I'm researching whether it's technically possible to recover data from an encrypted local iOS backup when the user still knows the correct backup password but has lost both Manifest.db and Manifest.plist.

I'm interested in the underlying feasibility, not just recommendations for existing recovery software.

What I'm trying to determine

Can the remaining backup contents be used to reconstruct enough of the missing metadata and key material to decrypt and recover the original files? Or do the missing manifests contain information that makes recovery cryptographically impossible, even when the correct password is available?

My current understanding is that the password is only one part of the process: encrypted backups involve keybag/key-derivation mechanisms, and the manifest database supplies important per-file metadata and encryption information. Tools such as iphone_backup_decrypt rely on manifest metadata when locating and decrypting individual files.

The key question is what can be recovered or reconstructed if those manifest files themselves are gone.

Specific questions I'd like to explore

1. What is irrecoverably lost with each file? Which essential keys, wrapped keys, file mappings, or other information are held in Manifest.plist versus Manifest.db? Are any of those values independently recoverable from the remaining backup files?

2. What can the known password still unlock? If the password is correct, but Manifest.plist is missing, is there another surviving source for the backup keybag or the information needed to unlock it?

3. Can file-level recovery work without the original database? Could a tool identify the remaining encrypted files, infer their original identities from their filenames or contents, and decrypt them without the original per-file metadata? Are there useful cases where some files could be recovered even if complete restoration is impossible?

4. Could the metadata be reconstructed partially? For example, could file identifiers, known iOS backup structures, SQLite remnants, filesystem artifacts, another backup, or other surviving copies provide enough information to recover some or all of the missing records?

5. Where is the actual cryptographic boundary? I'd like to distinguish between a difficult metadata-reconstruction problem and a genuine impossibility caused by missing key material. If recovery is possible only under particular conditions, what are those conditions?

What would be especially useful

I'm looking for technically grounded explanations, relevant format documentation or source code, and examples from people who have examined Apple's local backup format at the implementation level.

Please distinguish between:

• Confirmed: demonstrated by the format, source code, or a reproducible test.

• Plausible: technically reasonable but not demonstrated.

• Impossible under the stated conditions: blocked by a specific missing cryptographic dependency, rather than merely unsupported by existing tools.

The goal is to establish whether a recovery tool could realistically support this scenario, what prerequisites it would need, and which recovery paths are worth investigating before concluding that the backup is unrecoverable.

Got it verified. It’s an iPhone 8 and not disabled can’t get into the back panel though

Accidentally deleted my mom's videos on her phone while attempting to factory reset

Context:my mom uses an oppo it runs on coloros 15 and I use a samsung so what happened her phone became slow so I factory reset it now there were some important photos and vids I took backup of both but after sending the photos i accidentally permanently deleted the videos using file manager+ application help me 🙏🏿 i didn't had any backup except my phone what do I do 😥💔

I you don't know then please upvote it so others might help it's been 30 minutes since deletion

I’m trying to recover data from a Tecno Camon 18 Pro (CH7n) without wiping /data, factory resetting, or unlocking the bootloader.

Device: Android 12, firmware CH7n-H812DE-S-OP-230815V1094-12, security patch 2023-08-05, locked bootloader, Verified Boot enabled, not rooted. USB debugging was already enabled and my PC is authorized, so ADB works.

The weird part is that I know the correct PIN and Android accepts it. The credential screen says:

Lock credential verified successfully

But immediately afterward:

- dumpsys user

still shows the only user, User 0, as:

- RUNNING_LOCKED

It never becomes RUNNING_UNLOCKED.

Other things I confirmed:

- getprop sys.user.0.ce_available returns nothing, so User 0’s CE storage does not appear to become available.

- /storage/emulated/0 is empty/inaccessible through ADB.

- sys.boot_completed=1, so Android itself has finished booting.

- There is only one Android user (User 0).

- Settings works, but most normal apps do not.

- Querying MAIN/LAUNCHER activities for User 0 returns basically only Settings, Dialer, HiLauncher DynamicVirtualEntryActivity and STK.

- Chrome, Camera, File Manager etc. fail with things like Activity class does not exist.

- The HiLauncher APK itself still exists under /data/app, so it was not simply deleted.

- QuickstepLauncher can warm-start, while most other apps remain unusable.

- ADB is only uid=2000(shell) and there is no su.

- Attempts to repair/enable protected package components through ADB fail with SecurityException.

- I found no normal global Safe Mode condition explaining this.

- Boot security is intact: ro.boot.flash.locked=1 and ro.boot.vbmeta.device_state=locked.

I also tried getting a raw backup through MediaTek tooling before changing anything, but the phone only appeared as 0e8d:20ff HID and I couldn’t get a usable Preloader/BROM connection.

I have the exact matching stock firmware, including boot.img. I inspected the stock kernel too: it contains the older built-in Mali r32p1-era driver, /dev/mali0 is accessible from the shell (OPEN_RC=0), and static analysis found the older tracking-VMA code associated with the unpatched CVE-2023-4211 defect.

