Forgot Screen Time Passcode on iPhone With No Option to Reset? Here's the Fix

You opened Settings, tapped Screen Time, then Change Screen Time Passcode — and when iOS asked for the current passcode, the “Forgot Passcode?” link that every guide promises was nowhere on the screen. That dead end is especially frustrating if a child set the passcode, you inherited the iPhone, or you set up Screen Time years ago and never linked it to an Apple ID. The good news: the missing link almost always traces back to one of four predictable causes, and most of them have a no-data-loss fix. This guide diagnoses your exact state, walks you through surfacing the recovery option, and shows how to rebuild Screen Time so one forgotten passcode never wipes the whole household. On the Android side of parental controls, fix Family Link when it stops working covers the equivalent lockouts.

Why the “Forgot Passcode?” option is missing on your Screen Time screen

The recovery link is not a guaranteed part of the Screen Time interface — it only shows up when iOS has the right ingredients to honour the request. If it is missing, one of these conditions almost always applies:

• iOS version is older than 13.4. Apple added the “Forgot Passcode?” recovery flow in iOS 13.4. Devices still on iOS 12 or early iOS 13 will never display the link, no matter how many times you reopen the panel.
• No Apple ID was attached when the passcode was created. If you set the Screen Time passcode on an older iPhone and never re-tied it to an Apple ID, iOS has no recovery identity to verify against.
• The iPhone is a Family Sharing child device. Apple intentionally hides the recovery link on the child's screen so the kid cannot reset their own limits. The reset lives on the organizer's iPhone instead.
• You are on the wrong passcode prompt. The device lock screen passcode and the legacy Restrictions passcode from iOS 11 and earlier are different from the Screen Time passcode under Settings > Screen Time. Only the Screen Time one shows the link.
• A partial iOS update is in progress. A half-applied update can suppress the recovery link until the install finishes and the phone restarts cleanly.

Quick decision tree: which Screen Time state are you in?

Before trying any fix, identify your exact setup. The right path is different for each.

1. Personal iPhone, Screen Time set up for yourself. Follow the “make the option appear” steps in the next section.
2. Family Sharing child iPhone. Do not try to reset on the child's device — the option will never appear there. Reset the passcode from the organizer parent's iPhone.
3. Family Sharing organizer who forgot your own passcode. Sign into your own iPhone with the Apple ID that organizes the family, then use the recovery flow on that device.

To confirm which state applies, open Settings and check two places:

• Settings > Family. If the iPhone is listed under a family group as a child, it is a Family Sharing child device.
• Settings > Screen Time. If you see “This is My iPhone” the rules live on this device; if you see “This is My Child's iPhone” it was set up as a child device.

If the Apple ID currently signed into iCloud is different from the Apple ID that originally set the Screen Time passcode, the recovery flow cannot verify your identity and will fail silently — even if the link does appear.

How to make the “Forgot Passcode?” option appear

For most readers on a personal device, two simple changes surface the link without touching any data.

1. Update iOS. Open Settings > General > Software Update and install any pending update. The recovery flow requires iOS 13.4 or later, and Apple has shipped fixes in subsequent releases that affect when the link renders.
2. Sign in with the matching Apple ID. Open Settings > [your name] and confirm the Apple ID is the same one used when the passcode was first created. If not, sign out and sign in with the correct ID.
3. Restart the iPhone. A clean reboot forces the Screen Time settings panel to reload so the link appears.
4. Reopen the passcode screen. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Change Screen Time Passcode, tap Change Screen Time Passcode, and the “Forgot Passcode?” link should now sit just below the passcode entry dots.

After tapping it, iOS prompts for the Apple ID password tied to the original setup, then lets you set a fresh passcode. The flow fails silently — no error, just a non-functional prompt — when iCloud is signed in with a different Apple ID than the one used at setup, which is the single most common reason this fix appears to do nothing.

If the option still does not appear: three recovery paths

When the standard fix does not work, you have three fallback options. Each has trade-offs.

• Path A — Reset from the Family Sharing organizer's iPhone. On the parent organizer's iPhone, open Settings > Family > [child name] > Screen Time > Change Screen Time Passcode. This is the cleanest path for Family Sharing households because nothing on the child's iPhone needs to be erased.
• Path B — Use a reputable third-party Screen Time passcode removal tool. These tools usually require connecting the iPhone to a computer with a USB cable. They typically sign the device out of iCloud during the process, and some versions of iOS limit what they can do. Choose a vendor with a clear refund policy and a current iOS compatibility note.
• Path C — Erase and restore. Erase the iPhone via Finder on macOS, iTunes on Windows, or Find My on iCloud, then restore from a backup taken before the passcode was set. Restoring from a newer backup brings the passcode back along with everything else, which defeats the purpose.

