How to Remove Encryption from iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch Backups

When you back up your iOS device with iTunes, Apple Devices or Finder, you'll have the option to encrypt your backup. Encrypted backups are encoded and locked with a password that you set. Forgot your password? Here's how to reset it >

You can't remove encryption from an existing backup, but you can turn off the encryption setting so that further backups of the device are not encrypted.

How to turn off backup encryption for future iOS backups

1. Connect your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch to your computer using a USB cable.
2. Launch the Apple Devices app, iTunes or Finder on your computer.
3. Select your device and open the "General" tab (or "Summary" in iTunes).
4. Under "Backups", uncheck the "Encrypt local backup" option.
5. Enter the backup encryption password to confirm the change.
6. Once encryption is disabled, an unencrypted backup of your device will begin.

What if I've forgotten my password?

If you don't remember your backup encryption password, you won't be able to:

• Access the backup in TouchCopy or iBackup Extractor
• Restore the backup
• Turn off backup encryption in Finder, iTunes, or Apple Devices

But fear not! You can easily reset the backup password on your iPhone using the Settings app.

Recover data from your backup

If you need to retrieve data from an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch backup, you can use iBackup Extractor. With it, you can recover your iPhone contacts, messages, photos, notes and more. You can even access and extract your content from an encrypted backup, as long as you have the backup password!

Download the free trial version of iBackup Extractor today to extract up to 20 items. The full version removes this limit and works with an unlimited number of iOS devices and backups.