Turn off Activation Lock in Apple Business
In Apple Business, you can turn off organization-linked and user-linked Activation Lock for an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Vision Pro that your organization owns.
Device state support for turning off Activation Lock
The following device states determine whether you can turn off Activation Lock.
Important: You need to add the device to Apple Business and not release it before enabling Activation Lock; however, you don’t need to assign it to a device management service.
Device state | User Interface | Can Activation Lock be turned off in Apple Business? | Can Activation Lock be turned off in an external device management service? |
|---|---|---|---|
User-based Activation Lock turned on. | Activation Lock On (User) | Yes For Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro, see note below. | No |
Organization-based Activation Lock turned on. | Activation Lock On (Organization) | Yes For Apple Watch and Apple Vision Pro, see note below. | Yes |
Managed Lost Mode turned on by the device management service. | Activation Lock On (Organization) | Yes | Yes |
Managed Lost Mode turned on by Apple Business. | Activation Lock On (Organization) | Yes | Yes |
Lost Mode turned on by user. | Activation Lock On (User) | Yes | No |
Device not configured. | Activation Lock shows as Off. | N/A | N/A |
Note: Apple Vision Pro devices purchased before June 2024 directly from Apple, an Apple Authorized Reseller, or an authorized cellular carrier are added to Apple Business. If Activation Lock was already turned on, you won’t be able to turn it off in Apple Business unless the user first turns it off.
Turn off Activation Lock
In Apple Business, sign in with a user whose role has permissions to remove Activation Lock from devices.
To view roles and permissions, see Intro to roles and permissions.
If necessary, search for the device in the search field. See How to search.
Select the device.
Under Details, confirm that Activation Lock is on.
Either the user or a device management service with a link to Apple Business turned on Activation Lock.
Select More
, then select Turn Off Activation Lock.Carefully read the dialog, select the I understand that this cannot be undone box, then select Confirm.
A new activity is created.
Choose one of the following:
Stop the activity.
View the activity.
Select Close.
Wait for the activity to complete, then select Done.
Note: The device may still indicate that Activation Lock is on when you either use Erase All Content and Settings or use Apple Configurator to erase the device, but you can still set up the device without authenticating as the previous user.