My Old Apple Account is Locked and Can't Be Used - How Can I Recover My Important Data?

I still have the original iPhone X that was associated with the account. I can unlock the iPhone with the device passcode, and I recently discovered that it still contains old photo albums that are not on my current iPhone.

If you can see the photos on the iPhone then that means that you can use one of the methods that muguy suggested to actually send a copy to a different device even if you can no longer sign into the old account. The photos are on the device, not the account as such. The same applies to other content that you can actually see such as contacts (those have to be airdropped one by one).

Transfer photos from your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

How to use AirDrop on your iPhone or iPad - Apple Support

If you can get into the phone then it doesn't matter what account is signed in. You have access to what is on the phone itself. I once had a phone that was signed into an old account. I signed into my account (I won't go into details) but was asked not to erase the phone until the person had checked if they had all their photos on their computer. They did not, but since I still had them on the phone signed into my account I was able to email them (and ultimately erase the phone properly).

If they are only in iCloud and the account has been permanently disabled then they are lost forever, sorry. See if any were sent to others by email.

About that message you quoted: “This account is locked and cannot be used “ See If your Apple Account is locked, not active, or disabled - Apple Support

According to various posts, Apple may permanently lock accounts for reasons very broadly outlined in section VII-B of Legal - iCloud - Apple . That may be the case here if none of the previous reasons in the support article apply to you. If it isn’t apparent, contact Apple and ask if that is the situation, but don’t expect them to tell you why. You, or somebody who has managed to get access to your account, are likely doing something Apple is interpreting as account misuse. You will have to see if your activities could be construed—rightly or wrongly—as meeting any of Apple's conditions in the legal article. You will need to create a new account and avoid doing things the way you have been that may have caused the other account to be locked.

In this situation you may be able to still use your equipment with a new account or even no account at all. Apple can completely reset a device if a person can provide sufficient evidence of valid ownership. Check the requirements and steps at: Activation Lock support request - https://al-support.apple.com/#/additional-support Apple says, "Proof of ownership documentation is required," but does not detail what currently constitutes proof other than it “must include the product serial number, IMEI or MEID.” Apple may typically require the original receipt* issued by Apple or an Apple Authorized Reseller. If Apple resets the device this will give you access to the device but won't restore access to the account used to lock it. There is nothing that can be done to expedite an Activation Lock request.

*Apple recommends you "Keep your receipt after you buy an Apple device" --> Keep your receipt after you buy an Apple device - Apple Support

Can you airdrop, or email the photos from your old device?

Yes. If you still have the original iPhone X and it contains the old data, that can be very important for legitimate recovery. Apple recognizes a previously signed-in device as a trusted device, which can help verify your identity and make account recovery easier. 

I can’t email or AirDrop the photos because I’m having trouble accessing the old Apple Account that the photos are associated with. The account is locked and says it can’t be used. I’m trying to regain access to the old account so I can recover my old photos, messages, contacts, and other important data. I still have the original iPhone X, but I’m trying to figure out how to access the data without losing anything.

Yes, I still have the original iPhone X and I can unlock it. But the original Apple Account was used on an iPhone 5, iPhone 6, iPhone 7, iPhone 8, and eventually the iPhone X, and those devices were all associated with my original Apple Account. Im just trying to recover the data from my original Apple Account such as messages, photos, contacts, etc. Do you know if Apple could use the original iPhone X, along with information about those previous devices to help verify that I owned the account?

Well, I have the phone, but it's not signed into my original Apple Account, because thats what has a lot of the stuff that I want. But if there are security questions I could answer that and give both my dob and the email address that I signed it up with. I wish they would just let me get back in and have it turned back on.

Well I never got the pro rata after they terminated my account and I thought it was a scam because I kept getting these scam emails saying they were from Apple; how was I supposed to know that it was a legite apple email. But the good thing is i did find some old pictures on my google photos and im wondering how i can find out if i have text messages on google because I used to have an droid mini before I got my first iphone. And I don't have it anymore and it came with the old sim card that i had to get rid of because it wasn't working. Any suggestions?

Sorry but I can't help you with Google and Android things. I have zero familiarity with those.

Criminals are getting very good at imitating Apple messages. Start here about recognizing phishing and scams —> Recognize and avoid social engineering schemes including phishing messages, phony support calls, and other scams - Apple Support

Read this article about identifying real App Store and iTunes Store emails --> Identify legitimate emails from the App Store or iTunes Store - Apple Support Sometimes the only indication in a communication is very subtle. Have a look at this thread. Someone registered an Apple ID with my em… - Apple Community It can be very hard to tell from a communication alone if it is authentic. The best way to check is to use an independent way through Apple's own resources to confirm what the communication claims. Scams (e-mail, text messages, and phone calls) are getting very good at closely imitating true Apple communications. Always be cautious.

If you are uncertain about a message and a resource provided in that message, do not click on any links in the message. Use an actual apple.com resource to independently verify what the message is claiming, or use an Apple device feature such as Settings or an Apple app. In your case, simply try to sign in is enough. To ask Apple, start at this web page: Official Apple Support If you wish to investigate links, this post by contributor MrHoffman describes how you can do that —> "Keep your Apple Account safe and secure"… - Apple Community (the link takes you to the end of the post so scroll up a bit).

Personally I keep plain vanilla backups of important things on multiple external drives. After I take a dozen photos with my iPhone I copy them to two drives. I find Apple's iCloud services to be convenient but I always make sure I have alternative sources.

Does that make sense at all?

The main issue is that my old apple account was locked because I put in the wrong password too many times, so I can’t open it