Fix Passcode Requirement Keeps Popping Up on iPhone

While using your iPhone, have you ever gotten a pop-up that says you must change your iPhone unlock passcode? If yes, then don’t worry, this guide will show you why iPhone is forcing you to change passcode and how to resolve iPhone passcode requirement.

Author Avatar Roger Smith Last Updated: Sep. 06, 2024

Sometimes, the iPhone passcode not working and pops up iPhone passcode requirement, which asks you to change your iPhone unlock passcode within xx minutes. When this notification appears on the screen, you can simply press the Later button and continue using your iPhone smoothly. However,  the passcode requirement may keep popping up till you get rid of it.

Passcode Requirement You Must Change Your iPhone Unlock Passcode

You Must Change Your iPhone Unlock Passcode

Why is your iPhone asking to change the passcode, how to remove passcode requirement from your iPhone? Here in this post, we’d like to share several proven methods for you to set your passcode and fix the iPhone passcode requirement.

Why Does My iPhone Say Passcode Requirement?

Requiring Passcode is one of the iPhone passcode settings. Usually, if you want to wake up the iPhone screen after being locked, you need to enter a passcode once you enabled screen passcode. Besides, the iPhone will require your passcode once you update the iOS version, force restart the device, erase the iPhone, etc. You can change the time for iPhone requiring passcode from immediately to after 1 minute to after 4 hours. Just as the below picture shows:

Change Require Passcode Immediately

Change Require Passcode Immediately

However, if the iPhone passcode requirement keeps popping up, it could be caused by the following reasons:

  • Simple and Easy-to-Guess Apple Passcode: If you are using a simple and easy-crack passcode on your iOS device, Apple security can detect it as unsafe, and as a result, the passcode requirement pops up to alert you to change your passcode.
  • Mobile Device Management (MDM): If your iPhone does not belong to you but is a company-owned device, then there are chances that it has been enrolled in MDM. If this is the case, then MDM is likely to cause the iPhone force passcode to change.
  • Safari History: When you visit WebPages using Safari on your iPhone, the browsing and search history are stored as cookies and cache. So, when the number of these cookies and caches reaches a specific level, then it is likely to show a pop-up relating to Password Requirement.
  • Email Accounts and Configuration Profiles: Apple has mentioned that email accounts and configuration profiles based on Microsoft exchanges often have passcode policies that cause the iPhone to force passcode change.

The above reasons can cause the passcode requirement, you can get the quick fixes below and get an insight into what is required for a stable iPhone passcode:

Change Your Passcode

The first way to get rid of the passcode requirement should be to change the current passcode. As stated above, Apple may detect your current passcode as simple and easy to guess; therefore, it can alert you again and again to change your passcode. So, you can try changing your passcode to something unique and see if the issue is fixed. Here’s how to change the passcode of your iPhone.

  1. Go to Settings and tap on Touch ID & Passcode.
  2. Here, click on Change Passcode to change your iPhone’s passcode.
Tap on Change Passcode

Tap on Change Passcode

Alternatively, you can change the passcode directly from the Password Requirement pop-up dialog box immediately as below:

  1. When the password Requirement pop-up appears, hit the Continue button.
  2. Enter your current passcode and click on Continue again.
  3. iPhone will not display the Change Passcode page and ask you to enter a new passcode. Enter the new passcode and click on the Continue button.

How to Fix Passcode Requirement when Forgot Passcode?

If you want to change iPhone passcode, but forgot the passcode information, you need an iPhone unlocker. AnyUnlock allows you to unlock the iPhone passcode or bypass MDM to solve the iPhone force passcode change issue. AnyUnlock is a highly advanced tool that boasts 12 features, including iPhone screen passcode unlocking, iCloud activation lock bypassing, MDM lock removal, SIM unlocker, iDevice verification, etc.

No matter whether you have forgotten your passcode or your iPhone is disabled due to multiple failed attempts, this complete password solution is there for you to help you unlock your device without any hassle. iOS 16 is supported now.

Check the steps below to unlock iPhone passcode requirement:

Free Download

Free Download

* 100% Clean & Safe

Free Download * 100% Clean & Safe

Step 1. Download and launch the AnyUnlock tool on your computer. On the main interface, click on Unlock Screen Passcode.

Choose Unlock Screen Passcode

Choose Unlock Screen Passcode

Step 2. Connect your iPhone to the PC via a USB cable and tap on Start Now.

Click Start Button to Remove Screen Passcode

Click Start Button to Remove Screen Passcode

Step 3. AnyUnlock will auto-detect your iOS information as below. Simply click the Download button. (If AnyUnlock cannot detect your device, please manually put your device into recovery mode.)

Get a Matching Firmware

Get a Matching Firmware

Step 4. After tapping on Unlock Now option, AnyUnlock will unlock your screen passcode automatically. Make sure to keep your device connected to the PC via USB during the unlocking process.

Tap on Unlock Now

Tap on Unlock Now

Step 5. A few minutes later, the screen passcode will be removed from your device if your device is locked due to an iPhone force passcode change issue.

iOS Device Unlocked Successfully

iOS Device Unlocked Successfully

You can also use AnyUnlock’s Bypass MDM feature of this tool to bypass MDM on iPhone/iPad if MDM is causing the passcode requirement iPhone issue.

