What is apple id and where to find it. How to find out the previous owner's Apple ID

Apple ID is a unique identifier that is automatically assigned to each user in the system. When registering, each new buyer simply cannot avoid the procedure of assigning such a unique name.

Each user of Apple products must have their own personal code

However, many do not pay due attention or simply forget the data that was entered. And when any service requires entering an Apple ID, the user asks the question: “Where can I get it?” Let's take a closer look at how to get information about your Apple ID if it is: forgotten or simply reset along with all device parameters.

Naturally, it is best to find out your registration details directly from a company representative. To do this, just go to the official Apple website and enter the required data in the request form. If you did not provide false information during registration, the method for finding out your Apple ID is quite simple:

  1. We go to the official website.
  2. Go to the “My Apple ID” page.
  3. Find the “Find” item.
  4. Enter the requested data: first name, last name, email address, and so on. If the exact address is also forgotten, you can enter several (the system provides this option). Use the e-mail that was most often indicated during various registrations.

Next, the system will prompt you to reset your access password. Apple ID is not possible, but you can change it. Protection from intruders is simple - you must not only indicate the date of birth of the owner of the ID, but also go through an additional authorization procedure. This can be either a confirmation by email specified in the registration data, or an answer to the security question that was entered when the identifier was first created.

If everything is done correctly, the user receives his Apple ID and access to it. Of course, it is better to change the new password immediately for security reasons.

Other ways

The service is a place where you can find out your Apple ID if it is completely and irretrievably lost. However, in most cases, the device is in working condition, and the ID data is simply requested by a new service. For situations like this, there is an easier way. The algorithm for how to find out your Apple ID using the settings of your tablet or phone is as follows:

  1. Let's go to .
  2. Select “Settings”. The Apple ID is indicated immediately below the window title, and there is a separate button for viewing it if, for example, the number of characters does not fit in width.

This is the easiest way. When registering a device for the first time, the identification number is entered here. Another way, when you need to enter your Apple ID without having a phone or tablet at hand, is to go to the email inbox to which the ID is linked. There you will receive a letter containing your password. Copying a line from there is useless - the input fields will not allow you to simply paste information, you will need to do everything manually.

Different IDs

There is one more nuance - registration data is different for services. For example, the master ID is registered with iTunes. It can be used in iCloud to store your music collection and so on.

But the user can also register separate identifiers for each service. To find out what name is used by a specific service, tablet or phone. The relevant sections indicate the identifier used. It can be copied, rewritten and used wherever it is needed.

Problem cases

Users often encounter rather unpleasant situations, for example, when they purchase something second-hand. The previous owner may forget or accidentally delete his registration data. For example, the tablet settings were reset. A full reset involves re-registering the device. And since it is already linked to the Apple ID, a password for the account is required.


Naturally, the new user does not know it. And he cannot reset it, since the exact data of the previous owner is unknown, and even more so there is no access to his email. There are two:

  1. Find out Apple ID by IMEI device. There are specialized services that, for a small fee, will provide information about the Apple ID and email of the previous owner. To begin with, you can simply write to the received address asking for a password.
  2. There are software and hardware ways to bypass the problem, but they do not work everywhere, not always, and can create problems in future work. Therefore, we will not list them.
  3. There remains a second working method - communication with the company's support service. You will have to answer a number of questions and prove that the device came to the new owner legally. After this, the credentials will be reset and the device will work.

Video on how to change Apple ID:

As practice shows, be careful about registration data. When turning on your phone or tablet for the first time, record all entered and received data, and when buying a device from another person, require accounts and passwords. The minimum is an ID and password. And then in the future you will save yourself from many hassles and worries, such as communicating with support operators.

There is probably not a single user of iOS technology who does not have their own Apple ID (Apple ID), because without this unique identifier, access to all additional services of the Apple giant is closed - starting with iCloud cloud storage, which allows you to create backup copies of data and ending with the App Store, from which all applications are downloaded to the i-device (except native ones, of course).

In short, the usefulness of the Apple ID is undeniable, although not everyone knows about its most useful purpose. If your phone is stolen, then this unique identifier will help you, even if not to return your favorite and expensive device, but at least to make it useless for an attacker.

