How to Use Letters for Your Passcode on the iPhone 5

The default iPhone passcode settings require you to use a four-digit number every time you want to unlock your device.

This adds a level of security to prevent unwanted individuals from using your phone, yet it is easy enough to enter that it is not inconvenient.

But if you are worried that it might be too easy for someone to access your phone, or if you want to be able to use a passcode with letters instead, then you can change your Passcode settings to do that instead.

Our guide below will show you how to replace an existing numerical passcode with one that uses letters instead.

How to Set the iPhone Passcode to Letters

The steps below were performed on an iPhone using the iOS 7.1 operating system. If you do not see the Passcode option in Step 2, then you might be using a different version of iOS. If so, you can find the Passcode Lock menu under Settings > General instead.

Step 1: Touch the Settings icon.

open the iPhone's Settigns menu

Step 2: Touch the Passcode option.

open the Passcode menu

Step 3: Enter your current passcode.

enter your old numerical passcode

Step 4: Touch the button to the right of Simple Passcode.

touch the Simple Passcode button

Step 5: Enter your current passcode again.

Step 6: Enter your new passcode, then touch Next at the top-right of the screen.

enter your new passcode with letters

Step 7: Re-enter the new passcode, then touch Done at the top-right of the screen.

You might find that using this passcode option can be somewhat inconvenient. If you find that you do not like it, you can always return to the Passcode menu, turn the Simple Passcode option back on, then select a new passcode that only requires you to enter numbers again.

Now that you know how to use letters for your passcode on an iPhone 5, you can use this option to make passwords that are more difficult to guess.

Did you know that you can set a picture from your Camera Roll as your lock screen? Learn what steps you need to use to make this change on your iPhone.

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