Can I Unlock an iTunes 12 Backup If I Forgot the Password?
If you encrypt an iPhone backup in iTunes and then forget your password, you will not be able to restore from the backup and your data will be unrecoverable, the latest iTunes 12.6/12 is no exception. So how will you handle this urgent "Forgot iTunes 12 backup password" problem? Spend a few minutes and you will get a few suggestions in this post about how to recover iTunes 12 backup password.
Part 1: Use iTunes Backup Password Recovery Tool to Unlock iTunes 12 Backup
It's no big deal to reset iTunes 12.7/12.5/12 backup password, if you get a trustworthy iTunes 12 backup password recovery tool. Speaking of that, SmartKey iTunes Backup Password Recovery stands out from others. Download the software and try to use it, and you'll find it works smoothly.
Step 1: Launch this program, and click on "Open" to load the encrypted iTunes backup file.
Step 2: You will see 3 kinds of attack types: Brute-force Attack, Brute-force with Mask Attack, Dictionary Attack. Choose a suitable one according to your case.
Step 3: After choosing an attack type and set settings, you can click "Start" to begin the backup password recover process.
Part 2: Find iTunes 12 Backup Password in Keychain (for Mac only)
If you are using OS X, and forgot iTunes 12 encrypted backup password, you can go to find in Keychain Access, where the password might be saved. This method can only be used in Mac OS.
Open Keychain Access utility from /Application/Utilities.
Make sure that on the left side "All items" is selected under categories.
In the upper right search field, enter "iphone" and then look for a keychain item named "iPhone Backup" of a kind "application password". If there is no such item, you are mostly out of luck.
Double click on "iPhone Backup" entry and in the new window that will open, click on the "show password" checkbox.
You will be prompted to enter your password (the one your user has on your Mac) to show the iPhone backup password. Click Allow (once), and you will see the iPhone backup password in clear text.
Part 3: How to Turn off iTunes 12 Backup Encryption
If you always forget iTunes backup password, you'd better turn off the backup encryption.
Go to Backups in iTunes, then uncheck the "encrypt iPhone backup" option.
A small screen will pop up to ask you to enter the backup password, and then enter the password you have set previously to turn off the iTunes backup encryption.