How to decide between restoring and starting fresh:

• If you have a verified backup from before the passcode was set, restore from that backup.
• If your only backups are newer than the passcode, set up as a new iPhone instead.

Before erasing, back up Photos to iCloud or a computer, export Messages with a third-party tool if they matter, and confirm Health and Activity data is syncing to iCloud — that data does not survive an erase if the backup is too new to use.

After you recover access: rebuild Screen Time without losing your rules again

Once you are back in, do not just reset the passcode and move on. The whole reason you ended up here is that the rules and the lock both lived on a single iPhone with a single recovery identity. Rebuild differently.

• Re-create downtime, app limits, and Always Allowed lists under Settings > Screen Time on the recovered device.
• Write down the new Screen Time passcode somewhere safe and confirm the Apple ID recovery contact under Change Screen Time Passcode > Forgot Passcode?
• If you have children, move from a single-passcode setup on one iPhone to a Family Sharing model where the organizer manages the child's Screen Time from a separate device.
• Document app limits and downtime schedules in a notes app or shared doc so you can re-apply them quickly after any future device wipe or family handover.

The deeper lesson: a single Screen Time passcode tied to a single Apple ID is the single point of failure in this whole story. If that one secret is lost, every rule built on top of it is at risk. The NexSpy app covers a multi-device parent-dashboard model that does not concentrate the rule set behind a single Apple ID secret.

A more resilient alternative: manage screen time from a Parent Dashboard with NexSpy

If you reached this article because a forgotten passcode just cost you hours, the real fix is not a better passcode — it is moving the rules off a single device. NexSpy is a parental control app for iPhone and Android that puts every rule on the parent's Parent Dashboard, where they survive a child-device wipe, an iOS reinstall, or a forgotten Screen Time code.

Where NexSpy fits the problems this article raises

• Downtime and app limits live on the parent device. Schedule downtime for school nights, bedtime, study windows, and weekends, and set per-app daily time limits with automatic lockdown when the limit is reached. If the child's iPhone is ever erased to clear a forgotten Screen Time passcode, you re-apply the rules from the dashboard instead of rebuilding them by hand.
• Tight control over apps and games. Use the App and Game Blocker for instant block, scheduled block, or a child request-permission flow. On iOS, restricted apps are hidden from the home screen and the child can request temporary permission through the NexSpy Kids app, which you approve or deny.
• Focus Mode for study and bedtime. Lock every app except the Phone app for homework or bedtime, with parent-approved early end. The child cannot disable it without your approval, which is exactly the property a Screen Time passcode is supposed to give you.
• Website filter on iOS and Android. Block adult, drugs, violence, and gambling categories, and layer a custom blacklist and allowlist on top. Safe Search and browsing history review extend this on Android.
• One dashboard, mixed devices. Works on iOS 15 and later and Android 8.0 and later from one Parent Dashboard, with co-parenting access and Family Chat. No jailbreaking or rooting required.

When NexSpy is the right choice, and when it is not

The honest call

If your household is all-iPhone, light on conflict, and you mostly need downtime plus a few app limits, Apple Screen Time with Family Sharing is fine — leave a recovery Apple ID and a written-down passcode and call it done. If you have a mixed-device family, you want rules that survive a wipe, or you ran into this article because a forgotten passcode is one of several recurring problems, NexSpy is the more durable setup. The Parent Dashboard becomes the source of truth, not a single passcode on a single iPhone.

Frequently asked questions

• Can I reset the Screen Time passcode without erasing my iPhone? Yes, in most cases. Update to current iOS, sign in with the Apple ID used when the passcode was first set, and the “Forgot Passcode?” link will appear under Change Screen Time Passcode. Only if no Apple ID was ever attached do you need to erase.
• Why does my child's iPhone never show “Forgot Passcode?” even after updating iOS? Because it is a Family Sharing child device. Apple hides the reset on the child's screen. Open Settings > Family > [child name] > Screen Time > Change Screen Time Passcode on the organizer's iPhone instead.
• Does signing into a different Apple ID let me bypass the Screen Time passcode? No. The recovery flow only succeeds against the Apple ID that was active when the passcode was created. A different ID will either fail silently or simply not produce the link.
• Will restoring from an iCloud backup bring the old Screen Time passcode back? Yes — any backup taken after the passcode was set restores the passcode too. The only useful backup is one taken before the passcode existed.
• Is there an official Apple way to recover a Screen Time passcode set before iOS 13.4 with no Apple ID attached? No. Apple's official path is to erase the iPhone and set it up as new or restore from a pre-passcode backup. Third-party removal tools are the only alternative, and they have their own trade-offs.