What is OneDrive Personal Vault, and is it good for private photos?

Personal Vault comes with OneDrive, so millions of people already have it. It is a locked folder in Microsoft’s cloud, not a vault app on your phone, and the difference matters for photos. This guide follows Microsoft’s support page on Personal Vault, which we checked on 2026-10-09.

How Personal Vault works

Microsoft calls Personal Vault “a protected area in OneDrive” with an extra layer of security. Each time you open it, you prove it is you a second time. The options Microsoft lists are a fingerprint, your face, a PIN, a code from the Microsoft Authenticator app, or a code sent by email or text.

Microsoft says it works in OneDrive on the web, in the OneDrive mobile app and on a Windows PC. It lists Windows 11, Windows 10 version 1903 or later, Android 6 or later and iOS 11.3 or later. You set it up on each device where you want to use it.

The limit to check first

Microsoft says that without a Microsoft 365 Family or Personal subscription, “you can only add up to three files” to Personal Vault. With a subscription, you can add as many files as your storage allows. A free OneDrive account can hold a passport scan and two other files, not a photo library.

Set it up

1. In OneDrive, select the Personal Vault folder, then Get started.
2. Read the screens and select Next or Continue.
3. In Verify your identity, check your account details and select Verify.
4. Choose a method, for example Text, and type in the code you get.

On the web, Microsoft describes a two-factor setup through Settings, Personal Vault, Enable, with a second email address or, “for greater security”, the Microsoft Authenticator app.

Add photos and files

1. Select the Personal Vault folder and verify if asked.
2. Select the files or folders.
3. Select Move to, then choose Personal Vault. You can also drag items in.

Microsoft’s tip for photos: in the mobile app, you can “scan documents, take pictures, or shoot video directly into your Personal Vault, keeping them off less secure areas of your device, such as your camera roll”.

How and when it locks

Where	Locks after	Change it in
Phone app	3 minutes idle	Me, Settings, Personal Vault, Auto-lock or Inactivity lock
Web	20 minutes idle	Not stated by Microsoft
Windows PC	Your choice	OneDrive settings, Account tab, under Personal Vault

To lock it at once, open the folder and select Lock.

What Personal Vault does well

Microsoft lists these benefits over two-step sign-in alone:

• Files are encrypted with BitLocker when in use on a Windows 10 PC.
• Files “are not stored unprotected or cached on your PC, on your device, or in the browser”.
• Sharing is blocked, so you cannot share a file from it by accident.
• It locks itself after a set time.
• Items do not show in OneDrive search, and on a computer, thumbnails are hidden.

What it leaves open

• Your camera roll. A photo taken with the phone’s camera has a copy in Photos until you delete it. On iPhone, that copy then sits in Recently Deleted for 30 days. Our Recently Deleted guide shows how to empty it.
• File names on Windows 10. Microsoft says that on Windows 10, Personal Vault “doesn’t protect the names or hashes of the files” while it is locked. File names can also show in Windows Recent lists.
• Thumbnails on phones and the web. Microsoft says thumbnails are hidden on a computer but visible in a browser and on a mobile device.
• Your Microsoft account. Microsoft’s page describes a second sign-in step, not encryption that only you can open. Compare that with iCloud’s Advanced Data Protection.
• Small free size. Three files without a subscription.

Personal Vault or a photo vault app?

	OneDrive Personal Vault	York Vault
Where files live	Microsoft’s cloud	Your phone, encrypted, with a free encrypted backup to your own iCloud or Google Drive
Opens with	Your Microsoft account plus a second check	A York Vault code that differs from your phone passcode
Free size	3 files	No limit on Plus, and a free tier with an item limit
Who can read the files	Microsoft’s page does not say it is end-to-end encrypted	Only you. We cannot open your files
Sharing	Blocked	Private share links, with expiry and revoke on Plus

A photo vault app is the better fit when the person you want privacy from is next to you, holding your phone. Personal Vault is the better fit for documents you want on several computers through one Microsoft account. For a cloud copy of your photos without iCloud, see how to back up iPhone photos without iCloud. Our guide to what a photo vault is explains the app side, and zero knowledge covers what we can and cannot see. Download York Vault.