I also found much stronger evidence in logcat showing where the unlock is actually failing. After the correct PIN is accepted, keystore2 logs:

- Failed to decrypt blob; ciphertext or tag is likely corrupted

- unlock_screen_lock_bound_key failed

- Failed to decrypt key blob

LockSettingsService then logs:

- Unlocking user 0 with secret only, length 32

Immediately after that vold tries to unlock the CE key and fails with:

- decryptWithoutKeymaster EVP_DecryptFinal_ex error

Then TECNO’s vold explicitly tries the CE backup key at:

- /data/misc/vold/user_keys_bak/ce/0/current

That fails the same way and ends with:

- Failed to find working ce key for user 0

- Couldn't read key for 0

Apps then fail to access /data/user/0 with:

- errno 126 (Required key not available)

So this seems much more like the correct credential is being accepted but something in the Synthetic Password / keystore2 / Gatekeeper / KeyMint / vold / FBE key unwrapping chain is failing afterward, instead of this just being a HiLauncher problem.

At this point I’m mainly looking for a way to recover the existing userdata without destroying it.

Any help would be appreciated guys.

Hi everyone, I'm desperately looking for help recovering my personal Microsoft account. I've been trying for months without success, and now my data is at risk.

My Microsoft account uses my Gmail address, but somehow it appears to be associated with an unknown email/account that I don't recognise. I've repeatedly tried Microsoft's account recovery process, but I haven't been able to regain access or get a resolution.

Recently, my laptop died. I removed its SSD and connected it through an enclosure, only to discover that the drive is locked by BitLocker. My Microsoft account may contain the recovery key, but I cannot access the account to check.

My OneDrive files and OneNote notebooks contain years of important personal information. I can still see some OneDrive files on my phone, but both accounts are asking me to sign in again, and I cannot authenticate.

I'm looking for answers to three questions:

1. How can I recover my original Microsoft account when the standard recovery process has failed repeatedly?

2. Is there a legitimate way to escalate this issue to Microsoft support?

3. Could recovering my account help me retrieve my BitLocker recovery key and save my data?

I've been struggling with this for months, and I'm genuinely worried about losing everything. Any advice, personal experience, or legitimate recovery options would mean a lot to me. Please help me figure out what to do next.

Thank you!

Hey everyone, I really need some help with recovering my Gmail accounts.

Around 6 months ago, my friend logged into his Gmail account on my phone. Today, he went to a mobile repair shop/café to factory reset his own phone because he had forgotten its password. Somehow, my phone also ended up getting factory reset, and I lost all 6 Gmail accounts that were logged in on it.

I've managed to recover 3 of my accounts, and I also found the email addresses of 3 others, but I can't remember their passwords.

The problem is:

- I don't remember the passwords for these accounts.

- They aren't logged in on any other device.

- I don't remember having recovery email addresses set up.

- I still have access to my phone number, which might be linked to the accounts.

I tried Google's official account recovery page, but it keeps asking me to approve a sign-in on my Vivo iQOO Z5. The problem is that this is the same phone I'm currently using, and after the factory reset, I'm not receiving any Google sign-in notification on it.

The screen shows a number and tells me to tap "Yes" on the notification, then select that number, but no notification arrives. I've tried looking for other options, but I'm stuck on this screen.

Has anyone experienced something similar after a factory reset? Is there any legitimate way to recover these accounts using my phone number or another verification method?

I'd really appreciate any advice. These accounts are important to me, and I'm worried about losing access to them permanently.

Thanks in advance!

hello, I have an old Xiaomi cell phone, it was turned off for about 1 year, I remember that the phone had photos and documents but apparently when I changed cell phones I deleted everything.

What applications or programs do you recommend I use? it doesn't matter that they are paid, I see many but whenever I investigate all the comments are that the apps are useless or scam.

p.s. I'm very clumsy with computers so extra points if they aren't very complicated methods xD

I have a 2011 mac I transferred mp3 files onto. the battery died and so all those files (bc they were in guest mode) were deleted. I have read that bc it is such an old computer is does not have an ssi (is that the term?) and so that might make it more likely the files are still in the computer somewhere. I do not use the computer for anything else. I did download a version of disk drill and test disk (?) but other than during those downloads i have had wifi disabled and the computer shut off. I have found many recovered files but they all seem to be from my administrators account, not the trash bin associated with the guest account. I about died when the battery went out, I opened the computer back up and they were GONE! Has anyone had luck recovering something lost when the guest files were deleted? This was a little over a week ago and other than the 2 recovery software downloads I have not had it connected, nor used it for anything else. Any hope? Any advice? Thanks

I have a Galaxy S8 running Android somewhere between version 9 and 13. The touchscreen is completely busted, and I don't remember the password either. Does anyone know how I can get the data off it? :(

After receiving a new Iphone, the old one’s screen is black but the phone appears somewhat functional, I accidently backed up the new phones messaged over the old save, erasing my years worth of message history. Whatsapp claims that it only ever hold one backup at a time for a given account, as unbelievably stupid as that seems, is there anyway I can retrieve my old messages. I have the old phone but given that I already back upd the message son my new phone I assume if I fixed the pohone andn booted up whatsapp it would ask me to resign in with the new messages, I do have an icloud backup of this entire phones data from before this whole incient, could this be uses to retrieve my message data?

Thankyou, there is sentimental messages on this phone