Here’s how to get a new Apple recovery key if you’ve lost yours

Yesterday we wrote of the perils of losing your Apple ID recovery key when two-factor is enabled and many of you wrote to us as you’d lost yours and didn’t know what to do.

The good news is as long as you’re not locked out of your Apple ID, it’s easy to generate a new key for safe keeping. Here’s the steps:

1. Head over to appleid.apple.com and click “manage my Apple ID”
2. Log in with your normal Apple ID username and password
3. Verify your identity using a trusted device or phone number
4. Choose “security” on the left
5. Choose “replace recovery key”
   

   

6. Step through the setup process. You’ll be given a new key; make sure to print this out and store it somewhere securely this time. Ideally, not in your wallet or anywhere else that can be stolen.
   

   

7. You’ll need to re-enter your recovery key to prove you have it. Enter it manually, from the piece of paper that you printed. If you don’t do this, you can’t be sure the recovery key will work.
8. You’re good to go – rest easy, you’re now protected.

It’s worth checking your recovery key is where you think you stored it, just in case. It’s better to find out you don’t have the key while you can still access the account, not once you’re locked out, because there’s no going back.

Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images