Remove anything you do not recognise. The same reasoning applies to other accounts, and checking where your Google account is signed in covers the equivalent there.
While you are at it, confirm your backups are current. An account problem is a bad time to discover the phone has not backed up since March — and why an iPhone won’t back up to iCloud covers the usual reasons it quietly stopped.
Realistic expectations
If you have any signed-in device, this is a two-minute job and the rest of the page does not apply to you.
If you are in account recovery, the useful thing to do is set a reminder and stop checking. The timer does not respond to attention, and the most common outcome of repeated attempts is restarting it. A recovery contact added afterwards is the only thing that prevents a second occurrence, and it takes about a minute to set up.