How do you transfer a photo vault to a new iPhone?

A new iPhone is when many vault users lose photos. In our study of 836 App Store reviews, 136 report lost photos or videos. 28 of those name a new phone as the cause. This guide explains why the move fails, what to check before you switch, and how 8 vault apps handle it. We read each app’s help pages and App Store listing on 2026-10-02. We checked Apple’s steps against its pages for iOS 27.

Why vault photos often do not come across

Apple’s Quick Start sets up a new iPhone from the old one. You choose to download your data from iCloud or to transfer it directly from the old iPhone. Apple says an iCloud backup includes “app data for the apps that you’ve downloaded”. So the vault’s files often do reach the new phone. Three things can still go wrong.

The key stays on the old iPhone. Apps keep secrets in the keychain. An app can mark a keychain item as “this device only”. Apple’s security guide says a backup protects such an item with the device’s own key, “rendering it useless if it’s restored to a different device”. Vaultaire describes the result in its own app text: “The key that opens them stayed on that device, so no pattern can open them here.” The files arrive, and they do not open.

The app keeps its files out of the backup. Apple lets developers mark files that an iCloud backup can skip. Other apps keep your items on their own servers. A restore then needs a sign-in to that account, not an iPhone backup.

The backup never finished. An iCloud backup cannot finish when iCloud storage is full. The iCloud Backup settings also list the apps that the backup includes. On the old iPhone, go to Settings, tap your name, tap iCloud, tap iCloud Backup, then tap This iPhone. If you turn an app off there, iCloud deletes that app’s backup data.

Private Photo Vault’s FAQ says “Some customers have reported problems restoring Private Photo Vault data through iCloud device backups.” So use the vault’s own path. Treat the iPhone backup as an extra.

Checks before you switch

Do these on the old iPhone, while it still works.

1. Count your items. Open the vault app on the old iPhone and write down how many photos and videos each album holds.
2. Back up inside the app. Turn on the app’s own backup and wait until it shows every item backed up.
3. Write down every code. Write your app code, any decoy code, any cloud password and any recovery phrase on paper.
4. Keep a second copy. Export items you cannot replace, or make the app’s backup file if it has one.
5. Restore on the new iPhone. Sign in with the same Apple Account, install the app, and restore from its backup, account or file.
6. Compare the counts. Open every album on the new iPhone, compare each count with your notes, and play a long video to the end.
7. Clean up the old iPhone last. Delete the app or erase the old iPhone only after every count matches.

A decoy vault is a separate set of items with its own code. Count it and back it up on its own. LockMyPix, for one, asks for the decoy password before it imports a decoy backup.

Exported copies are no longer encrypted. When the move is done, delete them, and empty them from Recently Deleted too.

How the main apps handle a move

Each row comes from the app’s own help page, listing or app text, read on 2026-10-02.

App	The path the developer gives	What you need	Watch for
Keepsafe	Cloud backup. Log in to the same account on the new phone	Account email and an access code	Basic backs up 200 items. Keep the app open with the screen on until it syncs
Private Photo Vault	Cloud Vault, or a computer backup	Cloud Vault password	Cloud Vault is paid. The password cannot be recovered
LockMyPix	iCloud with the same Apple Account, or an encrypted backup file	The same vault password	iCloud is a paid feature in the app
Vaultaire	Encrypted iCloud backup on the same Apple Account	Your pattern or recovery phrase	A phone-to-phone copy moves the files but not the key
Calculator Lock	iCloud or Google Drive backup, or App Migration	Your passcode	No update since 2024-12-20
NQ Vault	Cloud Backup	Premium, and an NQ account to move Premium	Cloud space drops to 1 GB when Premium ends
SPV	Google Drive backup, paid and capped at 1,000 photos	A Google account	The listing says to export before you delete. The free plan caps exports at 5
Privault	No backup. Wi-Fi transfer to a computer	A computer on the same Wi-Fi	“If the App is removed, files inside will be removed too.”

Notes on the two largest apps:

• Keepsafe. Its transfer article says to transfer your items before you sell or trade in the old phone. Premium raises the backup to 10,000 items. Without the cloud, it suggests you export every item, move it, and add it again. See the Keepsafe alternative page.
• Private Photo Vault. Its FAQ says to “verify your files on the new phone before removing them from the old one”. The free version of the app does not back up to Cloud Vault, per its listing. See the Private Photo Vault alternative page.

LockMyPix’s docs also cover iPhone to Android. The backup file works across both, and its iCloud backup does not. Vaultaire’s backup page says a restore works only on the same Apple Account. Its free plan holds 100 photos and 10 videos.

What to do if photos did not come across

Stop first. Do not delete the app on either phone, and do not erase the old iPhone. Then work down this list.

• The old iPhone still works. Open the vault there and finish its own backup or export. Then restore on the new iPhone again.
• The new app shows files it cannot open. The key likely stayed on the old phone. Restore from the app’s own backup with your code or recovery phrase. Vaultaire’s app text says it deletes nothing in this state. It tells you to back up on the old device, then restore on the new one.
• Some items are missing. Check the app’s backup status for items that are not backed up. Keepsafe has a “Not backed up” filter. Stay on Wi-Fi and keep the app open. Keepsafe’s article says sync needs the app open with the screen on.
• You restored an iPhone backup and the vault is empty. Sign in to the app’s own cloud account if it has one, or restore its backup file.
• Nothing works. Write to the app’s support with your item counts before you try anything else. Private Photo Vault’s FAQ asks you to contact it before you delete or reinstall the app.

Never delete the vault app on the old iPhone first

Apple’s iPhone User Guide is plain: “Deleting an app removes it and its data from your iPhone.” Only data the app already stored in iCloud survives. LockMyPix’s docs say the same for iPhone: iOS deletes an app’s files when you uninstall it.

So the old iPhone holds the last full copy until the new one shows every item. In our review study, 26 loss reviews name a reinstall or a deleted app. At least 7 users had already deleted the originals from Photos. If you need space on the old phone during the move, use Offload App in iPhone Storage. Apple says it frees the app’s space but keeps its documents and data.

For a wider look at backup, recovery and privacy labels, read are photo vault apps safe. To compare the apps, see the best photo vault apps for iPhone.

How York Vault moves to a new iPhone

York Vault backs up every item, encrypted, to your own iCloud on the Free plan. It restores on a new iPhone with your code or 12-word recovery key. After a restore it checks every item and shows a count, such as “12,400 of 12,400 items”. Then you know the old iPhone is safe to erase. You can also move phone to phone, for free: the new iPhone scans a QR code on the old one, and the files move over the local network, encrypted, with no internet needed. York Vault is also on Google Play. The same phone-to-phone transfer, or the encrypted backup file, moves a library between iPhone and Android in both directions. The move to a new iPhone help page and the encrypted backup page explain each step.