Screen Time passcode on iPhone: set, change, reset or turn it off

The Screen Time passcode is a four-digit code that stops anyone, including you, from changing your Screen Time settings without it. It isn’t the passcode you use to unlock your iPhone, and it isn’t a password for a single app either (for that, lock the app with Face ID). Apple says so plainly: “A Screen Time passcode isn’t the same as the passcode you use to unlock your device.”

Below are the steps to set it, change it, reset it if you forgot it, and turn it off, on iOS 27 and on iOS 26. iOS 27 moved some of these settings, so the two versions differ. Everything was checked against Apple’s iPhone User Guide and Apple’s support article on October 19, 2026, and the iOS 27 passcode steps again on November 2, 2026.

What is the Screen Time passcode?

It’s a lock on your Screen Time settings: your limits, schedules, content restrictions and the Screen Time switch itself. With a passcode set, Apple says you “must enter” it before changing the Screen Time settings you chose. On a child’s iPhone, the parent’s Screen Time passcode stops the child from undoing the limits.

A few facts that answer most questions:

• It’s four digits. You choose them when you create it.
• There’s no default code. It’s whatever you, or the parent who set up the device, typed in. If you never set one, there’s nothing to enter.
• It’s separate from your iPhone passcode, so changing one doesn’t change the other.
• It can be recovered with an Apple Account if Screen Time Passcode Recovery was set up when the code was created.

How to set a Screen Time passcode

On iOS 27:

1. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Passcode & Management.
2. Tap Lock Screen Time Settings.
3. Enter a four-digit passcode, then enter it again to confirm.

On iOS 26: go to Settings > Screen Time, scroll down, tap Lock Screen Time Settings, and enter the code twice.

When it asks, set up Screen Time Passcode Recovery with your Apple Account. Apple recommends that you don’t skip it: it’s the only way to reset the code later if you forget it.

How to change your Screen Time passcode

On iOS 27:

1. Go to Settings > Screen Time > Passcode & Management.
2. Tap Change Screen Time Passcode, then tap Change Screen Time Passcode again.
3. Enter your current code, then the new four-digit code twice.

Apple’s iOS 27 user guide and its support article (published October 27, 2026) both put Change Screen Time Passcode under Passcode & Management.

On iOS 26: go to Settings > Screen Time, scroll down, tap Change Screen Time Passcode, then choose Change Screen Time Passcode again and enter the old and new codes.

If you share Screen Time across devices, Apple says the new passcode “automatically updates” on your other devices when you reset it.

Forgot your Screen Time passcode? How to reset it

1. Go to Settings > Screen Time (on iOS 27, then Passcode & Management).
2. Tap Change Screen Time Passcode, then tap Change Screen Time Passcode again.
3. When it asks for your current code, tap Forgot Passcode?
4. Enter the Apple Account email address and password you used when you set up the Screen Time passcode. Apple’s article puts it simply: “If asked, enter the Apple Account email address and password that you used to set up the Screen Time passcode.”
5. Enter a new Screen Time passcode, then enter it again to confirm.

That Apple Account matters. Apple notes it “might be a different Apple Account than the one that you’re signed in to on your device”, for example a parent’s account if a parent set up the code. If you have more than one Apple Account, use the one you entered for Screen Time Passcode Recovery.

No “Forgot Passcode?” option, or the reset doesn’t work

The usual reasons:

• It’s a child’s iPhone in Family Sharing. The reset has to happen on the parent’s device, not the child’s (steps below).
• Passcode Recovery was never set up, so there’s no Apple Account to reset with.
• You’re entering a different Apple Account than the one used when the code was created.

Apple’s article doesn’t describe any other way to reset the code, so if none of these apply, contact Apple Support. Apple’s article doesn’t mention any third-party tool. Be careful with programs that promise to “crack” or “remove” a Screen Time passcode: they aren’t from Apple, and you’d be handing them your device.

How to reset the Screen Time passcode on a child’s iPhone

The Family Sharing organizer or a parent or guardian does it from their own iPhone or iPad.

On iOS 27:

1. Open Settings, tap Family, then tap the child’s name.
2. Tap Passcode & Management.
3. Tap Change Screen Time Passcode, then tap Change Screen Time Passcode again.
4. Enter your old Screen Time passcode, then the new one twice.

On iOS 26:

1. Open Settings > Screen Time.
2. Scroll down and tap the child’s name under Family.
3. Tap Manage Screen Time.
4. Tap Change Screen Time Passcode, then tap Change Screen Time Passcode again.
5. Enter a new Screen Time passcode, then enter it again to confirm.

Apple’s iOS 26 guide adds a tip for parents: if your child learns their Screen Time passcode, change it, then turn on Downtime for the rest of the day. The same guide says a parent gets a notification when the child’s Screen Time passcode is used on the child’s device, when both devices run iOS 18.5 or later.

How to turn off the Screen Time passcode

1. Go to Settings > Screen Time (on iOS 27, then Passcode & Management).
2. Tap Change Screen Time Passcode.
3. Choose Turn Off Screen Time Passcode.
4. Enter your current passcode.

Your limits and schedules stay. Only the lock on them goes away, so anyone holding the phone can change them. To turn off Screen Time completely, go to Manage Screen Time and tap Turn Off App & Website Activity (on iOS 26, it’s at the bottom of the Screen Time screen).

Why a passcode you know is only a speed bump

If you set the Screen Time passcode for yourself, you know it. When a limit runs out at 11 PM, the code is a short pause, not a wall. Plenty of people type it without thinking, then feel worse about it. That isn’t a character flaw. It’s what happens when the lock and the key are in the same hands. We go into it in why you keep overriding app limits.

What helps:

• Let someone else choose the code, a partner or a friend, and don’t ask for it on impulse.
• Make the limit fit the moment, not the whole day. A schedule for bedtime is easier to keep than a daily cap. See whether a daily limit or a scheduled block fits you.
• Use a tool built for a pause, not a lock. We make Calma, so weigh this with that in mind. Calma uses Apple’s Screen Time to rest the apps you pick during the hours you choose. Opening a resting app shows “[App] is resting.” with one button, Back to calm. There’s no code to type and no continue button on scheduled blocks. To use the app anyway, you switch the routine off in Calma, which is a deliberate step, not a reflex. Calma is iPhone only, needs iOS 18 or later, and blocking needs Calma Pro, with a 3-day free trial for eligible new subscribers.

For every free way to limit apps on iPhone, start with how to block apps without deleting them. If your Screen Time menus look different from an older tutorial, here are all the iOS 27 Screen Time changes side by side.

Sources

All checked on October 19, 2026. Sources 1 and 2 checked again on November 2, 2026.

1. Apple Support, Change your Screen Time passcode on an iPhone or iPad (reset, child’s device, “If you can’t reset”).
2. Apple Support, Create, change, or remove a Screen Time passcode on iPhone (iOS 27) and Create, manage, and keep track of a Screen Time passcode on iPhone (iOS 26).
3. Apple Support, Set up Screen Time for yourself on iPhone (iOS 27, Manage Screen Time and turning Screen Time off) and Get started with Screen Time on iPhone (iOS 26).
4. App Store, App Blocker & Detox: Calma (iOS requirement, trial).