How to turn off iPhone Activation Lock without access to the previous owner

By Gabriel Agbobli Last updated Sep 30, 2020

One of the most difficult things that could happen to you is turning off an Activation Lock on an iPhone without the previous owner.

When you buy a new or old iPhone, one of the significant things you need to check is whether or not there is an Activation Lock on it. Though the process can be very difficult, I am going to show you some ways you can turn off Activation Lock on an iPhone without access to the previous owner.

When you reset your iPhone without signing out of your iCloud account, Activation Lock might still be available on the device. To remove this feature you need to have access to the user, but in this article, I am going to show how to do it on your own.

What is Activation Lock?

Activation Lock is a security feature that is designed on Apple devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch, and Mac) to keep them secured once they get lost or stolen.

If Activation Lock is turned on, it will display a message to the user that the device is for you and that he/she should call you on your mobile number. To turn on Activation Lock, you need to open my device (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple Watch, and Mac) and mark it as lost or stolen.

How to turn off iPhone Activation Lock without access to the previous owner

Many methods are available for turning off Activation Lock without access to the owner. But, I am going to show you some of the best ways to go about it.

The DNS method uses a loophole in the WiFi DNS and tricks the iPhone into thinking that it has been unlocked. To begin this, you first of all need to factory reset the iPhone and then follow the steps listed below:
Set up the iPhone as a new device until you reach the WiFi settings page.
Once you reach the WiFi settings page, connect to a WiFi, and then tap on the “i” icon next to the name of the WiFi.
Tap on Configure DNS ad turns off the Automatic option.
Choose the Manual option at the top and then type one of the following DNS values (depending on where you are located):
- North America: 104.154.51.7
- South America: 35.199.88.219
- Europe: 104.155.28.90
- Australia and Oceania: 35.189.47.23
- Asia: 104.155.220.58
- Elsewhere: 78.100.17.60
After you are done entering the DNS values (IP), tap the WiFi button, and reconnect to the WiFi network normally.

By using DNS bypass

DNS bypass on iPhone usually works on older versions of iPhones but, if you have the latest version, you can still give it a try. After all, there’s no harm in trying to turn off Activation Lock on your iPhone.

By using a third-party software

Apart from the first method, you can also turn off Activation Lock using third-party software. The only thing about these third-party apps is that you may need to jailbreak your iPhone.

I did a lot of research online and found one of the best software that can help you do this. The name of the software is Tenorshare 4MeKey. The reason why I selected this particular software is that it has all the features that can be used to turn off the Activation Lock and more.

To use Tenorshare 4MeKey to turn off Activation Lock without access to the previous owner,

Download the free Tenorshare 4MeKey on your Windows PC or Mac.
Click the Start button, read and accept all the terms and conditions. After, click on Next.
The next page will require that you jailbreak the iPhone.
For Mac users, the jailbreaking will be downloaded and Tenorshare 4MeKey will jailbreak the iPhone for you.
For Windows users, Tenorshare 4MeKey will give a tutorial on how to jailbreak the iPhone yourself.
Upon successful completion of the jailbreak, click on Next and your iPhone details will be shown.
Check and confirm the details and then click on Start Remove.
The removal process will commence and the Activation Lock will be removed from the iPhone.

By visiting an Apple Shop

When you buy a refurbished iPhone though rare, there’s a chance that there might be an Activation Lock on it. In situations like that, you can take the documents that show that you bought the iPhone from the Apple shop and submit it together with the iPhone to the shop.

If the documents you submitted are genuine, they might end up giving you a new iPhone or the Activation Lock will be removed for you.

Conclusion

Activation Lock removal can be very difficult but once you follow the methods that I have shown in this article, it shouldn’t be a big problem.

I hope this article was helpful? If you have any method that you think might work very well, please write it down in the comments section below and it will be added to our subsequent write-ups.