How to remove google activation lock without previous owner

How do I remove the Android Activation Lock or Samsung Factory Reset Protection (FRP)from my device?

Should you lose your phone, or have it stolen, an activation lock will prevent someone from gaining access to it. For this reason, if you are returning your device for repair or replacement, or simply selling it on, you must disable the activation lock beforehand. A device that has been activation locked is unusable to anyone other than yourself.

Both Google and Samsung have their own activation lock setup, and as such have different methods of removal. For Samsung phones it is possible to enable both types of activation locks (Activation Lock and Factory Reset Protection), in which case you would need to remove both.

In most cases, a factory reset does not remove the activation lock from the device. For example, if a phone is factory reset with the Google account logged in, the phone will still ask for those credentials once switched back on. Therefore it is recommended that the account is removed before the factory reset takes place to ensure the account is fully removed.

Please Note: If a Google account password is changed before performing the reset instead of being fully removed the message "Please sign in using one of the owners accounts for this device" will appear. This indicates the Google account on the phone is now locked for 72 hours and you must wait for it to reset.

Select removal type then follow the simple steps below.

Activation Lock

Samsung FRP

Removing your Google activation lock from device settings on your phone

Depending on the specific model of the Android phone, the following steps to remove your Google account may differ slightly. The general steps listed below should allow you to remove your Google account from your phone, but some phones may skip some of the steps.

1. Switch the device ON
2. Go to Settings.
3. Tap Accounts or Users & Accounts.
4. Select the account type, which in this case would be Google.
5. You will now see a list of Google emails that are linked to your device. Select the first account.
6. You will now see Sync Settings for the selected account. Tap the menu icon (three vertical dots) on the top right-hand corner.
7. Tap Remove account.
8. Confirm by tapping Remove account again.
9. Repeat steps 5 to 8 until all Google Accounts have been removed from your device. Please note: removing an account does not delete any data from your Google Account, your device will simply stop syncing data.

If you are unable to complete the steps above, you would also be able to remove the Google Account from the phone by accessing your Google account online.

Removing Samsung factory reset protection from your device

These steps are applicable to most Samsung devices.

1. On the phone's home screen, tap Apps.
2. Select Settings.
3. Tap on Accounts.
4. Tap on the account you wish to remove.
5. Select More in the top right corner of the screen.
6. Tap on Remove Account.

Your Samsung factory reset protection has now been removed.

Removing your Google activation lockonline

1. Log into your Google account.
2. Once logged in, go to Device activity & notifications (located under Sign-in & security).
3. Next click on Review devices (under recently used devices).
4. Select the device you wish to remove from your Google account and click the red Remove button beside account access.
5. There will be a confirmation window, select Remove.
6. A confirmation window will show that the access has been removed from your device.
7. To confirm, you can check the list of recent phones. The selected phone will show Access removed.

Please Note: After removing the Google account access online you will need to perform the reset from the settings of the phone. On some model phones, a hardware reset will request the Google account information during setup.

72 Hour Google Lock: If a Google password is changed and the device is immediately factory reset, a message will appear after a restart which says: "please sign in using one of the owners accounts for this device" This indicates the google account on the phone is now locked for 72 hours and you must wait for it to reset. This mostly commonly affects Samsung devices.

Why Apple Devices Get locked by Activation Lock [A Simple Overview] 

In case some users don't know Activation Lock, we are giving a simple introduction to it. According to Apple, “Activation Lock is a feature that’s designed to prevent anyone else from using your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Apple Watch if it’s ever lost or stolen. Activation Lock is enabled automatically when you turn on Find My iPhone. Even if you erase your device remotely, Activation Lock can continue to deter anyone from reactivating your device without your permission. All you need to do is keep Find My iPhone turned on and remember your Apple ID and password.”

Admittedly, it has a good side to follow, but it does have drawbacks to specific people. Here are the pros and cons of Activation lock.

Pros

• Locate and play a sound by Find My iPhone on missing Apple devices, like iPhone, iPad, Mac, etc
• Protect data if a device is stolen

Cons

• Make the first using process more troublesome if you cannot acquire the iCloud login information from the previous owner, after buying a second hand iPhone

To solve this small problem, in this post, we provide you with four effective solutions to help you remove Activation Lock without a previous owner.

Method 1: Remove Activation Lock Without Previous Owner Using Dr.Fone [iOS 9 and up]

Without the credential, or iCloud login information from the previous owner, Dr.Fone - Screen Unlock (iOS) could do a big favor. It applies to both MacBook and Windows, and it is a professional bypass tool for an iCloud activation lock. The following steps will help you to remove the iCloud activation lock.

Dr.Fone will access your iOS devices with a couple of clicks. Follow the video instructions below to remove find my iPhone/ iPad activation lock without a previous owner:

safe & secure

Step-by-step guide for Windows users

Step 1. Launch and install Dr.Fone on your PC, and select Screen Unlock from its home page.

Step 2. Select "Unlock Apple ID" mode, and click "Remove Active Lock" to bypass the iCloud Activation Lock. Then, tap "Get Start".

Step 3. Now, if your device has been jailbroken successfully, please click "Finished jailbreak" to continue the process. But if not, you can directly follow the Jailbreak Guide to jailbreak your device since there is no direct jailbreak tool for the Windows system in the market currently.