Turn Off Immediately Require Passcode

If you don’t want an immediate passcode requirement, you can go to Settings > Face ID & Passcode > Turn off Immediately Require Passcode. But this tip only works for the iPhone user who has not used Touch ID or Apple Pay.

Clear Safari Browsing History

Some iPhone users who discovered the same problem stated that clearing the Safari browsing history helped them solve this issue. So, here’s how to clear the website history in Safari:

  1. Go to Settings > Safari on your iPhone.
  2. Here, click on the Clear History and Website Data option to clear the Safari browsing history.
Clear Safari History

Clear Safari History

Further Reading: How to Retrieve Deleted Safari History on iPhone/iPad >

Delete Exchange Email Account

Deleting the exchange email account may also help you fix the iPhone passcode requirement to change your passcode issue. Here’s how it works:

  1. Navigate to Settings and click on Accounts & Passwords. NOTE: In earlier versions of iOS, tap on Mail, Contacts, Calendar, and then go to Accounts.
  2. Under the Accounts and passwords page, choose the exchange email account and click on Delete Account.

You can now check if the Password Requirement dialog box still pops up on your iPhone! If yes, try the next solution.

Remove All the Configuration Profiles

There are chances that you’ve installed a beta iOS or a third-party application on your iPhone that has caused some configuration profiles to be installed on your iPhone. So, deleting such configuration profiles can stop the Passcode Requirement.

Here’s a guide on how to remove the configuration profiles:

Step 1: Go to Settings > Tap on General and scroll down to click the Profile or Profiles & Device Management option.

Step 2: Finally, delete the configuration profiles installed on your iPhone.

Go to Device Management and Remove Configuration Files

Go to Device Management and Remove Configuration Files

In just a few clicks, you can effortlessly remove all the configuration profiles from your iPhone. Now, check if the passcode requirement iPhone issue still exists or not!

Further Reading: What to Do if Cannot Remove Configuration Profile from iPhone or iPad >

Related Questions for for iPhone Passcode

What Are the Rules for iPhone Passcode?

If you want to get more information about iPhone passcode, for example, how many attempts do you get on an iPhone passcode, how to get into an iPhone if forgot the passcode, etc., here are some rules for iPhone passcode.

1. When an iPhone will require your passcode:

  • Turn on or restart your device.
  • Update your software.
  • Erase your device.
  • View or change the iPhone passcode.
  • Install iOS or iPadOS Configuration profiles.

2. How many attempts do you get on an iPhone passcode:

Usually, when you attempt the iPhone passcode 6 times, iPhone will be disabled and connected iTunes to restore. And, iPhone passcode setting allows you to erase data on an iPhone after 10 failed passcode attempts (Settings > Face ID & Passcode > Toggle on Erase Data).

Can Someone Change My iPhone Passcode Remotely?

Some parents want to know “how to lock their son’s phone if necessary”. The iPhone passcode can not be changed remotely. If you need to restrict iPhone usage, screen/restriction time will help you.

How Do I Delete Failed Passcode Attempts?

Whenever you set a passcode on your iPhone, there is an option that asks you to erase data after too many failed attempts. So, if you have this option enabled, your iPhone will erase all its data after 10 failed or unsuccessful passcode attempts. Also, you can disable Erase Data from Settings > Face ID & Passcode. Once all the data is erased, it is gone, but if you were continually backing up your iPhone, then you can quickly recover it from the most recent backup information available.

Fortunately, you can even use the AnyUnlock tool to delete failed passcode attempts because it can unlock your iPhone’s screen passcode without any hassle.

How Do I Force My iPhone to Passcode?

If you are new to the iOS device and hunting for an effective way to set a passcode or force your iPhone to Passcode, then we are here with a simple step-by-step guide on how you can set a passcode on your iPhone and disable Touch and Face ID.

On iPhone X and later, go to Settings > Face ID & passcode > Turn Passcode On > Enter the six-digit Passcode or tap on the Passcode Options to switch to a custom numeric code, four-digit numeric code, or custom alphanumeric code > Enter your Passcode again to confirm and activate it > Later, turn off the Touch and Face ID.

Also Read: How to Fix iPhone Asking for 6 Passcode Instead of 4 >

The Bottom Line

We hope this guide on how to tackle the passcode requirement iPhone issue helped you get some reliable answers as to why this issue occurs and how to fix it. And, AnyUnlock, an iPhone unlocking tool allows you to solve any of your iPhone passcode-related issues, for example, iPhone asking you to change the passcode, iPhone is disabled, etc. So, download AnyUnlock now and get rid of iPhone passcode-related issues flawlessly.

Free Download

Free Download

* 100% Clean & Safe

Free Download * 100% Clean & Safe

Author Avatar
Roger Smith Twitter Share Facebook Share

Work for iMobie team for 5 years as well as an Apple fan, love to help more users solve various types of iOS or Android related issues.

Back to Top Icon