How to Backup a Locked iPhone 14/13/12 with/without iTunes

Here you can learn how to backup data on locked iPhone. Try to use the iTunes or the excellent iPhone backup software to backup locked iPhone 14, 13, 12, 11, X, 8.

Lena

By Lena / Updated on April 18, 2023

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How to backup locked iPhone with broken screen

My iPhone 8 is locked, and I got 10GB of pictures on it, I'm just wondering is it possible to backup a locked iPhone? Thanks.

- Question from discussion.apple.com

Can you backup a locked iPhone 14/13/12/11 without unlocking it?

Backing up an iPhone is vital to prevent data loss. Once you encounter some issue making your data like photos, messages, or important files gone, you can easily restore them from your backups.

However, some users may forget their passcode especially for their old iPhones, like an iPhone 6, 6s, 7, 8. The worst-case scenario is when the iPhone is locked due to entering the wrong passcode multiple times in a row. To unlock iPhone, we have no choice but to restore the device.

We can easily erase iPhone without passcode, however, it means that all iPhone data will be deleted. You definitely do not want to lose anything. So is it possible to backup a locked iPhone? Well, if you have connected your iPhone with computer before, it's possible to backup locked iPhone with or without iTunes.

How to backup a locked iPhone on iTunes

If you have synced your iPhone with iTunes before, and you haven't restart your device after the last time you connected your iTunes, then your iTunes will remember the passcode. In this case, you can backup all the data on your locked iPhone without unlocking it.

Steps to backup locked iPhone to iTunes

Step 1. Launch iTunes and connect your iPhone to the computer.

Step 2. Choose the Device icon.

Step 3.  Click Summary on the left side of the window > Select This Computer > Click Back Up Now to initiate the backup process.

backup iphone on itunes

When the backup process is completed, you can put your iPhone into Recovery Mode to unlock the iPhone and then restore the data on the locked iPhone from the iTunes backup you have made.

How to backup locked iPhone without iTunes

If iTunes can't recognize your iPhone, you can use FoneTool to help you backup locked iPhone. FoneTool is one professional iPhone backup tool for Windows PCs. iTunes only supports full backup, while FoneTool lets you select the data you want to back up, which will help save time and storage space.

The tool supports all iPhone models from iPhone 4 to the latest iPhone 14. Click the download button to get FoneTool and follow the steps below to backup your important data in minutes.

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How to backup locked iPhone with FoneTool

Step 1. Launch FoneTool> Connect your iPhone with USB cable.

Note: This computer has to be trusted by your iPhone before.

Step 2. Click Phone Backup on the left window. Choose Selective Backup. You can click Get Started to continue.

Custom Backup

If you want to backup all content and settings with one click, please choose Full Backup option in the Tools bar.

Step 3. Click an icon to enter Selection.

click an icon

Step 4. Select the files you want to back up and click OK to continue.

select files

Step 5. After the target files are chosen, you can click Backup Storage Path to change the backup path for the to-be-backed-up files > Click Start Backup to begin.

change path

Step 6. Your backup is completed. You can easily find your backup files by clicking the eye icon or the pin icon in Backup History.

backup completed

Tip: How to unlock iPhone with broken screen

There is a feature on the iPhone called VoiceOver that allows users to unlock the iPhone with special gestures. If a small part of your device's touch screen still works, then you can use that small part to unlock the device.

1. Activate Siri: press and hold on the home button or say Hey Siri.

2. Say "Turn on VoiceOver" to Siri,

Turn on VoiceOver

  • On iPhone with Touch ID: press the home button twice.
  • On iPhone with Face ID:  wake up your iPhone, glance at it, and pull up from the bottom of the screen until you feel a vibration or hear two rising tones.

3. Enter your password: Use the responsive portion of the device screen to swipe left or right to select a number > double tap to confirm the selected passcode number.

4. When the iPhone is unlocked, you can use VoiceOver to Trust the computer. Then you can backup your iPhone to computer.

When you want to turn off this mode, you can say " Turn off VoiceOver " to Siri.

Final Words

Can you backup a locked iPhone now after reading this article? We have introduced 2 ways of how to backup a locked iPhone 7/8/X/11/12/13/14. Hope these methods can help you to backup your iPhone without entering passcode.

You can see there are some limitations to backup locked iPhone with iTunes, so we suggest you pick FoneTool to perform this operation. Additionally, besides data backup, it is also able to transfer photos, videos, messages, etc. between iPhone and computer, between iPhone and another one. Download FoneTool and give it a try!