How to Lock Notes on iPhone (and Hide Them)

To lock a note on iPhone, first choose how Notes locks: go to Settings > Apps > Notes > Password and pick your device passcode or a separate Notes password. Then open the note, tap the More button and tap Lock. You can add Face ID or Touch ID so you do not type the password every time. iPhone has no real way to hide a note, so the choices for hiding are folders or locking the whole app.

This guide covers the setup, the limits Apple documents, what happens if you forget the password, and what to do when you want notes out of sight. The iOS details come from Apple’s page on locked notes unless another link says otherwise.

Step 1: Choose how your notes are locked

Apple says that starting in iOS 16 you have two options for locking notes: your iPhone passcode or a password only for Notes. You pick one once, and it applies to the notes you lock afterwards.

1. Open Settings > Apps > Notes > Password.
2. Choose Use Device Passcode or Create Password.
3. If you create a password, set a password hint.
4. If your iPhone supports it, turn on Face ID or Touch ID.

Which one fits depends on who you are protecting the note from.

• Device passcode. Nothing new to remember. The cost is that anyone who knows your passcode can open your locked notes. Apple says this option needs iCloud Keychain to be on.
• Custom Notes password. A person who knows your passcode still cannot read the note. The cost is that you now have a second secret to remember, and Apple cannot recover it for you (more on that below).

If you share your passcode with a partner or a family member, the custom password is the one that keeps the note private from them.

Step 2: Lock a note

1. Open the note you want to lock.
2. Tap the More button.
3. Tap Lock.

A lock icon appears at the top of the note. Apple says you can hide the note’s contents when you tap that lock icon. To open the note again, tap it, tap View Note, then use Face ID, Touch ID or your password.

An unlocked note does not stay open for long. Apple says unlocked notes stay open for several minutes, and they lock again when you close Notes or the device goes to sleep.

To take the lock off a note for good, unlock it, tap More and choose Remove. If you use iCloud Notes, Apple says removing the lock applies on all devices signed in with the same Apple Account.

What you cannot lock

Apple lists these as notes that can’t be locked:

• Notes with tags.
• Notes that contain PDFs, audio, video, or Keynote, Pages or Numbers documents.
• Notes in accounts that sync over IMAP, such as Yahoo, Gmail and Hotmail.
• Notes you share with other people. You have to stop sharing first.
• Any note, if you are signed in to iCloud with a Managed Apple Account.

The tags rule catches people out. If a note already has a tag, you have to remove the tag before Lock will work.

Photos are not on Apple’s list. A photo you paste into a note is a copy, though. The original is still in your Photos library until you delete it. If you want to lock photos themselves, the guide on how to lock photos on iPhone covers the Hidden album and the other options.

Keep sensitive words out of the title

Apple’s page says you can hide a note’s contents, and it does not say anything about the title. We could not find an Apple statement either way, so treat the first line of a locked note as something that may show in the notes list. A note titled “Bank PIN” tells a curious person what is inside before they ever try to open it. Start the note with a neutral first line and put the sensitive text below it.

If you forget the Notes password

Apple says it can’t help you regain access to your locked notes. You can reset the password, but the reset does not open anything you locked before.

1. Go to Settings > Apps > Notes > Password.
2. Select the account and tap Reset Password.
3. Enter your Apple Account password.
4. Set a new password or switch to your device passcode.

Apple states that this won’t give you access to your old notes. Those notes stay locked with the old password. If you open one, you see a wrong-password alert along with the old hint. If you later remember the old password and enter it, you can update that note to your current password.

So write a hint you will understand in a year, and do not lock the only copy of something you cannot afford to lose.

Locked notes and iCloud

Apple says both locking options keep your information secure with end-to-end encryption for iCloud accounts, and that Apple does not have access to locked notes. If you use iCloud Notes on several Apple devices, Apple advises using the same notes password to lock and unlock all of them.

How to hide notes on iPhone

There is no hide option for individual notes in the Notes app. Apple’s own pages on lock notes describe locking and not hiding. Here are the closest things you can do.

Move notes into a folder. Open the folders list in Notes, tap New Folder and move the notes into it, as Apple’s guide to organizing notes in folders describes. A folder is only organization. Anyone who opens Notes can open the folder, so combine it with locking the notes inside.

Lock the Notes app itself. In iOS 18 and later, Apple lets you require Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode to open an app. Touch and hold the app icon, tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode), then tap it again and authenticate. Apple’s list of built-in apps that can’t be locked names Calculator, Camera, Clock, Contacts, Find My, Maps, Shortcuts and Settings, per Apple’s personal safety guide. Notes is not on it. We could not confirm the option appears for Notes on every iPhone, so check the icon’s menu on yours.

Hiding the app does not work for Notes. The same safety guide says apps that come installed with iOS 18 or later can’t be hidden. Only apps you download separately can be.

A locked app stops someone from browsing all your notes at once. It does not protect one note from a person who already has Notes open on your unlocked phone, which is why many people use the app lock and the per-note lock together.

When a vault app fits better

Notes locking is built for short text. It cannot hold video, audio or PDFs in a locked note, and a forgotten custom password leaves old notes locked for good. If what you need to protect is photos and videos rather than text, a vault app keeps the files in its own storage behind its own lock, so they are not in your Photos library at all.

Forevault is our app for that. It encrypts files on the device with AES-256-GCM and opens with a pattern on a 5×5 grid or a passcode or password, with Face ID as an option. Forevault has notes inside its vaults too. They are encrypted with the vault and open with the vault’s pattern. You can keep separate vaults for different patterns, and the lock screen does not list them. You get a 12-word recovery phrase, an encrypted backup to your own iCloud with a “Test a restore” option, and free export to Photos or Files at any time. There is no account and no data collected. The free tier holds 100 photos, 10 videos and 3 vaults. It protects against someone holding your phone, not forensic analysis. Download Forevault on the App Store.

Frequently asked questions

Can I lock notes on iPhone with Face ID?

Yes. After you choose a device passcode or a Notes password in Settings > Apps > Notes > Password, you can turn on Face ID or Touch ID if your device supports it. The password or passcode still works as the fallback.

Why can’t I lock a note on my iPhone?

Apple lists the cases: the note has tags, it contains a PDF, audio, video or a Keynote, Pages or Numbers document, it is in an IMAP account such as Gmail or Yahoo, you share it with others, or you use a Managed Apple Account. Remove the tag or the attachment, or stop sharing, and try again.

What happens if I forget my Notes password?

Apple can’t help you regain access to locked notes. You can reset the password in Settings > Apps > Notes > Password, but the reset does not open notes locked with the old password. If you remember the old password later, you can enter it on an old note and update that note to the new one.

Are locked notes encrypted in iCloud?

According to Apple, both locking options protect your information with end-to-end encryption for iCloud accounts, and Apple does not have access to locked notes.

Can I hide a note on iPhone so it does not show up?

Not as a separate setting. You can put the note in a folder, lock it, or lock the Notes app with Face ID on iOS 18 and later. Apple’s guide says apps that come with iOS 18 or later can’t be hidden, so the Notes app cannot be hidden from the Home Screen.

Is a locked note safe if someone knows my passcode?

It depends on your choice. If you picked “Use Device Passcode”, knowing your passcode is enough to open the note. A custom Notes password keeps it separate from the passcode.