Ben Huson

My “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:

1. 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.
2. 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.

I learned the hard way by disconnecting my iPod (3rd Gen.) while it was in the middle of doing something.

If your iPod appears to have crashed or frozen and you need to force it to restart, simply hold down the ‘menu’ and ‘play’ buttons simultaneously for about 5 seconds. The iPod should quit and reboot.

Update:

The above method will work for older iPods with a scroll wheel or touch wheel. For newer iPods (listed below), toggle the ‘hold’ switch on and off to ‘lock’ then ‘unlock’ the iPod controls. Then press the ‘Menu’ and ‘Select’ (centre) buttons for about 10 seconds until the Apple logo appears.

• Fifth Generation iPod (also known as iPod with video)
• iPod nano (Second Generation)
• iPod nano
• iPod with color display (iPod photo)
• iPod (Click Wheel)
• iPod mini
• iPod mini (Second Generation)

If none of these solutions work, this technote emay help.

If you have locked your iPod screen and forgotten the ’screen lock’, read this post…