How to password protect a folder on iPhone

No. A folder in Files, whether it sits On My iPhone or in iCloud Drive, opens for anyone who has the unlocked phone. There is no Lock or Password option on a folder or a file.

Two related things are worth knowing. The Compress action in Files makes a zip file, and it offers no password. And a folder in iCloud Drive is synced to every device signed in to your Apple Account, so it is also as private as those devices are.

On iOS 18 and later you can require Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode every time an app opens, and Files can be one of them. It protects everything in Files at once, not one folder.

1. 1On the Home Screen, touch and hold the Files icon.
2. 2Tap Require Face ID. On a Touch ID iPhone the entry says Require Touch ID, and without either it says Require Passcode.
3. 3Confirm with Face ID or your passcode.

This works on iOS 18 or later only; on iOS 17 and earlier the menu is not there. It also has limits: anyone who knows your iPhone passcode can get in, because the passcode is the fallback for Face ID, and it does not stop someone from seeing the same files through another route, such as the document picker inside a different app. How to lock apps on iPhone goes through that setting and its limits in more detail.

The Notes app can lock a single note, and a note can hold attachments such as a PDF or a scan. This is the nearest built-in version of a locked folder: one note per group of documents.

1. 1Create a note and attach the files from Notes' attachment menu.
2. 2Tap the More button (the three dots) in the note and choose Lock.
3. 3Choose a separate Notes password rather than your iPhone passcode, so a person who watched you unlock the phone still can't open the note.
4. 4Delete the original from Files, and then from Files' Recently Deleted, or the unlocked copy is still there.

A locked note is a reasonable choice for a handful of documents. It is awkward for many files, and locked notes can't be used with some sharing and collaboration features. How to lock notes on iPhone covers the setup.

A vault app is closer to what most people mean by a locked folder: the files live inside the app, encrypted, behind a passcode of their own. Lockboxy's Files area works this way.

1. 1Open Lockboxy, go to Files and tap +.
2. 2Choose Import files and pick your documents, or choose Scan a document to scan paper straight into the vault. You can also send a file in from the Files app or Mail through the Share Sheet.
3. 3Lockboxy encrypts each file with AES-256 and stores it in the vault, behind a passcode that is separate from your iPhone passcode. There is no account and no server holding your documents.
4. 4Delete the original. Importing makes a copy; it does not remove the file you picked. Delete it in Files, then empty Files' Recently Deleted.

Inside the vault, PDFs, images and text files open in a preview, and a zip file shows a list of what is inside. Other types, such as Word documents, are stored encrypted but can't be previewed in the app yet. Lockboxy's Files area is for keeping and viewing, so keep the original or a backup if you need to attach a file to an email later.

• The free plan holds up to 10 files, and a scan saved as separate images counts one file per page, while a PDF counts once. Premium removes that limit.
• There is no account to recover. If you forget the vault passcode and did not set a Recovery Key (Premium), nobody can open the vault, including us. Premium also adds an encrypted backup file you can save to your own cloud, so a lost or replaced phone does not take your documents with it. See how to move private photos to a new iPhone.

Prices and which plan includes what are on the Premium page; the app shows the exact price before you buy.

• A few documents, and your worry is a friend glancing at your phone: a locked note with its own password.
• A phone shared with family, or a lot of documents: a vault with its own passcode.
• Either way: lock the Files app on iOS 18 or later, and delete leftover copies in Files, Photos, Mail and chat apps. How to store photos of your ID safely walks through that clean-up.