What if someone knows my iPhone passcode?

A partner, a parent or a roommate saw you type your passcode once. Or you told them years ago. Now you want a few things on your phone to be yours again. This page shows what a phone passcode opens, how to take it back on iPhone and Android, and where a separate lock helps. We checked each step against Apple’s and Google’s own pages on 2026-10-06.

What a phone passcode opens

On iPhone, the passcode is the master key for the person holding the phone. Apple’s own privacy tools fall back to it.

• The Hidden album and Recently Deleted. Both open with Face ID, Touch ID or the passcode. Neither has its own password. Our Hidden album guide covers the details.
• Locked and hidden apps. In iOS 18 and later you can lock an app with Require Face ID. Apple’s guide says the app opens “using Face ID (or Touch ID or a passcode)”. The Hidden folder in App Library works the same way. See how to hide apps on iPhone.
• Face ID itself. Anyone with the passcode can go to Settings, Face ID & Passcode and tap Set Up an Alternate Appearance. After that, their face opens your phone too.
• Your Apple Account, at home. Stolen Device Protection asks for Face ID and adds a 1-hour delay before big changes. By default, it does this only away from familiar places. Apple says that at home or work “you can use your iPhone passcode like usual”.

On Android, the screen lock plays the same role. Google says the Locked Folder password “is the same as your device screen lock”. It adds that “people who have access to the device screen lock can unlock Locked Folder”. Our guide to locking photos on Android compares the other built-in options.

How to take your iPhone passcode back

Do these in one sitting, when the other person is not holding the phone.

1. Go to Settings, tap Face ID & Passcode, and enter your current passcode.
2. Tap Change Passcode. Tap Passcode Options for a Custom Alphanumeric Code or a longer Custom Numeric Code. Apple calls these the most secure options.
3. Tap Expire Previous Passcode Now. Without this, iOS 17 and later accept the old passcode for 72 hours.
4. If you think someone added an alternate appearance, tap Reset Face ID on the same screen. Then set up Face ID again with only your face.
5. Go to Settings, Privacy & Security, Safety Check. Tap Manage Sharing & Access. Review which people see your location and shared items, and which devices use your Apple Account.
6. Optional: in Face ID & Passcode, tap Stolen Device Protection and choose Always under Require Security Delay. Apple says locked apps then need Face ID or Touch ID “with no passcode alternative”, even at home.

Step 6 has a cost. Some changes to your own settings will then need a 1-hour wait, wherever you are.

How to take your Android screen lock back

Menu names differ between phone makers. These are Google’s names. Samsung and others use similar ones.

1. Open Settings and tap Security (on some phones, Security & privacy).
2. Tap Screen lock, enter your current lock, and pick a new PIN, pattern or password. Google recommends at least 6 digits for a PIN.
3. Open your fingerprint settings in the same menu and delete any fingerprint you did not add.
4. On Android 15 and later, set up Private space under Security & privacy, Privacy. Choose Choose new lock so it does not use the phone’s screen lock. Apps inside it, such as a second gallery or chat app, then need that second lock.

Private space keeps apps apart. It does not move photos that are already in Google Photos. And Google lists cases where its existence still shows, for example to someone who installs apps on your phone.

Where a separate code helps

The common thread above is one lock for everything. A photo vault app is useful here only if its lock does not fall back to the phone passcode. Many do not say which way they work, so check before you move anything.

York Vault has its own code, on iPhone and Android. You choose a PIN, a passcode with letters, or a pattern at setup. The lock options page explains the trade-offs. Three details matter for this situation:

• Face ID never falls back to the phone passcode. If Face ID or fingerprint fails, York Vault asks for its own code.
• A new face or fingerprint switches Face ID off. Someone may add an alternate appearance or a fingerprint in the phone’s settings. York Vault then stops opening with Face ID or fingerprint until you type your code once.
• The phone passcode alone cannot reset it. There is no email reset and no support reset. Your recovery key is the way back if you forget the code. York Vault also has an optional 72-hour recovery through your Apple Account or Google account. It starts with the phone passcode, shows a banner on your devices for 72 hours, and your code cancels it. If someone else knows your passcode, leave that option off.

If someone asks you to open York Vault in front of them, a cover code opens a second, ordinary library. Nothing inside it shows that another library exists. You can also give a single album its own code with album codes.

York Vault can keep a record of wrong codes, with a photo from the front camera if you turn that on. See wrong-code photos. It also has neutral icons, so the home screen does not show a vault. On iPhone, the name under the icon is “YV”.

Move the photos, then clear the copies

A vault protects only what is inside it. After you add photos to York Vault, the originals stay in Photos until you remove them. Then they sit in Recently Deleted for 30 days. York Vault offers to remove the originals after it checks each copy. Then empty Recently Deleted, which our Recently Deleted guide walks through. The import and cleanup page shows each step.

Check the other places a photo lives too. A photo you sent in Messages or WhatsApp is a separate copy in that chat. A photo in iCloud Photos is also on any iPad or Mac signed in to the same Apple Account. Our page on iPhone photos that show up on a family iPad covers that case.

If the checking feels like control

Some people ask for a partner’s passcode out of care. Others use it to read messages, track location or decide who you talk to. Maybe your partner gets angry when you change a passcode, or makes you unlock your phone. Support lines hear that pattern every day. The help lines at the top of this page take calls about phones and accounts, not only about violence.

Change settings when it is safe to do so. A sudden new passcode can raise questions. Apple’s Safety Check has a Quick Exit button for this reason. Our pages on checking whether someone tracks your phone and keeping a record of abuse go further.