How do you password protect a file or folder on iPhone?

An iPhone holds more private files than photos: tax forms, ID scans, contracts and medical letters. The Files app shows them all to anyone who opens it, and it has no folder lock. This guide covers the tools Apple does offer, from Apple’s iPhone User Guide for iOS 27 and the Pages User Guide, checked on 2026-10-09. For the Android side, read how to hide files on Android.

What each built-in tool can lock

Tool	Locks	Opens with	If you forget
Require Face ID on the Files app	The whole Files app	Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode	Your passcode still opens it
Pages document password	One Pages document	Its password, or Face ID or Touch ID	Apple says there is no way to recover it
Preview PDF lock	One PDF	Its password	Not stated by Apple
Locked note	One note, but not one with PDF or file attachments	Your passcode or a Notes password	Depends on the method. See locked notes

Lock the Files app

1. Go to the Home Screen.
2. Touch and hold Files until the Quick Actions menu opens.
3. Tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode).
4. Tap Require Face ID again to confirm.

Apple says a locked app needs Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode each time, and locks again after you quit it. It also says information inside a locked app does not appear in search, Siri suggestions or notification previews. Apple notes that built-in apps cannot be hidden, so the Files icon stays visible. Our guide to hiding apps on iPhone covers the rest.

Password-protect a Pages document

For a letter, a list or a scanned page you can place in a document:

1. Open the document in Pages.
2. Tap the More button, then Document Options.
3. Tap Set Password, enter the details, then tap Done.

Apple says “adding a password to a document encrypts the file”. Two cautions from the same page:

• No recovery. “There’s no way to recover your password if you forget it.”
• Older versions. A new password applies to that version and later ones. If you shared the document, Apple says to stop sharing, add a new password, then share again, so no one can restore an unprotected version.

Lock a PDF in Preview

Apple’s iOS 27 guide has a lock for PDFs in the Preview app:

1. Open the PDF in Preview.
2. To keep an unlocked copy, tap the Actions Menu button and tap Duplicate first.
3. Tap the Actions Menu button next to the file name, then tap Lock.
4. Enter the same password in Password and Verify. Require Password turns on.
5. Tap Done.

Apple describes this lock as a way “to prevent others from editing or deleting your work”. Treat it as protection for one document, with a password you must not forget.

Notes cannot lock attachments

Apple’s Notes guide says you cannot lock notes with video, audio, PDF or file attachments, or notes shared in iCloud. So the common trick of scanning an ID into Notes and locking it works only while the note holds photos, not PDFs.

Watch the Downloads folder

Apple says files you download from the internet or Mail go to the Downloads folder in Files. A tax form you opened from an email attachment and saved can sit there in plain view. Open Files, tap Browse, then Downloads, and move or delete what you no longer need.

A file you need to send

If you need to send a file with a password, our free file encryption tool encrypts it in your browser with a passphrase, with no upload. The person you send it to needs the passphrase to open it.

Files in York Vault

York Vault keeps any file type behind its own PIN, passcode or pattern, not your iPhone passcode: PDFs, scans, Office documents and audio, in albums inside albums. You add them from Files, from the share sheet in Mail and other apps, or with the York Vault document scanner. Each file, its name and its thumbnail are encrypted on the phone, and every item backs up, encrypted, to your own iCloud at no cost. York Vault also shows nothing in Files or Finder. See ID cards and documents, and read storing tax and financial documents for the practical side. York Vault is on iPhone, iPad and Android. Download York Vault.