Step 4. Then, please confirm and tick the agreement before start removing the iCloud activation lock. 

Step 5. Next, connect iOS devices with your PC. And make sure your USB connection is stable, and you've unlocked the device screen.  

Step 6. Then, please confirm your device information. If there is no problem, click "Start Unlock" to move on.

Step 7. Wait a moment, Screen Unlock is bypassing your activated iCloud. The activation lock will be removed successfully in a few seconds as you can see on the page below. 

Note: There will be some problems if you don't follow the correct instructions to jailbreak your iPhone on a Windows computer. And, once the iOS device has been unlocked activation, do not reset or restore the device. Otherwise, it will cause the old iCloud activation lock to reappear.

Step-by-step guide for  Mac users

Step 1. Launch and install Dr.Fone on your Mac, and select Screen Unlock from its home page.

Step 2. Click the "Unlock Apple ID" module to continue".

Step 3. It's as same as the operation process on Windows, if your device has been jailbroken successfully, please click "Finished jailbreak", If not follow the Jailbreak Guide to continue.

Step 4. Please carefully read the agreement, confirm and tick it before start removing the iCloud activation lock.

Step 5. Check and confirm your device information. If there is no problem, please click "Start Unlock" to continue.

Step 6. Then, Dr.Fone Screen Unlock will start the unlocking process, just take some minutes to its completion.

Step 7. After a while, it will show the following interface as below when it gets finished.

Method 2: Remove Activation Lock Without Previous Owner by Apple Official Support

This method could be very useful but not that easy because you need to get proof of the purchase from the previous owner first. Once you get the required documents, everything goes simple. Go and contact Apple Support, Apple staff will be able to support you. They will verify the original owner of the phone and then help you unlock the device. In addition to proof of purchase, they may ask for other documents as well like your identity cards. They will remove Activation Lock from your device if your purchase documents are legit.

There are two ways to ask for Apple support:

1. Offline method - Visit the Apple store along with the purchase proof.
2. Online method - Call Apple Support or visit its official website for remote assistance in removing the Activation Lock.

Their representatives will provide you with the necessary support and assistance during the process.

Method 3: Remove Activation Lock Without Previous Owner via DNS

Activation locks are difficult to get through, but fortunately, few methods work. DNS method can also help you bypass the activation lock and access your device. The best part is, you don't need the previous owner or proof of purchase.

DNS method is an effective technique to remove find my iPhone activation lock without the previous owner. It works for the operating system running in the older versions. It is a simple technique for a technical person, and it works for both iPhone and iPad. This method utilizes the Wifi DNS settings of the device. Follow the steps:

Step 1: Set up the iPhone as a new device.

Step 2: Connect to a WiFi network on the Wifi settings page. And tap the “i” icon next to your network name.

Step 3: On the next screen, tap on the Configure DNS option.

Step 4: Choose the "Manual" option from the page as below.

Step 5: Tap "+ Add Server", and try one of the following DNS values:

• USA: 104.154.51.7
• South America: 35.199.88.219
• Europe: 104.155.28.90
• Asia: 104.155.220.58
• Australia and Oceania: 35.189.47.23
• Other: 78.100.17.60

Step 6: Your phone will be unlocked.

Pros:

• This process can be manually done by devices' Wi-Fi settings.
• It doesn't need any external device or software.

Cons:

• The process might be a little complicated for a non-technical person to operate.
• The method may not work for the latest versions of the iPhone or iPad.

Method 4: Remove Activation Lock Without Previous Owner via the iCloud Web

If you can not reach the previous owner, but you are still in touch with them, they can still unlock your phone remotely by following a set of instructions. This whole process can be performed remotely with the help of iCloud web. If your previous owner cooperates, they can help with the process.

The process will involve a few steps to remove your iPhone from their account remotely. After this process, you can set your device as a new phone. The activation lock will be permanently gone from your phone.

Here are the step-by-step instructions on removing my iPhone/iPad activation lock without the previous owner using the iCloud web. You can share these steps with the previous owner :

• Open iCloud website in a browser.
• Sign in to the existing iCloud account in use with the locked iPhone.
• Once you are logged in, click on the option that says Find iPhone.

Now you can remotely perform actions on your phone. Further :

• Click on the drop-down named All Devices and choose your iPhone.
• Click on Erase iPhone.

Final Words

By now, you are familiar that there are many ways to bypass activation lock. So, If you face a situation with the activation lock, you will have a couple of options to get through the situation. Just choose the correct method and approach according to your circumstances and availability of resources. If you are a seller, you should disable the activation lock before selling your phone. Erasing the device back to factory settings will not put the buyer in any trouble.

To Disable Activation Lock:

Go to settings > Tap your name at the top of the list > Tap iCloud > Tap Find My iPhone > Toggle the "Find My iPhone" > Type your Apple ID password.

To Reset The Device:

Go to settings > General > Reset > Click "erase all settings" >Give confirmation > Wait until the process is complete.

We hope this post will help you figure out the right way to remove the Find My iPhone/ iPad Activation Lock without a previous owner. If you have any questions, please leave us in the comment section below.

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