I'm trying to get into my very old apple account from years ago. I believe it was one of my first accounts but I couldn't remember the password so I went to forgot password, put in the email and it said the account is locked and can't be used. And the account uses an iCloud email. I don't know what to do. Is there any way to get into the account or am I screwed?

Hey Reddit, I have been having extreme Apple Account issues for the last few months and was wondering if anyone knows what I should do. I've attached my email I sent to Apple, but once again have been redirected to the sample apple support website and help line that I've tried to fix this issue through time and time again.

Dear Apple Support Team,

I am reaching out regarding an urgent and ongoing issue with my Apple ID, which has been inoperable since October 17, 2024. On that day, I woke up to find all my Apple devices prompting me to re-enter my login information for security reasons. However, upon attempting to sign in, I was met with a message stating that my account was locked.

Since then, I have submitted four separate account recovery requests, all of which have failed. I have visited the Apple Store twice, spent over three hours on calls with Apple Support, and despite my persistence, I continue to receive the same response: “There is nothing we can do, just submit another recovery request.”

This issue has severely impacted my ability to use Apple’s services and devices:

• I cannot download or update apps, including those I have paid for.

• Find My, FaceTime, and iMessage on my Mac and iPad are unusable.

• AirDrop and iCloud access are completely blocked, preventing me from accessing years of photos and important documents.

• I am unable to cancel or manage in-app subscriptions linked to my Apple ID.

• I cannot update software like Logic Pro X on my Mac.

• I receive “re-sign into your Apple ID” prompts around 35 times per day, making my devices frustrating to use.

Most frustratingly, even performing a full reset of my devices is not an option, as I am required to re-enter my Apple ID password, which I am locked out of.

As someone who has invested heavily in Apple products, I am deeply disappointed with the lack of resolution. I am now at a point where I need escalation beyond standard support channels. I am requesting immediate assistance from a higher-level support specialist who can provide a direct and effective solution rather than another failed recovery attempt.

I know it has been some time since the issue started, but after all of my failed attempts to fix this, I gave up. I figured it would be more productive for me to get on with my life and just use my devices with the handicaps they now possess. But with all of my apps going out of date, my borderline inoperable phone, and the money I am losing with the subscriptions I bought through iCloud I no longer need, I thought it was long overdue to try and find a solution. 

Please let me know the next steps to resolve this issue as soon as possible. I appreciate your immediate attention and look forward to hearing from you promptly. Attached is my email history surrounding this subject matter.

Best regards,

(My name)

Machine: Macbook 2016 Phone: Note 20 Ultra, Note 8 Services: Primarily gmail accounts, google and samsung for cloud backup.

SHORT VERSION: My apple ID keeps getting locked when I hardly ever mess with it. Im an average computer user who doesn't do much outside of social media, youtube, reddit, quora, pornhub and occassional basic video/image/audio editing. Anyone have thoughts on likely culprits?

LONG VERSION: Why do you suppose this keeps happening seemingly on it's own? I used to think it perhaps had something to do with the rare occasions I used NordVPN because eventually it occured to me thats what kept getting me blocked out of the Mail app. But I havent used a vpn in a long while, like not since 2023. And I don't find myself at an apple ID login screen very much either. If I do it's usually because im trying to download something in the app store, or Dropbox (which I don't really use) is doing that thing where it randomly alerts me that I can't use it until I login with my Apple ID.

It's always months inbetween attempts, but whenever I end up needing to (certain the login info is correct), it tells me my "Apple ID has been locked for security reasons". When I go through the annoying procedure of unlocking it, it always takes some ridiculous extra steps because it never accepts my security answers. As if I forgot my first dog........yea right. As I am not especially cybersecurity literate, i am not sure whether this reads like a hacker threat or just a security wire I somehow keep tripping.

In summary, I am running out of oomph for this and im developing the habit of just saying "screw it" to any mundane problem that takes more than 60 seconds to fix. It's not even a laziness thing, it's simply becoming a "do i even care that much?" thing. I know these companies are trying to make our information more safe and secure but holy sheep sheet, it's just getting more and more annoying to deal with and making it easier and easier to leave it for other things. Is it just me?