Can't Restore iPhone: Find My iPhone Must Be Turned Off Before iPhone Can Be Restored Error
by Sophie Green Updated on 2021-01-29 / Update for iPhone Fix
My iPhone is disabled. I tried on iTunes to restore my iPhone and is says 'Go to iCloud Settings on your iPhone and turn off Find My iPhone before restoring your iPhone.' I don't know what to do."
Sometimes when you try to restore your iPhone with iTunes, you get an error that says Find My iPhone must be turned off before iPhone can be restored. Many of you who do not know what Find My iPhone is are going to get confused as to what this item iTunes is talking about. There is actually a good reason why iTunes asks you to disable Find My iPhone before you can restore your device.

The following guide tells you the reason why Find My iPhone must be turned off before iPhone can be restored and how you can then successfully restore your device. You will also learn what to do if you can t turn off Find My iPhone to restore in the below guide.
- Part 1. Why Does Find My iPhone Need to Be Off to Restore?
- Part 2. Turn off "Find My iPhone" with Password and Restore Your iPhone
- Part 3. How to Turn Off Find My iPhone without Password?
- Extra Tip: How to Restore Disabled iPhone Quickly with Tenorshare 4uKey
Part 1. Why Does Find My iPhone Need to Be Off to Restore?
One major reason why Find My iPhone must be turned off before you restore the phone is that Apple does not want unauthorized users to use your phone. In order to keep your data and your device secure, you have a feature called Find My iPhone on your device.
When your phone gets stolen or it gets lost, you can use this feature to keep track of your device. It will not let anyone use the device until and unless they enter the correct Apple ID logins.
The reason iTunes prevents you from restoring your device is that it does not want for the thieves to be able to find your device and then restore it and use it.
Part 2. How to Turn off "Find My iPhone" with Password and Restore Your iPhone
Now that you have an answer to your do I need to turn off Find My iPhone to restore question, let us check out what all methods are available to turn off Find My iPhone on your iPhone.
1. Turn off "Find My iPhone"
One of the easiest ways to disable Find My iPhone is to go to settings on your iPhone and turn off Find My iPhone before restoring your iPhone.
- Go to Settings and tap your "Account Name" at the top.
- Tap Find My
Turn off Find My iPhone and enter your Apple ID password.
Find My iPhone should now be turned off and you can now restore your device with iTunes.
2. Restore iPhone with iTunes
After turning off Find My iPhone, you can use iTunes to restore it. The following shows how you can do it on your iOS device.
- Connect your iPhone to your computer and launch the iTunes app.
- In the iTunes, click the Device button.
- Click Summary.
Click Restore, then follow the onscreen instructions.
Your iPhone should be successfully restored now.
Part 3. How to Turn Off Find My iPhone without Password?
What If you don't know the iCloud password? Is there any way to turn off Find My iPhone/iPad/iPod touch? Yes, you can find answer here. Today, we'll tell you how to do with a cutting-edge desktop software called Tenorshare 4MeKey.
This tool features a wide range of iPhone models including from iPone 6S to iPhone X(iOS 13-iOS 14). The most advantage is that your device will not stuck on Activation Lock even you factory reset or restart.
Download and launch Tenorshare 4MeKey. Then select feature "Turn Off Find My iPhone".
Then connect your device to computer. If you firstly connect the computer, please "Trust" and unlock your screen lock.
After your device is connected well, a jailbreaking process will begin. Follow the instructions on the computer screen.
Make sure that your device is jailbroken, and confirm your device info. Click "Start" to turn off Find My iPhone. Note that you need to disconnect your device internet before turning off Find My iPhone.
Now, your "Find My iPhone" on device is turned off successfully.
The final step is to factory reset your device. The activation lock won't appear again.
Extra Tip: How to Restore Disabled iPhone Quickly with Tenorshare 4uKey
Can’t turn off Find My iPhone to restore, how to restore iPhone without turning off Find My iPhone? This section is going to help you out. There is actually a utility called Tenorshare 4uKey and it allows you to restore your disabled iPhone without turning off Find My iPhone. You can use it as follows to restore your iPhone.
Download and launch the software on your computer. Click on Unlock Lock Screen Passcode on the main software interface.
Plug-in your iPhone to your computer and click on Start in the software.
Select Download to download the firmware for your iPhone.
Hit Start Unlock when the firmware is downloaded to start restoring your device.
You will see the following when your iPhone is restored.
You are all set. That is how to restore iPhone with Find My iPhone on using Tenorshare 4uKey.
Summary
If iTunes constantly displays the Find My iPad must be turned off before can be restored message, that means you need to first disable the Find iPad or iPhone feature on your device before you can restore it. The above guide tells you why that happens and how you can get past it. Tenorshare 4MeKey is here to help you.
People Also Ask About Find My iPhone
If you have a specific question about this procedure, the following likely has covered the answer to your question.
1. What happens when you erase an iPhone from Find My iPhone?
When you erase an iPhone from Find My iPhone, all the data and settings stored on your device get wiped off. If you then select the option to remove your device from your account, your device can then be used with any other Apple accounts.
2. Does reset all settings turn off Find My iPhone?
No, the reset all settings option doesn’t turns off Find My iPhone on your device. You can turn off it from iPhone setting or erase iPhone from iCloud website.
3. Do you have to turn off Find My iPhone to restore?
Yes, if you use iTunes, you need to turn off Find My iPhone to restore your device. If you use a third-party tool like Tenorshare 4uKey, then you do not need to disable Find My iPhone to restore your device.