How to lock your notes on iPhone

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. If you have multiple Notes accounts, you choose the locking method for each account, for example, for your iCloud account.

The device passcode is the simpler option. You don’t have to create and remember a separate password, and you can use Face ID or Touch ID to open your locked notes.

Lock notes with your device passcode

With your device passcode, there’s no separate password to create and remember, so you’re less likely to lose access to your locked notes, and Face ID or Touch ID works, too. On each device where you’re signed in to the same Apple Account, you unlock notes with that device’s passcode, or the login password on a Mac. Notes locked with a device passcode require iOS 16, iPadOS 16, macOS 13, or later, and you won’t be able to access them on devices with an earlier version of the OS.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
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, but you may lose access to your locked notes if you forget it. Your custom password works on every device where you’re signed in to the same Apple Account. With multiple iCloud accounts or an “On My iPhone” account, each one can have a different custom password. Notes locked with a custom password require iOS 9.3 or later, iPadOS 13 or later, or OS X 10.11.4 or later, and you won’t see them on devices with an earlier version of the OS.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
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

You can switch from a custom password to your device passcode. Once you change your locking method, notes you accessed with the previous method start using the new one.

1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone.
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

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

1. Open the Notes app on your iPhone.
2. Open the note and tap the Note Actions button.
3. Tap Lock. When a note is locked, the 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

When you open one locked note, all your locked notes in the same account open for several minutes, so it’s easy to copy and paste information from other apps or jump into another note.

1. Open the Notes app on your iPhone.
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. Tap Lock Now at the top of the notes list.