You must secure your iPhone with a Face ID or Touch ID, but a strong passcode is mandatory to safeguard your device. After all, you need to enter your passcode when you restart your iPhone or if Face ID ever fails. Since passcodes play a huge role, you must not take them lightly. Be it for security reasons or to keep your notorious kid away from your phone, it’s a smart idea to regularly change the password on your iPhone. Without any ado, let’s learn how to change the passcode on iPhone.
How to Change iPhone Password
It’s super easy to change the password on an iPhone, as long as you remember your current iPhone passcode. Just a few taps and you’re sorted. Follow the below steps to reset the passcode on your iPhone:
- On your iPhone, open the Settings app and go to Face ID & Passcode (or Touch ID & Passcode for iPhones with a Home Button).
- Enter your current iPhone passcode.
- Scroll down a little, tap on Change Passcode, and enter your current password again.
- On the Change Passcode screen, tap on Passcode Options to view options for creating a new password for your iPhone. You can choose from 4-digit Numeric Code, 6-digit Numeric Code, Custom Numeric Code, and Custom Alphanumeric Code.
- Choose a passcode option, enter the new passcode, and verify it to complete the process. Make sure you don’t use easily guessable passcodes such as sequential numbers or birthdates.
How to Remove Old iPhone Passcode
When you change the passcode on your iPhone (running iOS 17 or later), the old password will remain valid for the next 72 hours. This allows you to use your old password to reset your iPhone passcode if you’ve forgotten the new one. If someone knows your old password, they can use it to reset your current passcode on your iPhone. For security purposes, you can choose to completely remove the old passcode. Here’s what you need to do:
- Open Settings -> Face ID & Passcode and tap on Expire Previous Passcode Now.
- Then, tap on Expire Now to remove your old passcode.
Which Is the Most Secure iPhone Passcode Option
Apple offers four Passcode options to choose from- 4-digit Numeric Code, 6-digit Numeric Code, Custom Numeric Code, and Custom Alphanumeric Code. Out of these 4-Digit and 6-Digit Numeric Codes are the most used passcode options. A 4-digit code results in 10,000 possible combinations, whereas the 6-digit code yields one million. Therefore, a six-digit code is more secure and harder to guess than a four-digit code.
That said, the Custom Alphanumeric Code and Custom Numeric Code offer the highest level of security. For instance, a 10-digit alphanumeric code would have 10 billion combinations. That’s why, an alphanumeric code with a combination of uppercase and lowercase characters, numbers, and special characters are the strongest.
Putting it simply, the most secure iPhone passcode options are Custom Alphanumeric Code and Custom Numeric Code.
That’s how easy it is to change a password on an iPhone. When you’re at it, just make sure to choose a password that’s secure and easy for you to remember. While you can unlock your iPhone without a passcode, it would typically require you to erase your data or restore your iPhone. To avoid getting into all of these, make sure to always remember your iPhone’s password.
It’s a nice idea to change your iPhone passcode at least once a few months. However, if you feel that your passcode is being compromised, you must change it immediately.
While using the same password across all your devices might seem convenient, it’s not recommended for security reasons. When all your devices have the same password, you’re allowing a person who knows your iPad passcode to use your iPhone, Mac, and other devices as well. To reduce the risk of unauthorized access, your devices must have a unique passcode.
A secure password is one with a combination of uppercase & lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. Also, it should be at least six characters long.
