Forgot your photo vault password? How a recovery key gets you back in

The problem with other ways back in

In the 836 App Store reviews we studied, 26 users said they could not get back into their vault. 14 of those reviews are from 2025 or 2026. A second, smaller group said the opposite: the way back in is too weak. One Keepsafe user wrote that “if somebody gains access to your email, they can request a reset and access to your data.”

Most vault apps use one of these ways back in:

• An email code. Anyone who controls your email can use it.
• A master code and a security question. Calculator Lock’s App Store listing says to enter “11223344=” and answer your security question. That code is public.
• A code the app can show or send. Private Photo Vault’s app text offers “Would you like to e-mail yourself a backup of your PIN?” LockMyPix’s app text can show “Your password”. An app can only do that if it keeps your code in a form it can read.
• Nothing. NQ Vault’s app text says that if the code is forgotten, “you need to re-install the app and all data will be erased”.

A recovery key avoids all four. It is a secret that you hold and nobody else does.

What the recovery key is

York Vault makes a recovery key during setup: 12 words from a fixed English list. Behind the words is a random 128-bit number, which is far too large to guess. The key is never stored where it can be read, and it is never sent to us.

The key can do three things on its own:

1. Open your library if you forget your code.
2. Let you set a new code of any type: pattern, PIN or passcode.
3. Restore your encrypted backup on a new or reset phone.

The key has its own count of wrong tries, apart from the count for your code. So a person cannot guess words without limit.

How setup works

1. Set your code. See lock options.
2. York Vault shows your 12 words once.
3. Write them on paper, or save a PDF to print.
4. Type back the 3 words that York Vault asks for, for example words 3, 7 and 11.
5. York Vault continues only when all 3 match.

Keep the paper with your passport or other documents. Do not keep a photo of the words on the same phone, because a person who opens your phone could find it.

How to use it if you forget your code

1. On the lock screen, tap Use recovery key.
2. Enter your 12 words.
3. York Vault opens your library.
4. Set a new code.

Your cover code, erase code and album codes stay the same.

Why you cannot view it later

Some apps let you read the phrase again from settings. Vaultaire’s feature page says its app “can also load and display the saved phrase from the open vault’s settings”. That helps a forgetful user, but it also lets anyone who gets into the open vault copy the key.

York Vault does not show the key again. If you lose the paper but still know your code, open settings and make a new key. The old key stops working at once.

Changing your code does not change your key. Vaultaire works the other way: its page says “Vaultaire generates a new recovery phrase when you change the pattern”, so the old paper copy stops working.

How other apps handle a forgotten code

App	Way back in	Where we read it
Keepsafe	Email access code, sent after a delay: “For security, there is a %i min delay in sending your access code.”	App text
Private Photo Vault	PIN help by email. Its Cloud Vault password cannot be recovered: “if you forget your Cloud Vault Password, you will also not be able to view your Cloud Vault data.”	App text and App Store listing
Calculator Lock	Public master code “11223344=” plus a security question	App Store listing
LockMyPix	Recovery that shows the stored password	App text
NQ Vault	Reinstall, which erases data, or a security email	App text
Vaultaire	Nine-word recovery sentence, viewable later in settings	Vaultaire feature page

We read each app’s text from its App Store package in September 2026, and checked the listings and Vaultaire’s page on 2026-10-02.

The 72-hour Apple Account or Google account reset

Some people lose both the code and the paper. For them, York Vault has an optional, slow reset on the Free plan. It uses the Apple Account, or the Google account on Android. It is off by default, and it helps only if you turn it on before you lose the code and the key. When you turn it on, a reset secret sits in iCloud Keychain, which Apple encrypts end to end. On Android it sits in Block Store, which Google encrypts end to end when the phone has a screen lock.

To use it, you tap Forgot code, pass the passcode check for the phone, and wait 72 hours. During the wait your library stays locked, and a banner shows on every device where you use York Vault. The right code or recovery key cancels the reset. The wait is the guard: a partner who knows your phone passcode could start a reset, and the banner gives you 72 hours to stop it.

For more on moving to a new phone, read how to transfer a photo vault to a new iPhone. For how other apps protect your files, read are photo vault apps safe.