How to lock Notes with password or Touch ID on iPhone and iPad

You can protect any note with a password or Touch ID to keep your medical, financial, or any other personal information safe.

Notes are a handy way to collect and store any information you want to keep handy. If that information is medical, financial, or otherwise personal — like a hotel reservation or phone number, or a draft message — you may want to keep it extra safe. That's why Notes lets you set a password and use it or Touch ID on iPhone or iPad to secure any individual note. It's easy to do, once you know how!

• How to set your Notes password on iPhone and iPad
• How to lock a note with your password or Touch ID
• How to unlock a note with your password or Touch ID
• How to re-lock a note
• How to change your Notes password
• How to reset your Notes password

How to set your Notes password on iPhone and iPad

You'll automatically be asked to set a global password for securing the notes the first time you try to protect a note, or the first time your visit the password section in the Notes settings. If you don't want to wait, you can set it immediately by doing either of those things now.

To set a password in Notes:

1. Launch Notes from your Home screen.
2. Tap on an existing note or type a new note.
3. Tap on the Share button.
4. Tap Lock Note.
5. Enter a Password — this will be for all your notes, including Notes on Mac, if you use it.
6. Enter the same password again to Verify.
7. Add a hint, if you really need one.

8. Switch Touch ID to on, if you want to use a fingerprint for faster and more convenient unlocking.

   

To set a password in Settings:

1. Launch Settings from your Home screen.
2. Tap on Notes.
3. Tap on Password.
4. Enter a Password — this will be for all your notes, including Notes on Mac, if you use it.
5. Enter the same password again to Verify.
6. Add a hint, if you really need one.

7. Switch Touch ID to on, if you want to use a fingerprint for faster and more convenient unlocking.

   

Make sure the password is strong enough to really protect your notes. If you need to, you can always record it in a password manager apps like 1Password or LastPass so you can paste it in on any device, as needed.

Touch ID makes the process much faster and more convenient, but also means someone could try and get you to touch the sensor when you're sleeping or otherwise incapacitated. Most people will never have to worry about that, but if you're James Bond or Natasha Romanov, keep it in mind.

How to lock a note with your password or Touch ID

Once you have a password set up you can lock a note at any time.

1. Launch Notes from your Home screen.
2. Tap on an existing note or type a new note.
3. Tap on the Share button.
4. Tap Lock Note.

5. Use Touch ID, if available, to lock your note.

   

6. If you prefer not to use Touch ID, tap Enter Password. If Touch ID isn't available, also simply enter your password and tap OK.

   

A lock animation will confirm the note has been secured.

You do have to enter your password at least once before you can use Touch ID. So if Touch ID isn't presented as an option the first time, simply enter your password and you should get asked for Touch ID the next.

It's important to remember that, while the body of the note will be hidden when locked, the title of the note will still be visible. (So you can find it later when you want to unlock it.) To make sure you don't leak any information unintentionally, never put anything in the title you wouldn't want anyone else to see.

How to unlock a note with your password or Touch ID

You can't see a locked note, other than the title, but you can unlock it to see, edit, or otherwise work on at any time.

1. Launch Notes from your Home screen.
2. Tap on the note you want to unlock.
3. Tap on View Note in the center or the Lock button at the top right.

4. Use Touch ID to unlock, or if Touch ID isn't enable or available, enter your Notes password.

   

An unlock animation will confirm the note has been opened.

How to re-lock a note

Notes will lock automatically if you lock or reboot your iPhone or iPad, or if the Notes app quits and is restarted. You can also re-lock a note manually at any time.

1. Launch Notes from your Home screen.
2. Tap on the note you want to unlock.

3. Tap on Lock button at the top right.

   

The note will be secured immediately and you'll have to re-unlock to access it again.

How to change your Notes password

Your Notes password unlocks any and all your notes. If you want to change it, it will also change it for all your notes.

1. Launch Settings from your Home screen.
2. Tap on Notes.
3. Tap on Password.

4. Tap Change Password...

   

5. Enter your Old Password
6. Enter a New Password — this will be for all your notes, including Notes on Mac, going forward.
7. Enter the same password again to Verify.
8. Add a hint, if you really need one.
9. Tap Done.

How to reset your Notes password

If you ever forget your Notes password, you can use your iCloud password to reset it.

1. Launch Settings from your Home screen.
2. Tap on Notes.
3. Tap on Password.
4. Tap Reset Password

5. Enter your Apple ID password — the password you use for iCloud.

   

6. Enter a New Password — this will be for all your notes, including Notes on Mac, going forward.
7. Enter the same password again to Verify.
8. Add a hint, if you really need one.