John
Understanding how to turn off restrictions on an iPhone becomes essential when you can’t get full control over it. With restrictions turned on, you might not make in-app purchases, access apps like AirDrop, CarPlay, or iTunes Store, share your location, etc.
Furthermore, if you use your smartphone for office work, your regular tasks might get disrupted due to the behavior of your iPhone. This is where the following sections come into play.
What Is ‘Restrictions’ on iPhone?
In an iPhone, the term ‘Restrictions’ refers to your inability to access apps or perform tasks. This happens when you have enabled Screen Time and disallowed yourself from doing certain things (purposely or unintentionally).
In addition, you can even passcode-protect the ‘Screen Time’ option and enter the credentials for authentication when you wish to manage restrictions on your iPhone.
While iOS 12 and later versions have simplified the procedure of disabling ‘Restrictions’ by placing it inside the ‘Screen Time’ option in the ‘Settings’ screen, things are a bit tricky to manage in iOS 11 or earlier.
For your convenience, both methods are covered here.
How to Turn Off Restrictions on iPhone with a Password?
If you remember the passcode, following the process of how to turn restrictions off on an iPhone is merely a matter of a few taps. However, as explained above, the steps vary for iOS 12 and above and iOS 11 and earlier versions.
The procedures are given below:
Case 1: Turn Restrictions Off on iOS 12 and Above
In iOS 12 and above, the ‘Restrictions’ option is placed inside the ‘Screen Time’ section, and you can follow the instructions described below to learn how to turn off restrictions on an iPhone in such a case:
Step 1: Get to the Content & Privacy Restrictions Screen
On your iPhone, go to Settings, scroll down a bit, and tap Screen Time. On the Screen Time window, tap Content & Privacy Restrictions.
Step 2: Turn Off App-Specific Restrictions (Recommended)
On the Content & Privacy Restrictions screen, scroll down to locate and tap the app you want to remove restrictions from. Enter the Screen Time passcode when your iPhone prompts.
On the next window, tap Allow Changes to turn off restrictions for the app.
Step 3: Turn Off All Restrictions (Optional and Not Recommended)
On the Content & Privacy Restrictions screen, tap the Content & Privacy Restrictions switch from the top. Enter the Screen Time passcode when the iOS prompts it to turn off all the restrictions on your iPhone.
Case 2: Turn Restrictions Off on iOS 11 and Below
Even in iOS 11 or earlier versions, enabling and disabling restrictions is almost identical to iOS 12 and above. The only difference is that in the former scenario, the feature isn’t independent, but it is present inside the ‘General’ window by the name of ‘Restrictions.’
To learn how to turn off restrictions on an iPhone running iOS 11 or below, you can follow the instructions given below:
Step 1: Get to the General Window
Launch the Settings app on your iPhone, scroll down a bit, and tap General.
Step 2: Get to the Restrictions Window
Tap Restrictions from the General screen.
Step 3: Turn Off Restrictions
Scroll down the Restrictions screen and locate and tap the Disable Restrictions option. Enter the Restrictions passcode when the iOS prompts. This will turn off restrictions on your iPhone.
How to Turn Off Restrictions on iPhone without a Password?
If you forgot your Screen Time passcode and cannot manage the ‘Restrictions’ feature because of it, luckily, you are safe. Fortunately, there’s an efficient tool called Tenorshare 4uKey that helps you get rid of the authentication barrier so you can easily modify or turn off Restrictions on your iPhone.
This means that removing restrictions using this method is a two-step process. While in the first step, you must use the tool to get past the Screen Time passcode, in the second step, you can disable the ‘Restrictions’ option manually on your iPhone.
After downloading and installing Tenorshare 4uKey on your computer, you can follow the step-by-step instructions below to learn how to turn off restrictions on an iPhone without a password.
Step 1: Remove the Restriction Password
Prerequisites: To complete this step, turn off Find My iPhone on your device by going to Settings and tapping your name from the top. Then, tap Find My > Find My iPhone, and turn off Find My iPhone.
Once done, you are good to go.
- Use the genuine Lightning Cable to connect your iPhone to the PC
- Launch Tenorshare 4uKey
- Click Remove Screen Time Passcode from the first screen
- Click Start Remove on the next window
- Follow the on-screen instructions from there to remove the Screen Time passcode from your iPhone
Note: If you notice that the Find My option is greyed out on your iPhone, you must know that it’s because you have enabled the restrictions on the Location Services in Content & Privacy Restrictions. To re-enable Find My, you must return to Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions and turn off the Location Services restrictions.
Step 2: Turn Off Restrictions
Once the Screen Time passcode is gone, you can normally disable restrictions on your iPhone. To do that:
- Go to the Settings screen
- Follow the procedure according to the iOS version on your device (as explained earlier) to disable restrictions on your iPhone
- Optionally, you can set a new Screen Time passcode to secure your iPhone again
FAQs About Restrictions on iPhone
How to turn restrictions off on an iPhone if I forgot my Screen Time passcode and can’t have any third-party tool either?
In such a case, your best bet will be to reset the password. For that, you must:
1. Go to Settings
2. Go to Screen Time
3. Tap Change Screen Time Passcode
4. Tap Change Screen Time Passcode in the box that pops up
5. Tap Forgot Passcode from the bottom of the Change Passcode screen
6. Enter your Apple ID and password on the next couple of screens
7. Follow the instructions from there to reset your Screen Time passcode on your iPhone
Why the Find My option on my iPhone is greyed out?
If you have iPhone restrictions turned on and have set the Location Services to Don’t Allow in the Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions window, you will notice that you can’t access the Find My option on your phone as it is greyed out.
In such a case, you must try turning off restrictions for the Location Services or disabling iPhone restrictions altogether and see if it helps.
Can a third-party tool steal data from my iPhone?
Being one of the securest operating systems, iOS never allows anyone to access your files unless they prove their identity and convince Apple that it’s you. As for the third-party tools, especially the Tenorshare products, you can rest assured that they cannot access your data even if you use them to perform administrative tasks such as removing or resetting passwords, reinstalling or upgrading iOS, etc.
Conclusion
Although you should always remember your credentials, if you forgot the Screen Time passcode, you can check the above procedure to learn how to turn off restrictions on an iPhone without a password using a third-party tool like Tenorshare 4uKey. On the other hand, if you know the passcode, understanding how to turn off restrictions on an iPhone is simple, and Apple strongly suggests you take that route for privacy reasons.
