What happens to your iPhone photos and private data when you die? How to set up a Legacy Contact

An iPhone is encrypted with your passcode, and Apple cannot unlock it for someone else. Without the passcode and without a Legacy Contact set up beforehand, relatives are often left with a phone they cannot open and an Apple Account they cannot reach.

That is good for your privacy while you are alive. It also means the people you trust need a plan from you, made in advance and kept somewhere they can find it.

Legacy Contact needs iOS 15.2 or later. Steps can differ slightly between versions:

1. 1Open Settings and tap your name at the top.
2. 2Tap Sign-In & Security (called Password & Security on some versions), then Legacy Contact.
3. 3Tap Add Legacy Contact and confirm with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
4. 4Choose a person from your contacts or Family Sharing group, and follow the prompts.
5. 5Share the Access Key: send it to them or print it. Without the key they cannot make a request, so keep a printed copy with your important papers or give it to them directly.

You can usually add more than one Legacy Contact. They need your Access Key and a copy of your death certificate, and Apple verifies the request before giving access. Check Apple's own support page for the current rules.

Roughly: data stored in your Apple Account, such as photos in iCloud Photos, notes, files in iCloud Drive, contacts and messages in iCloud. Apple lists the exact categories on its support page.

Not included: your saved passwords and Keychain items, and purchased media or licences. And anything that is only on the phone and not in iCloud is not part of this, because Apple does not hold it.

Apps from other developers that keep their own encrypted data are in that last group. Whether anyone can open them depends entirely on the app.

Passwords: write down how to reach your password manager (its master password or emergency kit) and put it on paper with your important documents. See How to store passwords safely on your phone.

Vault apps: decide on purpose whether you want anyone to be able to open them. If you do, check what the app offers. A vault that is encrypted with a key made from your passcode usually has no reset and no emergency access, so the content is gone unless you made a recovery key or backup. If you do not want anyone to see it, that same design protects you.

How Lockboxy works: it keeps no copy of your passcode, there is no reset link and no emergency-access or inheritance feature, and its vault is excluded from iPhone's own iCloud and computer backups. The way back is a Recovery Key you set up in advance (Settings → Security → Set Up Recovery Key, a Premium feature; it is an 80-digit key shown once) or an encrypted backup file (Settings → Back Up Vault, also Premium) that opens with your passcode or Recovery Key. Using a key you already have does not need Premium. The free plan holds up to 30 photos or videos and 10 files.

So with Lockboxy, a person you trust can get in only if you give them the passcode or a Recovery Key. See Forgot the passcode of your private photo vault app? for how recovery works.

• Add a Legacy Contact and hand over the Access Key.
• On one sheet of paper, list: your phone passcode, how to reach your password manager, and which private apps exist.
• For each private app, write one line: “open it” (and how) or “leave it locked”.
• Store the paper where your trusted person can reach it, such as with a will or in a safe, not in a notes app on the phone.
• Review it once a year, or after changing a passcode. Other accounts, like your email, may have their own inactive-account settings.
• Also see What to do when your iPhone is lost or stolen for the opposite problem, a phone in the wrong hands.