If you have enabled the “Find iPhone” option on your i-device (“Settings” / iCloud / “Find iPhone”, activate the slider of the same name), then if it is lost, you can go to iCloud, enter your Apple ID details and through the menu “Find iPhone” activates the so-called lost mode.

When activated, access to the device is blocked, and all an attacker can do is see a message on the locked display that you specify by turning on the lost mode. You can leave any message, including indicating your contacts in the style - “This device was lost. Please return it. 8-ХХХ-ХХХ-ХХ-ХХ. Moreover, if an attacker decides to restore the device via iTunes, then after carrying out the procedure in the activation window, he will see a requirement to enter an Apple ID, which, of course, is unknown to him, unless this is a targeted theft. In general, the protection turns out to be excellent, but there is a problem...

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for a user to encounter a situation intended for an attacker. Let's imagine - you have an Apple ID, but it has been registered in all services for a long time, remembered, and you have not entered the password for it for a very long time. And then your iOS gadget caught a system glitch, and you decided to restore it, after which you caught a screen asking you to specify your Apple ID. This screen will appear regardless of whether Lost Mode is enabled or not - the main thing is that the “Find iPhone” option is active.

What to do in such a situation? There's definitely no need to panic. If this is really your Apple ID, the problem can be easily resolved. You simply go to the iForgot website, indicate your Apple ID login (aka the email you specified when registering your ID) and, following the service’s recommendations, reset Old Password and install a new one. Specific recommendations depend on what level of protection you specified when creating your ID - you may only need to go to the email address to which your Apple ID is linked, but it is possible that you will also need to answer security questions or indicate a special control phone number.

What to do if you forgot the email associated with your Apple ID?

In general, there is nothing complicated in the password reset procedure. But, if you don’t remember the email to which your Apple ID is linked, that’s a completely different story. However, there are ways of salvation in this situation. We mentioned just above that the email to which you link your Apple ID automatically becomes the ID login. This means that if we find out the login, we will also know the mail, and there are not so few places where it is indicated. If you have restored and you just see a screen asking you to specify your Apple ID, you can view your login in iTunes, to do this:


If you have access to the phone menu, then everything is much simpler; you can look up the Apple ID in a bunch of places, for example, in the App Store, podcasts, the iCloud menu, FaceTime, iMessage, etc.

What to do if you couldn’t find out your Apple ID?

And finally, the saddest thing is that you couldn’t remember or find your Apple ID.

Contact Apple Support

In general, the most correct way in such a situation is to contact Apple support - if you have a receipt and a box from the device, they will definitely help you restore access.

But, unfortunately, practice shows that not everyone stores this kind of thing. The result is a very sad situation. What can you do with it? Unfortunately, all that remains is to try certain “machinations” to save the device.

Addressing unofficial persons

If you search properly, you will certainly come across people and companies promising to unlock your Apple ID for the nth amount of money. Here, for example,

Apple devices have never been considered budget devices, and after the crisis, their prices became sky-high. That’s why lately, more and more often, when thinking about purchasing an Apple, users are choosing a used model. However, there is nothing wrong with owning a slightly “worn” iOS device; Apple produces truly high-quality equipment that, if treated with care, can work without failures for many years.

However, there are still certain risks in purchasing a used device. One of these risks, and perhaps the most dangerous, is this: the previous owner did not unlink his Apple ID from the device being sold. We will look into what this state of affairs entails in this article.

An Apple ID is a user’s personal account in the iOS world; without it, it is impossible to access any of the Apple giant’s proprietary services, including content purchase services. Thus, if the user does not have an Apple ID, he will not even be able to download the application from the App Store. In short, the thing, as you understand, is very useful and important - and, perhaps, it would not be an exaggeration to say that every (well, maybe with rare exceptions) user of an iOS device has an Apple ID.

Why do I need to unlink my Apple ID before selling my device?

