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How To Password Protect Notes in Apple Notes App

Apple Notes is a great app for taking notes on your iPhone, iPad, and Mac. With iOS 16, iPadOS 16, and macOS 13, Apple introduced the ability to password protect your notes for extra security and privacy. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to set a password and lock notes in the Apple Notes app.

Set Up Password for Locking Notes

To get started, you first need to set up a password that will be used to lock notes. Here are the steps:

  1. Open the Settings app on your iPhone/iPad or System Preferences on your Mac
  2. Go to Notes
  3. Tap/Click on Password
  4. Choose the account you want to set a password for
  5. Tap/Click on “Set Password”
  6. Enter a password and password hint
  7. Confirm the password

You now have a password set up that will be used for locking notes.

Lock a Note

To lock an individual note with a password:

  1. Open the Notes app
  2. Tap on the note you want to lock
  3. Tap on the More (•••) button
  4. Choose Lock Note
  5. Enter the password you set up

The note is now locked and requires the password to view its contents. A locked note can be identified by the locked padlock icon next to it.

To view a locked note, tap on it and enter the password when prompted.

Change Locking Method

You can change whether notes are locked with your device passcode or a custom password:

Use Device Passcode

  1. Go to Settings > Notes > Password
  2. Tap “Use Device Passcode”
  3. Confirm with Face ID/Touch ID or device passcode

Use Custom Password

  1. Go to Settings > Notes > Password
  2. Tap “Set Password”
  3. Enter and confirm new password

Using your device passcode means you have one less password to remember. But a custom password provides more security.

Reset Lock Password

If you forget your custom password for locked notes:

  1. Go to Settings > Notes > Password
  2. Tap Reset Password
  3. Choose a new password

This will reset the password so you can access locked notes with a new one. But it will not decrypt notes locked with the forgotten password. Those notes will remain inaccessible.

Tips for Locking Notes

  • Only lock sensitive notes that need extra security
  • Use a strong password that is hard to guess
  • Set a useful password hint to help remember your password
  • You can identify locked notes by the padlock icon
  • Locked notes sync across devices when using iCloud
  • Locked notes cannot be shared with others

Conclusion

The ability to lock notes in the Apple Notes app is useful for adding an extra layer of security. By setting a password and locking sensitive notes, you can protect private information from prying eyes. Just be sure not to forget your password, or those locked notes could be lost forever! Using the steps outlined, you can easily set up password protection for your notes.

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