[In-depth] How to Remove Activation Lock without Previous Owner

iPhone is not cheap for many people, that’s why lots of us choose to purchase a second-hand one. However, sometimes there may be errors occur, for instance, the iCloud activation lock.

You may ask, what is an iCloud activation lock? Don’t worry, here, we will tell you everything about what it is and how to remove activation lock without previous owner.

Part 1. What is Activation Lock? Why An iPhone Will Be Locked?

iCloud activation lock a part of the function Find My on every Apple device. If you have enabled Find My iPhone/iPad, the activation lock will be on and protect your iOS device from being stolen.

With this feature, you can find the location of your lost iPhone and erase the device remotely to avoid privacy leaks. What’s more? It will let the thief be unable to use your device.

As is known to all, users can use iTunes to restore an iPhone/iPad, this will help to remove the screen passcode. However, to enter the home screen, you will need to enter the password of your Apple ID. If the user doesn’t know the password, then the iPhone will become useless for him/her. That’s what we call iCloud activation lock.

However, is there a way to remove the activation lock without previous owner? The answer is yes.

Part 2. How to Remove Activation Lock without Previous Owner

There are lots of ways to help remove activation lock without previous owner. However, not all of them are truly useful. Now, follow us to learn the truth.

Remove Find My iPhone Activation Lock via iCloud.com

The first way is to use iCloud. As the activation lock is a part of Find My, if the previous owner has told you the Apple ID and password, you can go to www.iCloud.com/find to remove the activation lock.

1. Go to www.iCloud.com/find and log in with the correct Apple ID and password.
2. Click All Devices from the top of the screen.
3. Check all the devices and select the one that you need to remove from iCloud.
4. Tap Remove from Account.

Now your iPhone/iPad will not be connected to an iCloud account, you can use your owner account to sign in.

However, the disadvantage is that this way may be not useful if the previous owner hasn’t given you the Apple ID and password.

Bypass Find My iPad Activation Lock via Changing DNS

The DNS bypass is a good way to help users who don’t know the iCloud password to remove iCloud activation lock. However, it only works for a pretty old version of the iOS system, if you are using the device in iOS 12 and the version later, it may be useless.

Follow the steps below to learn how to remove Find My iPhone activation lock without the previous owner.

1. Follow the on-screen instructions to set up your iPhone as a new device.
2. On the WiFi screen, connect to a WiFi network.
3. Then tap on the “i” icon close to the network name.
4. On the next screen, on the Configure DNS option.
5. From the top of the screen, choose the Manual option.
6. Then use one of the following DNS values to replace the original one.
   • North America – 104.154.51.7
   • South America – 35.199.88.219
   • Europe – 104.155.28.90
   • Asia – 104.155.220.58
   • Australia and Oceania – 35.189.47.23

How to Remove Activation Lock 2021 via Jailbreak Tool

There are many jailbreak tools, and what we want to talk about is Checkra1n which supports iOS 12.3 and later and has been proved that it can remove iCloud activation lock without password. Follow the steps to learn the details about how to remove find my iPhone activation lock without previous owner.

Step 1: Go to https://checkra.in/#release and then download Checkra1n to your Mac. Now launch the terminal and enter:

/usr/bin/ruby -e “$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install…)”

Next, enter this:

brew install usbmuxd

It may take some while to install brew and usbmuxd, please wait for it to complete.

Step 2: Put your device in DFU mode, Checkra1n will start to jailbreak your device automatically. 

Step 3: Run iproxy service which belongs to usbmuxd and creates a tunnel from the MacBook port 2222 to the jailbroken device port 44 or 22.

iproxy 2222 44

Step 4: Use Command + T button to open a new terminal window and SSH into your device by entering these:

ssh root@localhost -p 2222

Password: alpine

Step 5: Enter the command below to mount the device file system so that we can easily delete or patch the Setup.app.

mount -o rw,union,update /

Step 6: Rename the Setup.app to any other name as you want, for instance, Setup.bak with the command below:

mv /Applications/Setup.app /Applications/Setup.bak

If you want to delete the app completely, you can use this command:

rm -rf /Applications/Setup.app

Step 7: Use the following command to erase the Setup.app activation screen cache. Please wait for it patiently.

uicache –all  

Step 8: Now, you need to Terminate all system processes connected to the Springboard, simply enter this command:

killall backboardd

Wait a few seconds, the iCloud activation lock will be removed and you can use your device without any limits.

However, the con is that this way is not useful for all models and iOS versions of iPhones and iPads, you can check the compatibility below:

• iPad 2, iPhone 4S, iPad Mini (1st generation)
• iPad (3rd generation)
• iPhone 5, iPhone 5C
• iPad (4th generation)
• iPhone 5S, iPad Air, iPad Mini 2, iPad Mini 3
• Phone 6, iPhone 6 Plus, iPad mini 4
• iPad Air 2 (not supported)
• iPhone 6S, iPhone 6S Plus, iPhone SE, iPad (2017) 5th Generation (not supported)
• iPad Pro (12.9 in.) 1st generation (not supported), iPad Pro (9.7 in.)
• iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus, iPad (2018, 6th generation), iPad (2019, 7th generation)
• iPad Pro 10.5″ (2017), iPad Pro 12.9″ 2nd Gen (2017)
• iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, and iPhone X

Remotely Remove Activation Lock via Online Unlock Service

You may have found that there were so many online services that claimed they can help to bypass iCloud activation lock easily. What you need to do is provide your IMEI, pay for the service and then wait for the technical staff to help you unlock the device remotely.

However, we have tested and want to tell you a truth: there is no online service that can unlock iCloud and their support is poor. Thus, it is difficult for you to ask for a money-back service.

Remove iCloud Lock without Previous Owner via Third-party Unlock Tool

Although the online service is not reliable, some desktop apps can help remove the iCloud activation lock from your device. They have a user-friendly interface and good support.

However, in my opinion, they are something similar to the jailbreak tool as they also ask you to jailbreak your device first.

To recommend some of them, we think 4mekey, lockwiper are useful. However, please contact their support first to ensure if your device is supported before purchase.

Ask Apple Support for Help

The last way is to ask for help from Apple support. It is useless if you don’t have proof of purchase. However, if the previous owner has given you the receipt, you can try to contact the official Apple support or just go to the local Apple Store, they may help you.

That’s all about how to remove Find My iPhone activation lock without previous owner, we are sure there are ways can help you and we will keep updating the new methods.