As we said above, Apple ID provides access to all branded iOS services, including iCloud cloud storage, which is not only a service that allows you to backup information stored on the device on Apple servers, but also a powerful tool for protecting Apples from theft

It is with the help of iCloud that the “Find iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch” option is implemented. When you enable this option, it automatically turns on and is called activation lock. When the lock works, every time after restoring/updating/resetting the iOS device, the user must enter the Apple ID parameters - or, more precisely, the login and password of the personal account, otherwise access to the system will be denied.

What does such a scenario provide? The absolute senselessness of stealing Apple devices! See for yourself, the attacker receives the device and, in order to sell it, performs a reset or restoration, wanting to get a clean gadget, but after performing one of these procedures, he is faced with a requirement to enter the Apple ID login and password, which, of course, are unknown to him - unless, of course , this was not a targeted theft. What can a thief do? Yes, just sell the “apple” for spare parts! And this, as you understand, is not very profitable, and makes the risk that a person takes when stealing a device completely unjustified.

By the way, an excellent alternative to selling a device for parts is returning the device to its rightful owner, who, by the way, using the same “Find iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch” option and the iCloud.com website can activate the lost mode and leave the thief/who found the device a message like “This iPhone has been lost, please return it for a reward.”

In short, the scenario turns out to be excellent and needless to say that after the implementation of the activation lock option in the iOS system, the number of thefts of Apple devices has sharply decreased. And, of course, every conscious user enables this option on the device.

What should I do if the previous owner has not signed out of his Apple ID?

So, Apple implemented anti-theft protection perfectly, but... You probably already guessed that the new owner of the device can get into the same situation as a thief if the previous user forgot to unlink his Apple ID and “Find iPhone/iPad/ iPod Touch" is turned on.

It must be said that the new owner may not notice this fact at all at first, and only after deciding to update the system and faced with the requirement to enter the Apple ID password, realize how depressing the situation he is in.

What to do? Where to run? How to find out the previous owner's Apple ID? These and other questions swarm in the head of an excited user... Unfortunately, our answer to them will not be unequivocally positive.

The fact is, in this situation, you have only two correct ways to solve the problem:

  • find the previous owner
  • Contact Apple Support

Find previous owner

We hope you still have the seller's contact information? Because best way unlock an iOS device - arrange a meeting with the seller and ask him to enter his login and password, and then unlink. However, if the previous owner no longer uses the Apple ID that is linked to your device, a meeting will most likely not be needed, he can simply provide you with the necessary data, and you, having them in your possession, can easily perform both unlocking and unlinking yourself.

We hope your seller is conscientious and willing to help you. By the way, if he refers to the fact that he forgot his password, you can tell him that a special service iForgot will help you remember it easily.

Contact Apple Support

If you were unable to contact the owner, or he refuses to make contact, you still have one more the right way bypass the blocking - contact Apple support. Its specialists will definitely help you if you can prove that the device belongs to you; to prove this fact you will need the box from the device and a receipt from the purchase. We hope you picked up these important elements from the previous owner?

Questionable methods

No? Then, unfortunately, we have for you bad news, because you find yourself in the position of a thief, essentially. Of course, you can try to look for loopholes, but a positive result is not guaranteed. What loophole options are there? Firstly, you can “get” on Youtube - new ways to bypass activation blocking are constantly appearing on this video hosting site - most of them are created simply to increase views, but perhaps some will actually work. For example, This looks very convincing.

If the methods from Youtube did not help, you just have to go in search of a company/specialist that offers services to bypass the activation lock. But, remember, their activities are not very legal, and therefore you cannot count on any guarantees on their part. However, you have nothing more to do, you can only hope for a favorable situation.

Let's summarize

So, if you purchased a used iOS device, the previous user of which did not unlink from his Apple ID and did not turn off the “Find iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch” option, after trying to update/restore/reset the device, you will be faced with a requirement to enter this identifier data.

In this situation, the best way is to contact the seller and ask for help; if you cannot follow this recommendation, you should contact Apple support and try to prove that the device belongs to you. Otherwise, all that remains is to resort to various dubious methods to bypass the activation lock - you can try to do them yourself, and if unsuccessful, contact special organizations.

