How to lock your notes on iPad

In the Notes app, you can lock notes to protect your sensitive information. You can access your locked notes using your device passcode or a custom password, and if you have multiple Notes accounts, you choose the locking method for each one.

Using your device passcode means you don’t have to create and remember a separate password. Notes locked that way need iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13, or later to open.

Lock notes with your device passcode

Using your device passcode to access locked notes means you have no separate password to create and remember, which reduces the chance of losing access to your locked notes. It also means you can use Face ID or Touch ID to access your locked notes.

When you sign in to the same Apple Account on multiple devices, each device’s own passcode, or the login password for a Mac, is how you access your locked notes on that device.

You need iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13, or later to access notes locked with a device passcode, so you won’t be able to access the locked notes on devices with an earlier version of the OS.

1. Start the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Tap Apps, then tap Notes.
3. Tap Password.
4. If you have multiple accounts, choose the account you want to set a password for.
5. Tap Use Device Passcode.
6. For added convenience, you can also turn on Face ID or Touch ID.

Lock notes with a custom password

A custom password for locked notes can provide additional security. Forget it, though, and you may lose access to your locked notes.

On every device where you’re signed in to the same Apple Account, your custom password is what you use to access your locked notes. And with more than one iCloud account or an “On My iPad” account, each account can have a different custom password.

You won’t see notes locked with a custom password on devices with an earlier version of the OS. Those notes need iOS 9.3, OS X 10.11.4, iPadOS 13, or later.

1. Start the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Tap Apps, then tap Notes.
3. Tap Password.
4. If you have multiple accounts, choose the account you want to set a password for.
5. Tap Use Custom Password.
6. For added convenience, you can also turn on Face ID or Touch ID.

   Don’t rely on Face ID or Touch ID as the only means of unlocking your notes. If you update your Face ID or Touch ID settings, or want to change your Notes password, you have to reenter your Notes password.

Important: If you forget your custom password, and you can’t use Face ID or Touch ID to access your locked notes, Apple can’t help you regain access to those notes.

You can reset your custom password, but this doesn’t give you access to previously locked notes. The new custom password applies to all notes you lock from now on. Go to the Settings app, tap Apps, tap Notes, tap Password, then tap Reset Password.

Change the locking method

A custom password isn’t permanent, since you can switch to using your device passcode. Any notes you accessed with the previous method begin using the new method when you change your locking method.

1. Start the Settings app on your iPad.
2. Tap Apps, then tap Notes.
3. Tap Password, choose an account (if you have more than one), and then choose a password method.

Lock a note

Locking is limited to notes on your device and notes in iCloud. Even then, notes with tags, notes with video, audio, PDF, or file attachments, and notes that use features from a newer version of Notes can’t be locked. The same goes for Quick Notes, notes shared in iCloud, and notes that sync with other accounts.

1. Start the Notes app on your iPad.
2. Open the note and tap the Note Actions button (at the top-right corner).
3. Tap Lock.

A locked note’s title remains visible in the notes list.

To remove a lock from a note, tap the Note Actions button, then tap Remove.

Open your locked notes

For several minutes after you open one locked note, all your other locked notes in the same account stay open, so you can jump into another note or copy and paste information from another app.

1. Start the Notes app on your iPad.
2. Tap the locked note and tap the Lock button or View Note.
3. To open the note, use Face ID, Touch ID, your device passcode, or your Notes password.

To lock your notes again, do any of the following:

• Tap the Unlock button at the top of the screen.
• Tap Lock Now at the top of the notes list.

See also

• Change your Notes settings on iPad
• Set a passcode on iPad