Apple’s iCloud is a boon for iPhone, iPad and Mac users as it adds a lot of convenience and makes life easier as far as data sync and backup is concerned. However, losing access to your iCloud account could mean mayhem if you depend on it heavily for backing up and storing your data, including media files.

If you see an alert on your Apple device suggesting that your iCloud account has been locked or disabled for security reasons, then you’ll need to recover your account as it’s possible that someone else might be trying to gain access to your data.

You might see one of the following alerts when your iCloud account or Apple ID is locked.

• You can’t sign in because your account was disable for security reasons.
• The Apple ID has been disabled for security reasons.
• This Apple ID has been locked for security reasons.

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What does iCloud locked mean?

Your iCloud account can get locked if you or someone else tries to unsuccessfully login to your account multiple times in quick succession using the wrong password, incorrect security question answer or any other inaccurate account details.

If your iCloud account has been locked, it means that you won’t be able to access the data stored inside or sign into any of the Apple services unless you unlock the account.

The account gets automatically locked to protect the user data and you can’t access any of the Apple services associated with that account.

If your account isn’t working in the App Store or iTunes Store, you can contact Apple support here.

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4 ways to unlock iCloud account

If you see a pop-up alert on your iPhone, iPad or Mac, tap or click on it to go to iCloud Settings. Or else, head over to the iOS/iPadOS device settings, tap on the name the profile picture at the top and then select iCloud on the Apple ID page. On Mac, click on System Preferences and then on iCloud.

Then, to unlock your iCloud account, you can do one of the following.

• Trusted device/number: If you’ve two-factor authentication set up on your account, grab a trusted device or phone number and try resetting your account password.
• Recovery key: Use a recovery key, if you have one, to unlock your iCloud account.
• Security questions: You can also choose to answer security questions to authenticate and unlock your account.
• Forgot login credentials page: In case you don’t have access to recovery key, trusted device or phone number, go to iforgot.apple.com and either use the existing password or hit reset.

If multiple recovery attempts are unsuccessful, then your account will remain locked and you can only try to unlock it the next day.

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