Protect & encrypt
How to Password Protect Files and Documents on iPhone
Updated 2 min read
Phones have quietly become filing cabinets. A photographed passport for a hotel check-in, a screenshot of a bank statement, a scanned prescription — they pile up in the camera roll and in Files, readable by anyone who can unlock the phone. iOS has no built-in way to put a password on an individual file, so this guide covers what you can do instead.
What the Files app can and cannot do
The Files app is protected by device encryption like everything else, but it has no app lock and no per-file or per-folder password. Anyone using your unlocked phone can browse On My iPhone, iCloud Drive and Downloads.
You can lock an individual note in Apple Notes with a separate password and attach scans to it. For more than a few documents, though, you will want somewhere that is organised, searchable and encrypted as a whole.
Find the sensitive documents you already have
Before you can protect them, round them up. Photos can search the text inside images, which makes this quicker than scrolling:
- Search Photos for words like "passport", "licence", "account", "statement", "invoice" and "prescription".
- Check the Screenshots collection for banking apps, boarding passes and one-time codes.
- In Files, sort Downloads by date and look for PDFs you saved from email.
Move them into an encrypted vault
Step 1: Open the Add tab in SnapLockr
Choose Photos for screenshots and scans in your library, or Files for documents saved in iCloud Drive or On My iPhone.
Step 2: Pick an album
Create one per category — IDs, finance, medical — so you can find things quickly. On the device, album names are protected by iOS encryption rather than the vault key, so a neutral name like "Travel" gives less away than "Passport scans".
Step 3: Delete the originals
Remove them from Photos (and empty Recently Deleted) or from Files, so the only remaining copy is the encrypted one.
Search them without exposing them
The text in a document photo is often more sensitive than the image itself: an account number, a date of birth, a diagnosis. Many apps that make text searchable send images to a server or store the extracted text in the clear.
SnapLockr features in this guide
Import, Share & Export
Bring media in from Photos, Files, the camera or the share sheet of any app. Share or export whenever you need to — your files are never held hostage.
Albums, Collections & Search
Organise with albums and sub-albums, smart Collections and duplicate detection. On-device text search finds words inside photographed documents.
AES-256-GCM Encryption
Every photo, video, thumbnail and piece of recognised text is encrypted on your device. Your passcode is never stored in any form, so there is nothing to extract.
Passcode & Face ID
Lock the vault with a 6-digit PIN or a passphrase. A Face ID or Touch ID match releases the key itself, so it is a cryptographic lock rather than a screen to skip past.
Frequently asked questions
Can I put a password on a folder in the Files app?
No. The Files app has no folder or file passwords. You can lock individual notes in Apple Notes, or move documents into an encrypted vault app that has its own passcode.
Can SnapLockr search the text in my documents?
Yes. Text recognition runs on your iPhone when you import, and the recognised text is stored encrypted. Searching finds words inside photographed documents without the text ever leaving your device.