Turn off Activation Lock in Apple Business Essentials
In Apple Business Essentials, you can turn off organization-linked and user-linked Activation Lock for an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Watch 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 Essentials 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 Essentials? | Can Activation Lock be turned off in a device management service? |
|---|---|---|---|
User-based Activation Lock turned on. | Activation Lock On (User) | Yes | No |
Organization-based Activation Lock turned on. | Activation Lock On (Organization) | Yes | 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 Essentials. | 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 Watch devices purchased before June 2024 directly from Apple, an Apple Authorized Reseller, or an authorized cellular carrier are added to Apple Business Essentials. If Activation Lock was already turn on, you won’t be able to turn it off in Apple Business Essentials unless the user first turns it off.
Turn off Activation Lock
In Apple Business Essentials, sign in with a user who has a role with Manage Device privileges.
Select Devices
in the sidebar, search for a device in the search field, then select the device from the list. See How to search.Under Details, confirm that Activation Lock is on.
Either the user or a device management service with a link to Apple Business Essentials 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.
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.