Gfyuki

She asked me to give her my Apple ID password to log out. But I don't want to share my password. She said she need that password to log out the iPad.

Do I have to give her my password? What else can she do?

As discussed elsewhere in the answers, it is generally not advisable to simply share your Apple ID password with others.

Also, having Two-factor authentication enabled provides an extra layer of protection (by notifying you with location and device type of where the login is attempted), and makes any unintended login attempts moot.

Alternative to Sharing Apple ID Password

Generally friends/family exchange Apple ID password to get access to purchased apps, music and movies. A much better alternative than sharing password is to use Family Sharing feature which allows purchased content to be shared.

For more information refer to the linked Family Sharing homepage and the Apple Support article:

• Family Sharing - Apple




• Family Sharing - Apple Support

Family Sharing is recommended, because unlike sharing password, it doesn't give unfettered access to your Apple account while letting you share what you may need to share.

Coming to the original question, yes it's required to enter Apple ID password and sign out before resetting an iOS device. This is done to discourage any unintended reset attempts. Additionally, Find My iPhone needs to be disabled too (if enabled) when resetting an iOS device.

• Sign out of iCloud on your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Apple TV, or Mac

As very nicely and cautiously noted by @SolarMike, sharing the password may be potentially dangerous unless you trust the person with it. It is advisable to get the iPad in person, enter the password, sign out and reset it yourself.

Once signed out, check if the device is removed from your account by going to iCloud settings on any one of your other iOS/macOS devices or by going to iCloud website.

As a precautionary measure, you should also changed the password once your ex-girlfriend's device is removed successfully from your account.

Also, as discussed above, consider leveraging Family Sharing feature in future.

Important Note

It's crucial to note on this occasion, that you enable Two-factor authentication (if not done so yet) for your Apple ID. It helps in tracking and identifying unintended login attempts using your Apple ID. Having Two-factor authentication requires someone with access to your password to approach you to get the code, thereby ensuring security of your account.

Any login attempt is notified to you on your trusted device(s) with information regarding device type and location where the login is attempted. For more details, refer to the Apple Support article:

• Two-factor authentication for Apple ID

Don’t just give the password - that gives full access to your account - she could change the password on you... Make it that you enter the password and reset... Either meet or she sends you the iPad...

The only way to do it is do it yourself. You need to log out, log out of iCloud, and turn off "Find My iPad". Then she can create her own AppleID and log in with it.

I'd recommend to make an appointment at an Apple Store where you both meet, then you will have someone there who (a) goes through the procedure without getting anything wrong (I can't quite guarantee that my instructions are 100% right), and (b) who can make sure that nobody does anything nefarious (like making sure all you do is entering the password, and making sure your AppleId is gone in the end), and who (c) can help her setting up her own AppleId.

NO!

You absolutely do not have to give her your Apple ID password to reset it. Normally, if you reset it from the device, yes, you do have to enter the Apple ID password to the Apple ID associated with the device, but you do not have to reset it from the device. If you have a computer running macOS (a MacBook, iMac, etc.) or a computer running Windows with iTunes installed, then the following method will not require you to enter your Apple ID password and will still completely destroy all data on the iPad. First, turn the iPad off (hold the lock button until a slider comes up on the screen; slide the slider). Then, once the device has shut down, hold the lock button and the home button simultaneously and continue holding not until the Apple logo appears, but until the recovery mode screen appears (it usually consists of a Lightning cable and an iTunes logo). Then, if you are using a Windows computer, install iTunes on it at this link. Macs have it preinstalled. Plug in the iPad and near the top left corner, you'll see a button that looks like an iPad. If you don't see it at first, just give it a minute. It usually doesn't show up instantly. Once you find the button, click it. Then, in the menu that comes up, click "Restore iPad..." and follow the steps that appear on screen.

Hope this helped!

TLDR: Here's why this matters.

Sharing the password is out of the question. But first let's fully discuss the problem scope.

An iPad needs an Apple Account. I gather you figured out you can't go far with an iPad without one. Doing so also activates features like "Find My iPad" and iCloud storage and backup, which is free, so why not? App and media purchases are bound to the account not the device, so you can take your apps/media with you when you change devices.

Each human needs their own Apple Account. So when she buy media or "buys" free apps, they're on her account. I gather she hasn't done much of that because there are password challenges for pay items, but still.

But don't accidentally create two Apple accounts. Everyone I know has two, because of confusion when setting up a new device. Apple won't allow merging of accounts, and you don't want some purchases on one account and some on another. So she should try in advance to log into icloud.com with a web browser, with past emails. If she definitely doesn't have an Apple account, she should set one up in advance.

Back up her data

Creating her own Apple account and having her iPad on that is a good thing. But she should be clear all her apps will disappear (she can just re-"buy" them), and created content may disappear.

Also, look in Settings/Mail, Contacts, Calendars to see where notes, contacts, and some data actually lives; if it says 'iCloud' she'll lose it, but she can set up a Gmail account and the Apple Store can help her move it there. That will need to be done before she disconnects from your Apple ID.

Uh-oh.

Do the switch

Then you need to get together with her and sign it out of your account and bind it to her [new?] account. It may seem weird that you need to "sign in to sign out", but that's an anti-theft feature. Part of resetting is unhooking "Find My iPad" from your account, something a thief would be very keen on doing obviously. So Apple requires you to prove you're you, hence the need for your password. This recently saved a friend's iPad (it was found with the Activation Lock on).

Doing this "at the Apple Store" gives you a better shot of getting help if you get stuck.