If you lose your iPhone
Two questions: who can read the files, and how do you get them back?
Last reviewed 10 November 2026.
Who can read them?
A lost phone that is locked, with a strong passcode, is hard to get into, and data protection in iOS encrypts what is stored on it. An encrypted vault adds a second barrier: the vault’s files are encrypted under keys that need the vault’s own credential and a key bound to that device. Someone holding the phone, or a copy of the stored files, cannot read them without both.
If the phone was unlocked when it was taken, or the vault was open, that protection does not apply. Lock the vault when you are done, and use the lost-device tools in Apple’s Find My to lock or erase the phone remotely.
How do you get them back?
On a new iPhone you start with no vault. To restore one you need two things:
- A backup file that you saved earlier. It contains your encrypted files.
- The twelve-word recovery phrase that vault had when the backup was made.
The words alone cannot rebuild your files, because they do not contain them. The file alone cannot be read without the words. If you have only one, you cannot restore.
Before you ever lose a phone
- Write the phrase down and keep it somewhere safe that is not your phone.
- Make a backup file, save it somewhere you can reach from a new phone, and refresh it after significant changes.
- Keep the file and the phrase in different places.
Details in encrypted backup and recovery.