However, all this “fuss” can be avoided by checking when purchasing the device whether the account has been unlinked. One more useful recommendation— It is advisable to purchase a used device from a friend.

After purchasing a new device from Apple, the first thing you should do is log in to your account. After this, you will be able to use most Apple services, as well as synchronize all your devices. But to log into your account, you will need a unique username and password - Apple ID. You can obtain this data when registering on the official website https://appleid.apple.com/account#!&page=create. Read below what steps you need to take to find out your Apple ID.

What is Apple ID

Apple ID is your account login, which you will use to log into all available services, such as ICloud, iTunes, Apple Music, etc. Typically, the Apple ID will match the email you specified during registration. That is, it will look something like this: [email protected]. But if it happens that you have forgotten your Apple ID, as well as the name and email attached to it, then there are several ways to remember it. Do this right away, and then write down your login in a safe place, since without access to your account you will not be able to use Apple services and restore access to the device if it is blocked.

How to find out your Apple ID

First, you need to remember which applications you are logged into on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, and then go into them, after which, if no data reset operation has occurred since the last login, find your Apple ID.

Via iPhone, iPad or iPod touch

  • If you visited the App Store for iOS devices, open it and go to the “Selection” section, scroll to the bottom of the page.
  • You can also find your login through the iTunes store in the “Sounds”, “Movies”, “Music” sections, scrolling to the very end of the tab.
  • In the Podcasts app, in the Featured section, scroll to the bottom of the page.

    • If your device was synchronized with one of the services, you can find your Apple ID in the device settings:

  • In the ICloud section under a name or nickname.
  • At the very beginning of the App Store section, iTunes Store.
  • By entering the “Messages” or IMessage section, and then into the “Sending, Receiving” subsection.
  • In the FaceTime section.
  • In the “Music” section or Apple Music, in the “Home Collection” subsection.
  • In the “Video” section, scroll down to the “Home Collection” subsection.
  • In the Game Center section.

    • Via Mac OS or Windows

    If for some reason you cannot find out the necessary data through your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, then use your Macbook and a Windows computer.

  • If you have previously logged in to iTunes app, then open it and expand the “Store” tab. Under View Account you will see your Apple ID.
  • Second option, click on your account icon in the upper right corner of the screen. Your Apple ID will appear in the window that opens.
  • If you previously accessed your account through the Mac App Store, open it and expand the Store section. Your login will appear in the “View Account” section.
  • Or in the same application, go to the “Selection” section, and then in the “Quick Lists” list, which is on the right, click on the “Account” button.
  • If you have not previously logged into your account through iTunes, then open it and go to the “Programs” section, and then to the “My Programs” subsection. A list of all programs that have ever been downloaded through iTunes will open. Right-click on any of them and select the “Details” section.
  • In the menu that opens, go to the “File” section. The “Buyer” item will display the name of the person who installed this application and their Apple ID.

    • Another way to find your login is through the settings:

  • Open the Macbook menu and open the “System Preferences” section.
  • Click on the ICloud icon.
  • In the window that opens we see your Apple ID.

    • Video: how to find out Apple ID

    If you have ever logged into your account through Safari and have autofill for web forms enabled in your browser, follow this link

    https://appleid.apple.com/#!&page=signin and in the “Login” field you will see the Apple ID.

    Another way to remember your login is to use the Apple ID recovery function on the official website:

  • Follow the link https://appleid.apple.com/#!&page=signin.
  • Click the “Forgot your Apple ID or password?” button.
  • Click the “Forgotten Apple ID?” button.
  • We enter the data that is required from us: first name, last name, email address. Click the “Continue” button. If the first attempt does not produce results, you will be asked to enter a backup email address.

    • Via support

    If none of the previous methods helped, then there is only one thing left to do - write about your problem to the official support service

    https://support.apple.com/ru-ru/HT201232. Describe your situation as accurately and clearly as possible and what recovery methods you have already used. Most likely, after a while they will answer you and ask you to confirm your identity, after which they will prompt you for your Apple ID.

