Matrix精选 October 29, 2026 6 minute read
6 minute read
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A while ago, a relative in my family wanted to download apps from a foreign-region App Store on their iPhone, so they bought a so-called shared ID online and logged directly into iCloud with it as the Apple Account. By the time they realized something was wrong, they could no longer sign out.
The password for this kind of shared ID is held by the seller, who can change it at any time. If you accidentally sign in to iCloud and also enable “Find My iPhone,” some sellers will take the opportunity to turn on Lost Mode and threaten to remotely erase the phone unless you pay an unlock fee. Users worried about losing data can easily pay up in a panic, but the account is still in the other party’s hands; paying does not guarantee that they will lift the restriction, nor does it guarantee that they won’t extort further, continue locking, or erase the phone afterward. There are already many similar cases online.
If the device genuinely belongs to you, you can contact Apple Support and submit proof of purchase and other materials as required to apply for removal of the activation lock.
⚠️ Editor’s note: Buying and using Apple IDs through unofficial channels carries hidden risks. Unless necessary, it is recommended to register accounts, top up balances, and manage devices through first-party channels as much as possible, and especially not to buy shared accounts of unknown origin just to save money.
Back Up Data
After discovering the mistaken sign-in, the first thing to do is immediately disconnect the device from the network, and then be mentally prepared that the data may not be fully recoverable. This is because iOS device backups inevitably contain Apple Account information, and a backup made after signing in to a strange account cannot be fully restored. Moreover, if the device stays connected to the network, once the other party turns on Lost Mode or remotely erases the device, data that has not yet been backed up will be completely unrecoverable.
Therefore, as long as the device can still be unlocked normally, back up the data locally as soon as possible while offline. It is recommended to create an encrypted backup to preserve health data, passwords, and other content as much as possible. The backup method is not repeated here; local backups can be made via Finder on Mac, Apple Devices on Windows, or other third-party software.
Submit a Removal Request
Initiate the Request
Apple provides a dedicated support portal, where you can initiate an activation lock support request under “Need more support.”
After reading and agreeing to the terms of use, click “Continue.”
Continue by filling in the relevant information. For the email address, it is recommended to use the Apple Account that was previously signed in to iCloud on the device. Fill in the serial number as usual, but be sure to confirm that it matches the serial number in the supporting materials submitted later.
After filling everything in, click “Continue,” and Apple will send a confirmation link to the email address you just entered.
Right-click the Secure Messaging link, which will open a new page and display the device information for the serial number entered earlier. Click “Continue” again.
Fill In Supporting Information
All supporting information must be filled in truthfully. Use your real name for the name, refer to the order or invoice for the purchase date, and make the store name correspond to the seller on the purchase receipt. If the name displayed by the store differs from the invoicing entity, explain the relationship between the two. For the handling process, write clearly how the matter occurred and what attempts you have made, and finally clearly request assistance in removing the activation lock. For specifics, you can refer to the text annotations in the images.
Upload Supporting Materials
After clicking “Continue,” you will arrive at the page for uploading proof of purchase. Because I wanted to let the reviewers directly verify the device and the purchase record as much as possible and minimize the need for further clarification, I uploaded images of the invoice and photos of the front and back of the box; the serial number and IMEI of the device are clearly visible in the materials, and the seller information on the invoice is consistent with the store filled in the application. However, whether these materials are sufficient and reasonable is still up to Apple to judge.
Wait for Approval
After all materials are completed and submitted, an email with a case number will be sent to the email address entered earlier; at this point you can only wait patiently. Only after receiving the “still under review” email does it indicate that the review process has truly begun.
My application was submitted on September 27, I received the still-under-review notice on September 29, and it was approved on September 30, which was relatively fast; there are also cases online of waiting a month before approval. If the supporting materials are incomplete or further verification is needed, it may take even longer, so be sure to provide accurate information as much as possible.
Reset the Device
After receiving approval, the iPhone needs to enter Recovery Mode to perform a full device reset. After the reset is complete, an owner lock prompt will appear on the screen; don’t worry, it will automatically skip after a moment. After that, the iPhone can be activated smoothly over the network, and it does not ask for the password of the strange account. At this point, the activation lock removal is complete.
In addition, the approval notice specifically reminded: “Please do not restore the device from a backup; if you restore the device from a backup, the activation lock may be reapplied.” I wanted to find out exactly what would happen after restoring a backup, so I fully restored the previous local backup to the iPhone again.
After the restore was complete, the initial setup required entering the password of the unfamiliar account, but it could be skipped. I skipped the prompt and entered the system, opened Settings, and found that the iPhone still displayed that unfamiliar account, and “Find My iPhone” was still turned on and could not be turned off, nor could the account be signed out. I thought it had been locked again, and in a panic I immediately reset the iPhone via DFU again. Fortunately, it could still be activated normally over the internet, with no activation lock prompt appearing (because I had been worried about being locked again the whole time, I was focused on resetting and did not keep any image records).
What Apple removed was the server-side activation lock. An old backup may cause the device to display status related to the unfamiliar account again, or even re-establish the association, but Apple only explained how activation lock works and did not disclose the detailed trigger conditions for this association. So when it really comes to the point of needing to remove the activation lock, it is best to be prepared for the possibility that the data cannot be saved at all.
If you really need to retrieve data from the period when the unfamiliar account was mistakenly signed in, you can use third-party software capable of unpacking backups to export the needed content by category. However, when the backup is too large, both extraction and restoration are very time-consuming and also take up a lot of computer storage space. In the backup of this relative’s iPhone, WeChat alone took up 105GB. I used iMazing to extract and restore it. Because it needed to be unpacked and then repacked, the process took more than ten hours, and during that time storage usage exceeded 300GB. Fortunately, my relative only needed to restore the data of this one app.
In short, by all means avoid signing in to an unfamiliar account.
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