Unlocking an iPod – “I forgot the Screen Lock code?”
Monday, 21st May 2007My “How do I force quit or restart a frozen iPod?” post seems to be quite popular – I hope people are finding it useful.
I recently found some info on how to unlock your iPod if you have used a screen lock code (iPod nano, iPod nano 2G, and iPod 5G models) to lock your iPod and then forgotten the code. It seems like your options are:
- Connect your iPod to the primary computer you use it with (the first one iPod synced with), and open iTunes. When you disconnect your iPod from the computer, it should no longer be locked.
- You can restore your iPod to factory settings using iPod Updater. This will erase all data on your iPod (so ideally you want to try option 1 first)! Then, you can add your music and data back to your iPod – providing you have your data backed up of course.
You can read more in the article on EveryMac.com.
If you find any further options for unlocking the screen without the screen lock code, please post them as a comment below.



July 14th, 2007 at 1:23 am
try this handy application for removing the screen and volume locks on the Video and nano http://www.hiddenvision.co.uk/ipod visit that page and download or run the the app.. 100% safe I assure you.
December 7th, 2007 at 10:29 am
Steve…fek off you blagger. Contains link to ebay site. Don’t bother.
April 7th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
help me unlock my ipod
August 10th, 2008 at 5:13 am
my friend locked my i-pod and my primary computer broke and now i cant unlock it
October 1st, 2008 at 7:31 pm
my friend did the same as Ginny’s did PLEASE HELP!!!! my iPod is my LIFE!!!!! email me! PLEASE!!! at:
onlyifheknew@hotmail.com!
January 1st, 2009 at 2:19 pm
go to the hidden folder ipod_control on the ipod then go to device folder and delete the _locked file. Note this will only unlock the ipod but you will not be able to put in a new code until you restore the ipod.
e.g (ipod drive)\ipod_control\device\
Tell me if it works,
que.goa@gmail.com
January 19th, 2009 at 10:53 pm
Yes Enrique is right.. it will work if you delete the file _locked.. but you wont be able to lock it again..
Cheers.
January 26th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
I NEED HELP! i still don’t get how you unlock the ipod… and do you have to have an iTunes folder in order to unlock the ipod!
PLZ HELP ME!!!
~Kiara~
if you figure it out.. email me at BeauifulKiaraisonline@gmail.com
February 6th, 2009 at 3:12 am
I locked my i-pod and I don’t have the same primary computer now, so can someone help me plz+ please
February 10th, 2009 at 5:20 pm
my ipod nano 4gb is on screen lock and I can’t get off it. Every time I enter a code, it flashes red and I don’t know what to do! Please help me!
February 18th, 2009 at 3:33 am
please help me anyone. I got this ipod from my firend cause she got a touch one so it is on the locked screen and i don’t know the code and i moved away from my friend.. PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME QIUCK!!!!
March 4th, 2009 at 9:02 am
ples help me to open my ipod screen lock
March 12th, 2009 at 11:20 am
THANKS A LOT!!!
March 13th, 2009 at 3:34 am
or……. you can do this….. this is my guide..
For those forgetful people…
All right guys i have a solution for this but it will require some work first:
Now u should get some thing like :
V?¥?°ij?•??\f?©??Pb???æT~?±?¢Hz?µ?¶Lv???™@r???ÆDas the text but its not that confusing to show here are two diffrent codesV?¥?°ij?•??\f?©??Pb???æT~?±?¢Hz?µ?¶Lv???™@r???ÆDthe same!
]???£hj?•??\f?©??Pb???æT~?±?¢Hz?µ?¶Lv???™@r???ÆDso in fact the part that matters is the first 4…. and its a 4 digit code!!
soooo i have made a guide line.. for u to match up your code with
0000 = ^???†k
1111 = _?±?°j
2222 = \???¢i
3333 = ]???£h
4444 = Z?¥?§o
5555 = [?µ?•n
6666 = X???¶m
7777 = Y?ó?ßl
8888 = V???®c
9999 = W???©b
Now how does this help?? Well i set my code as 1234 and this is what the first 4 digits were:
_???£oif u look at the first one and compare to the guide it shows that the first digit is 1 the second 2 the third 3 and the last is 4! taaa daaaa!!!!
Rock on people hope this helps!!!!
~Thimolas the awesome :P
Oppps!! forgot to mention that eagle btc helped me find the folder…… the little bit at the begining was from
http://forums.ilounge.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=118446&highlight=combination+lock
March 24th, 2009 at 1:37 am
ok so like i dont even know how too do that can i just bring it too the apple stor becuse i have an ipod nano and i locked it when i was messig around with my ipod and i cant figer out my code can you put in a surtin password that will unlock it?
March 24th, 2009 at 1:42 am
but what if you dont have tex ed or somthing like that how do you dowllod micorsofe word
March 31st, 2009 at 5:54 am
hi,great post,just keep it up
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:42 am
benjamin (aka thimolas) you are an absolute ledgend!
that guide is awesome awesome awesome!!
April 2nd, 2009 at 8:44 am
and btw, how did you come up up with this brilliance?
April 4th, 2009 at 6:12 pm
hey. i gave my ipod to a friend of mine and when i got it back the touch screen code was on. she said she had no idea how it happened. please, help me unlock my ipod. it’s very important and it’s my last one. i’ve had two before and this will be my last if i don’t fix it. please!!!!
April 19th, 2009 at 5:55 pm
well i was messing around with those files and i found the file and saw the code iw as like “oo thats cool! “” so i just spent a couple hours messing around with it! thanks people
Thimolas the dreamer
February 5th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
i hav locked my ipod and aam not sure how to unlock it as i hav forgot the code. help please!