If you see This Apple ID is not active error when trying to sign in to any Apple device, don’t waste your time trying to sign in again and again. If your password is wrong, the prompt would be different. And if you enter the wrong password too many times, your account can be locked for up to 24 hours. So, act with caution and follow the instructions we provided below.
Table of contents:
What to do if my Apple ID is not active?
1. Reset your Apple ID password
The first thing to do is to navigate to the iForgot Apple webpage and recover your account by resetting the password. This is the best option to avoid further issues and repeatedly entering the password when your Apple ID is flagged as not active can lead to bigger problems.
So, immediately go to iForgot, enter your Apple ID and the previous password, follow further instructions, and you should be good to go. This is an official recommendation by Apple.
2. Report the problem to Apple Support
Apple won’t flag your account for no reason, that’s for sure. You’ll get a prompt that your Apple ID is not active or disabled mostly due to security concerns. If someone tried to repeatedly log in with the wrong password, this will put all access on hold until you reset the password.
However, if you for some reason don’t have access to any trusted devices for Two-Factor Authentication (you can’t turn off Two-Factor Authentication) or you forgot answers to your security questions and the old password, there’s nothing else you can do but contact Apple Support.
Once you reach Apple Support, explain the nature of the problem and they should be able to help you out.
3. Contact the previous owner
Finally, this should be a norm for used or refurbished devices but things like these might happen from time to time. Before a new user can sign into a newly-acquired device, the previous owner must remove the account. So, if you can’t access your Apple ID, make sure that all accounts are removed. In order to do that, the previous owner must sign in and remove the account before a new user can sign in on that iPhone, Mac, iPad, or Apple Watch.
With that said, we can conclude this article. The best thing to do if the first step didn’t help and you weren’t able to regain access to your account after the password reset is to reach out to Apple Support and explain your problem. Doing anything else might result in losing your Apple ID account or preventing you from using your devices associated with the said account. Thank you for reading and feel free to share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.
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