Most ways to clear a forgotten Screen Time passcode end with you wiping the iPhone and setting it up from scratch. This shortcut takes a different route. It builds a configuration profile that switches Screen Time off on your own device, and a companion utility makes getting that profile onto the phone far less fiddly than doing it by hand.
What it actually does
BBST stands for Bye-Bye-ScreenTime, a shortcut that removes Screen Time restrictions by installing a .mobileconfig profile, the same kind of configuration file IT departments use to manage company iPhones. This Install Utility is a wrapper around that process. Rather than editing and sideloading the profile yourself, the utility walks you through generating it and pushing it to the phone from a computer. Once the profile is in place, Screen Time and its limits stop being enforced, and deleting the profile later puts everything back.
Getting it set up
- Tap Add Shortcut on this page to open it in the Shortcuts app.
- Scroll the preview to the bottom and tap Add Shortcut to confirm.
- Have a Windows PC or Mac with an administrator account ready, because the profile can’t be installed from the phone alone.
- Run the shortcut and follow its built-in tutorial, which links back to the original BBST and a Help tab if you get stuck.
Running the shortcut
The whole flow is computer-assisted by design. You run the utility on your iPhone, it produces the configuration profile, and you move that profile onto the device through your computer’s admin account, which is the step that makes the bypass actually take. After the profile installs, Screen Time stops enforcing limits. To reverse it, delete the profile from Settings and the restrictions return exactly as they were. Keep the shortcut’s tutorial open on the phone while you work at the computer, since it covers each step in order.
What people use it for
- Getting back into a device after setting a Screen Time passcode months ago and forgetting it, without erasing everything.
- Cleaning up a hand-me-down or resold iPhone that still carries a previous owner’s restrictions.
- Managing your own focus limits with a clean off-switch instead of digging through nested Settings menus.
- Testing how a configuration profile behaves before rolling one out to other devices.
Where it falls short
The big catch is the computer requirement. Without a Windows PC or Mac and an administrator account, the profile won’t install, so this is not a tap-once fix you can do on the train. It only affects the single device you install it on, and a profile that has been removed takes its bypass with it. Plan for a deliberate, one-sitting job rather than something casual.
FAQ
Why do I need a computer just to turn off Screen Time?
The bypass works by installing a configuration profile, and iOS won’t load one like this without it being signed and pushed through a trusted channel. A computer with admin rights is what provides that channel. The phone can’t do it on its own.
Will this wipe my data?
Nothing gets erased. You’re adding a profile, not resetting the device, and removing that profile later restores Screen Time to how you had it with your apps and settings untouched.
Is this the same thing as the original BBST?
It’s a companion to it. The Install Utility is built on @idkwhatagoodnamemeans’ BBST shortcut and exists to make setup smoother. Its underlying bypass is identical, you just spend less time wrestling with the profile by hand.
