For a variety of reasons, an Apple ID may become disabled. Usually this corresponds with an obvious message like “Apple ID Disabled” or “This Apple ID has been disabled for security reasons” or some other notification that you are unable to sign in to the locked Apple ID because it has been disabled. This can be seen when trying to login to an Apple ID on iPhone, iPad, Mac, iCloud.com, or any other place you might attempt to login to an Apple ID. Obviously a disabled Apple ID is a big deal because nearly the entire Apple universe is accessed through an Apple ID, including iCloud, Music, iTunes, App Store, and much more, so you’ll understandably want to regain access to an Apple ID to re-enable it and fix the issue.

If your Apple ID is disabled and you having trouble logging into the account, read on to learn how to troubleshoot and resolve this problem. We’ll cover three different approaches to fix a disabled Apple ID.

How to Fix a Disabled Apple ID

The first method to fix a disabled Apple ID is handled entirely online and is quite easy:

1. Open any web browser and go to http://iforgot.apple.com
2. Enter the Apple ID email address of the account that is locked or disabled
3. Follow the guidance to verify the account and unlock the Apple ID, typically this means either entering a security code sent via text to a phone number, or entering security questions

For most users the above method should work quickly to unlock a disabled Apple ID and regain access to it.

If that fails for whatever reason, or if you don’t have access to the phone number that the security code is being sent to to unlock the Apple ID, then your next option is to contact official Apple Support, which we’ll discuss next.

How to Fix “Apple ID is Disabled” via Apple Support

The next approach to fixing a disabled Apple ID is to work with Official Apple Support:

1. From any web browser, open https://getsupport.apple.com/
2. Choose “Apple ID” as what you want to get support for
3. Choose “Disabled Apple ID”
4. Fill in more information and choose the method for which you would like to contact Apple Support for assistance in reactivating a disabled Apple ID account

Option 3: Call Official Apple Support

Another option for unlocking and regaining access to a disabled Apple ID is to call official Apple Support and speak with a support assistance on the phone directly. This can be the best option if the other approaches do not work to fix the problem, or you are unable to follow those online approaches for whatever reason.

You can call official Apple Support directly at 800-MY–APPLE (800–692–7753)
or at 800-APL-CARE (800-275-2273).

Calling Apple is quite fast, you’ll likely spend a short wait time on hold and then an Apple staff member will quickly be able to assist you to regain access to the locked or disabled Apple ID.

This is important: Only call the official Apple Support phone lines for assistance from Apple. Do NOT use any third party website that claims to unlock Apple ID problems and that ask for any personal information or login data or payment details as those are probably scams. Only Apple is able to address and handle issues with an Apple ID, so you will only want to call official Apple support.

If all else fails, you can always create a new Apple ID too, but that’s really not recommended except for an absolute last resort.

Note the above tips are intended for situations where the Apple ID specifically disabled with a “Apple ID has been disabled for security reasons” type of message. If you forgot an Apple ID or password, read here how to recover or reset the Apple ID in that situation. Contacting Apple Support directly can also resolve those type of forgotten info situations too.

If you find yourself continuously forgetting Apple ID login information like which email you used, you might find it helpful to create an @icloud.com email address and then changing your Apple ID to be the @icloud.com email address, that way the email to login to an Apple ID and the iCloud login is all the same account.

It may be obvious to some, but it’s worth pointing out that this is not the same issue as the “iPhone is disabled” message that can appear on an iPhone (or iPad) after many failed login attempts on a device, that’s a separate issue with a completely different solution.