    Immediately after registering, try to remember or write down your unique Apple ID, otherwise problems may arise if you forget it. After receiving your login information for Apple services, log into several of them to make it easier to remember your login later. If it turns out that you forgot your Apple ID and didn’t have time to log in somewhere else, then write to support, wait for their response and follow the instructions. Do not share your registration information with anyone except support agents and those you trust, this may lead to account hacking and further problems.

    What is an Apple ID? This is an account used on Apple devices for authorization in iCloud, AppStore and other services. How to find out Apple ID? If you managed to forget this identifier, we will help you remember it. Moreover, it is written literally everywhere in smartphones and tablets. We will also tell you how to clarify your Apple ID on locked devices and teach you how to recover your account password.

    It is difficult to forget your Apple ID, since it is exactly the same as your electronic one. mailbox user. Therefore, the easiest way to find out your Apple iD is to remember your email address. If for some reason you cannot remember the address of your mailbox, pick up your iPad/iPhone and go to the iCloud settings - this is where you will see the name of your account.

    How else can you find out your Apple ID? Another easy way is to look at the AppStore. We launch the application, go down to the very bottom and see your identifier here. If you have already deleted your account from the device, it is quite possible that data about it remains in the iTunes program - launch the program, go to the “iTunes Store” section and look for the Apple ID.

    In a similar way, you can view your Apple ID in installed programs, using the “My Programs” item in iTunes - call up information about any application, where you will see the name and login of the buyer.

    How to find out your Apple ID password

    We already know how to find out Apple ID. But how can you remember the password for your account? To do this, we can offer three solutions at once:

    • Sending a request to Apple involves a long wait and the need to confirm that the device was legally purchased;
    • Recover your password by answering security questions - these questions are asked during account registration. Answer the questions and you can set a different password;
    • Recover your password by email – request a password recovery, follow the link in the received email and set a new password to replace the old one.

    The last two solutions are the simplest - they do not require a long wait.

    How to find out Apple ID on a locked iPhone or iPad

    In order to unlink a current account, you need to know its password. The same is necessary to unlock a locked device. How to find out Apple ID on a locked iPad or iPhone? If you managed to buy a locked device, we can only sympathize with you - most likely, you have become a victim of scammers.

    You have two options:

    • Find the previous owner (which is most often impossible);
    • Find out Apple ID by IMEI.

    How to find out Apple ID by IMEI and what is it for? The thing is that after receiving information about your Apple ID, you can try to write a letter to the previous owner asking him to send you the password for the account - sometimes this works. In order to obtain information on IMEI, you need to know the UDID number - you can look it up in the driver properties when connecting the device to the computer. Go to the driver properties, select “Path to device instance” - the UDID number will be indicated after USBVID_05AC&PID_12A8 (a long sequence of letters and numbers will be placed here.

    To obtain an Apple ID by IMEI, you must use special services that provide information by IMEI and UDID. The procedure is paid and expensive, so it is best not to buy locked or used Apple smartphones and tablets from dubious persons - any problems are possible with such devices.

    Bring up the Apple menu and go to System Preferences. Click on the iCloud icon - the user ID will be written here. You can also look into “Internet Accounts” or launch iBooks by looking at the ID in the menu “Store - View my account" The ID is also registered in one more place - in iTunes, in the “Account” menu.

    Everything is simple here - launch iTunes and go to the “iTunes Store - View my account” menu. This is where the Apple ID will be registered.

    How to find out the previous owner's Apple ID

    Did you get a used smartphone or tablet and want to find out the Apple ID of the previous owner? If he did not delete the data from the device he sold or gifted to you, you can verify your Apple ID in the iCloud settings or in the AppStore, following the instructions described above. If there is no data, you will have to find the previous owner, ask him to disable the Find My iPhone function and unlink the current account.

    If the previous owner used Find My iPhone, your device will have Activation Lock enabled—you won't be able to activate it under your account.

    If nothing works out

    If you are trying to remember the Apple ID on your own locked iPhone/iPad, but nothing works, contact Apple technical support. You will need scans of receipts and documents for your device. After checking all the data, technical support will reset the Apple ID and password on your device - this procedure may take 2-3 weeks.

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