Wrong Apple ID in iCloud or Find My Friends
Removing the Apple ID from iCloud or Find My Friends is more difficult. Apple requests the previous password before removing the Apple ID as a security measure to prevent people selling stolen iPhones.
Get in touch with the previous owner and ask for their Apple ID password so you can unlink the iPhone from their account. If they live nearby you can visit them and ask them to enter the password themselves so they don’t have to tell you it.
Once you have the password, follow these steps to remove the Apple ID account from iCloud and Find My Friends:
1. Click Settings
2. Scroll down to iCloud and click it.
3. Scroll down to the very bottom and click Sign Out.
4. Tap Sign Out. You will see a warning saying data will be removed from the iPhone such as Apple Pay, cards, photos and iCloud Drive.
5. You will be asked what to do with iCloud contacts and News data. Select Delete from My iPhone.
6. You will then be requested to enter the password of the person’s Apple ID.
7. Click Turn Off.
When signed out you can tap Sign In and enter your Apple ID and password to start using the device.
But what if you can’t get the previous owners password? We discuss this issue on next page.