My iPhone 12 Pro Max has been having occasional crashes, but after a recent iOS 26 update it suddenly logged me out of my apps and several features seemed to disappear. I lost roughly half of my saved data, including Wi‑Fi networks, passwords, saved email accounts, and passkeys. I'm also locked out of one account while waiting for a password-recovery email, and I can't access my college accounts because they rely on Microsoft Authenticator and a passkey. I have an exam later today, so I'm trying to find a solution quickly.
I've already tried changing the date and time settings, updating the software, restarting the phone, and using Reset All Settings. The phone has about 200 GB of free storage, so running out of space doesn't seem to be the cause. Has anyone experienced similar behavior after an iOS 26 update, and is there anything else I should try before seeking hardware repair or replacing the phone?
2 Answers
Having plenty of free storage makes a storage-related failure less likely. Since the problems began after the update and include passkeys, passwords, and account sign-ins, try account recovery from another trusted device first and contact your college’s IT department about temporarily resetting or replacing your Microsoft Authenticator setup. They may be able to issue a backup code or re-enroll your account so you can access the exam without relying on the damaged phone.
Repeated crashes followed by missing account and security data could point to a deeper iOS or hardware problem rather than a simple settings issue. Make sure anything still available is backed up, then contact Apple Support or have the phone inspected. A full factory restore may help if the software installation is corrupted, but only do that after confirming you have a usable backup and recovery methods for your accounts. If the issue continues after a clean restore, board-level hardware failure becomes more likely.
I’ve got around 200 GB free and already have app offloading enabled, so I don’t think the phone was close to running out of space. The problem only started after the update, which makes this feel more serious.