Forgot your iPhone backup password?

If you do not remember your iPhone's backup password, you do not need it. On the iPhone, go to Settings, General, Transfer or Reset iPhone, Reset, Reset All Settings. That removes the backup password without erasing your data or messages, and Chatcove then sets a new password and backs up again.

Everything stays on your Mac. Chatcove never uploads the password.

What Reset All Settings does and does not do

According to Apple, Reset All Settings does not delete your data or media: your photos, apps, messages and WhatsApp chats stay. It removes the encrypted backup password, and it removes or resets your settings to their defaults, including:

Network settings, so expect to rejoin your Wi-Fi networks.
The keyboard dictionary (words you added).
Location and privacy settings. This is also where the iPhone remembers the computers you trusted, so it asks you to trust your Mac again.
Apple Pay cards, which you add again in Wallet.
Settings like display brightness, Home Screen layout and wallpaper.

A new password does not unlock backups made with the old one. Those older backups stay locked, and Chatcove makes a fresh backup with the new password instead.

Steps

On the iPhone, open Settings.
Tap General.
Tap Transfer or Reset iPhone.
Tap Reset.
Tap Reset All Settings and enter the iPhone passcode when asked.
Wait for the iPhone to restart. Your data is still there.
Quit Chatcove and open it again, then plug the iPhone into the Mac with the cable and unlock it.
When the iPhone asks "Trust This Computer?", tap Trust and enter its passcode.
In Chatcove, back up again:
- In one-click export, click Back up again on the main card ("Export your WhatsApp history"). Chatcove sees that encryption is off, turns it on with a new password, makes the backup, and reads your history.
- In step-by-step mode, click Turn on encryption on the Backup encryption card (the iPhone asks for its passcode once), then click Back up now.

In Chatcove 0.1.7 or later, if you are on the Password mismatch card, the same reset works from there: open I do not know the password, do steps 1 to 6 and 8 on the iPhone, then click Check again in Chatcove. Once the card shows Off, click Turn on encryption, then back up. See The saved password does not match.

On Chatcove 0.1.6 or earlier

Older versions have no mismatch card. After the iPhone's password changes, the Backup encryption card keeps showing On and verified, with a Wrong password card under it, and no button gets you out. Do this instead:

Reset the backup password on the iPhone with Reset All Settings (steps 1 to 6 above).
Quit Chatcove and open it again.
Plug in the iPhone, unlock it, and tap Trust when it asks.
Click Back up again on the main one-click card ("Export your WhatsApp history"). Do not use the step-by-step view for this: on 0.1.6 it can hang after a backup.
If it hangs anyway, quit Chatcove, open it again and click Use existing backup. That reads the backup you just made.

What to expect afterwards

The first backup after a reset can take a while. A first backup usually takes 10 to 60 minutes, depending on how much is on the iPhone, and the phone may sit quietly for several minutes before files start moving. See Backup stuck or slow.
Chatcove saves the new password on this Mac only. You never have to see or type it.
In Chatcove 0.1.7 or later, if you click Use existing backup right after a reset, Chatcove may say "Back up again to read your history". That means the backup on this Mac was made before the reset. Click Back up again.

If you remember the password after all

You can skip the reset. In Chatcove 0.1.7 or later, on the Password mismatch card, type the password under I know the password and click Save password. On the Password needed card, type it and click Verify.