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KiwiMac
User level: Level 1 (27 points)

Locked out of App Store account due to forgotten security question

I am having issues with account access.


I will lay this out in a list as it is probably easiest to grasp the issue:


  1. Back in about 2003, I bought an iPod when they were tiny square music players. To set that up, I had to load iTunes onto my then girlfriend's (now wife) PC as we had no Mac computers. I used her then personal email as a user name. Call that email [email protected] for the sake of this explanation. That email address is defunct, unable to be accessed and unused for decades, but remains the user name on my App Store account
  2. A few years later circa 2005, I bought a Mac and had to set up my own Apple account. I used my email for that (call it [email protected]) and continue to do so to the present day.
  3. The end result of this is that my App Store account is [email protected] and my Apple account is [email protected]
  4. Recently I have had endless issues with seemingly random lock outs on the App Store account
  5. It asks me the Security Questions but always the same two. The problem is that it is so long now since I set that account up that I cannot recall the exact answer to one of them.
  6. The question is 'Where were you on NYE 2000?"
  7. I know where I was but not exactly what I put as the answer which seems to be required verbatim. I was - in answer terms - either "At my parent's house" or "at the name of their house" or "In the town where their house is" I do not know which and cannot find any way to force it to ask me the other questions!


What I would very much like to do (aside from access my App Store account which is currently locked - AGAIN) is somehow change the user name on my App Store account or merge it with my Apple account.


The reason I need to change the user name is to be able to get unlock codes by email. At the moment it sends them (I assume) to [email protected] which is a dead email that cannot be used.


I have banged my head against the wall trying to sort this out for months and I cannot find any articles etc that deal with this particular problem.


Does anyone have any idea what to do?

Posted on Sep 18, 2026 7:50 PM

2 replies

WheelieNick
User level: Level 9 (74,110 points)

Sep 20, 2026 2:42 PM in response to KiwiMac

Hi there


You cannot merge Apple accounts but please try this


Go to apple.com.


Select Apple ID, then choose Disabled Apple ID or Forgot Security Questions.


Request a Phone Call from a support representative.

What to tell them: Explain that you have a legacy account from 2003. Explain that the primary email is completely defunct and unreachable, and you are locked out by a security question you set 20+ years ago.


How they will verify you: Because you don't know the question and don't have the email, the representative will try to verify you using other methods. They may ask for:

  • The credit card number currently tied to that App Store account.
  • The serial number of a device (like your Mac or iPhone) currently logged into that App Store account.
  • Old billing addresses or past purchase history details.


KiwiMac Author
User level: Level 1 (27 points)

Sep 20, 2026 10:25 PM in response to WheelieNick

Thanks!


I’ll give that a go and see how I get on.

Originally posted at discussions.apple.com/thread/256360181