How to move private photos to a new iPhone

It depends on where they live:

• Photos in your Photos library, including the Hidden album, come across if iCloud Photos is turned on and you sign in to the same Apple Account on the new iPhone. If iCloud Photos is off, they are part of an iCloud or computer backup instead, and arrive when you restore it.
• A vault app with its own passcode, no account and no server does not live in your Apple Account. Do not assume it moves with Quick Start or a backup: open the app and look for its own transfer or export option, and check on the new phone that your items are there.

So the built-in tools cover your Photos library, and your private vault needs its own step.

1. 1Before anything else, back up the old iPhone: Settings → your name → iCloud → iCloud Backup → Back Up Now, on Wi-Fi.
2. 2Check that iCloud Photos is on if you use it: Settings → Photos → Sync this iPhone (iCloud Photos). Let it finish uploading.
3. 3Switch on the new iPhone and place the two phones next to each other to use Quick Start, or choose to restore from an iCloud backup during setup.
4. 4Sign in with the same Apple Account. Photos, including the Hidden album, appear as iCloud downloads them, which can take hours on a large library.
5. 5On the new phone, open Photos → Albums → Utilities and check that Hidden is there. On iOS 16 and later it opens only with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.

The guide to hiding photos on iPhone explains what the Hidden album does and does not protect. If you would rather not sync some photos to every device, read how to stop iPhone photos syncing to your iPad and Mac first.

This route sends every area of the vault straight from the old phone to the new one. Nothing goes over the internet, and it is a Premium feature on the sending phone. Both phones must be on the same Wi-Fi network.

1. 1Install Lockboxy on the new iPhone and open it. After the short tour, choose Restore from another device.
2. 2On the old iPhone, open Lockboxy, go to Settings and tap Move to a New Phone, then Start sending. A pairing code appears.
3. 3Type the pairing code on the new iPhone. It shows how many items are available to restore; tap Continue.
4. 4Set a passcode for the new vault, and confirm it. You can keep your old passcode or choose a new one.
5. 5Wait until all items are imported, then tap Continue to your vault.
6. 6Open Photos & Videos, Files, Notes and the other areas, and check that your items are there. Keep the old iPhone as it is until you have done this.

Use this when the two phones cannot be together, or when you also want a copy to keep. Back Up Vault is a Premium feature. The file is encrypted and only your passcode, or your Recovery Key, can open it.

1. 1On the old iPhone, open Lockboxy → Settings → Back Up Vault and tap Back up now.
2. 2Choose where to save the file: your own iCloud Drive, Google Drive or the Files app. Lockboxy has no server, so the file only goes where you send it.
3. 3On the new iPhone, open Lockboxy and choose I have a backup file. Pick the file from where you saved it.
4. 4Confirm the restore, then enter the passcode the backup was made under, or your Recovery Key if you no longer remember it.

You do not have to move the whole vault. In the vault, select the photos you want back and tap Unhide: each is decrypted, saved as an unencrypted copy in your Photos library and removed from the vault, and the Photos copy then follows the normal iPhone route above. Do this only for photos you are happy to have in Photos again, since once they are there they follow the rules of that library, including iCloud sync if it is on.

To find out what else to check before you wipe the old phone, see how to erase your iPhone before selling it.

• Erasing or selling the old iPhone before you have checked the items on the new one.
• Never making a backup or transfer, and so having no copy of a vault that lives only on that phone.
• Forgetting the passcode. Nobody can open a vault without it, including us. Setting up a Recovery Key (Premium) gives you a second way in; write it down away from the phone.

If the old phone is already lost, the options change; read what to do when your iPhone is lost or stolen. Prices and which plan includes which feature are on the Premium page.

Lockboxy is a private vault for photos, videos, files, notes, passwords and contacts, encrypted with AES-256 on the device. Moving it uses the same simple pieces whichever route you pick:

• Everything stays under your control: no account, and no Lockboxy server in the middle.

Lockboxy is on the App Store. Get it on the new iPhone first, then follow the steps above.