Can someone unlock your iPhone with your face while you sleep?

People ask this after a partner or a roommate opened their phone without asking. If you think that already happened, start with signs someone went through your phone. The short answer is that Apple designed Face ID to stop it, through one setting that is on unless you change it. We checked every fact here against Apple’s Face ID page, published on 2026-09-18, and Apple’s iPhone User Guide for iOS 27, on 2026-10-09.

How Face ID checks that you are awake

Apple calls Face ID “attention-aware”. It says Face ID “recognizes if your eyes are open”. Apple adds that this “makes it more difficult for someone to unlock your device without your knowledge (such as when you are sleeping)”. Face ID also needs depth data, so a printed photo or a picture on another screen does not work.

The check is a setting. To see it:

1. Open Settings and tap Accessibility.
2. Tap Face ID & Attention.
3. Make sure Require Attention for Face ID is on.

Apple says these settings are off by default if you turned on VoiceOver when you first set up your iPhone. Everyone else gets them on. Apple’s guide adds that requiring attention “makes Face ID more secure”. Face ID with a mask always checks for attention.

Who can still get in

Who	What Apple says
A random person	Less than 1 in 1,000,000 chance with one enrolled appearance
A twin or a sibling who looks like you	A higher chance, more so with a mask
A child under 13	A higher chance, because facial features may not have fully developed
Anyone who knows your passcode	Full access. Face ID always falls back to the passcode

Apple’s advice for the higher-risk cases is to use your passcode instead. The last row matters most at home. If the person you worry about knows your passcode, Face ID is not the weak point. Read what to do when someone knows your passcode.

When your iPhone asks for the passcode anyway

Apple lists the times Face ID will not work until you type the passcode:

• The iPhone was just turned on or restarted.
• It has not been unlocked for more than 48 hours.
• The passcode has not been used in the last six and a half days, and Face ID has not unlocked it in the last 4 hours.
• It received a remote lock command, for example from Find My.
• After five failed Face ID matches.
• After you press and hold the side button and either volume button for 2 seconds.

The last one is the quick move. If you fall asleep in a place where you do not trust the people around you, press and hold the buttons first. Face ID stays off until you type the passcode.

Turn off Face ID for unlocking

If you want no face unlock at all, open Settings, tap Face ID & Passcode, and turn off iPhone Unlock. To delete your face data, tap Reset Face ID on the same screen.

On Android

Face unlock differs by phone maker. Google’s Pixel help page, for the Pixel 7 and later, lists Require attention on screen. Find it in Settings, Security & privacy, Device unlock, Face. Google is frank about the limits. It says face unlock “may be less secure than a strong PIN, pattern or password”. It also says a person who looks a lot like you can unlock the phone, and so can someone who holds it up to your face.

Protect the private part separately

Even with the attention check on, your photo library opens for anyone who gets past the lock screen. You can lock single apps with Face ID, as our guide to hiding apps on iPhone shows, but that uses the same face. A vault with its own code adds a second door. York Vault opens with a PIN, a passcode or a pattern that differs from your phone’s. Face ID or a strong fingerprint or face unlock on Android is optional on top. If you add a new face or finger in your phone settings, York Vault turns its Face ID option off. It stays off until you type the York Vault code once. See lock options.

Someone at home may hold your phone up to your face. For that case, York Vault can require both Face ID and the code on Plus and Pro, so neither one opens the library alone. See two-step and location lock. Download York Vault.