# How to store your passport and ID safely on iPhone

> Keep a copy of your passport, driver's licence and ID cards on your iPhone without leaving them in the camera roll. Built-in options, a vault and travel tips.

Published 2026-11-02 · https://vaultcave.app/guides/store-passport-id-iphone

**Scan your passport and ID into a locked place rather than the camera roll: a locked note with its own password, or an encrypted vault app with a separate key. Use Apple Wallet's digital ID where your country or state supports it, and keep the physical documents for anything official.**

Having a copy of your passport and ID on your phone is genuinely useful. If your bag is stolen abroad, a clear scan of the photo page and your document numbers makes reporting the loss and getting a replacement much easier. The question is where to store your passport on iPhone so the copy helps you without becoming a risk of its own. This guide walks through the built-in options, where they fall short, and how to keep ID documents encrypted.

## Why keep a copy at all

A digital copy of your ID helps in a few common situations:

- **Loss or theft while travelling.** Embassies and police usually ask for your passport number and issue date. A scan saves you from guessing.
- **Forms and bookings.** Hotels, car rentals and visa applications often ask for document numbers you don't know by heart.
- **A backup when the original is elsewhere.** Your passport is in the hotel safe; the copy is with you.

What a copy doesn't do: it isn't a valid travel document. Treat it as a backup and a memory aid, never as a replacement for the real thing.

## The risk of keeping ID photos in your camera roll

Snapping a photo of your passport is the quickest option, and it's also the most exposed place to leave it:

- **It syncs everywhere.** With iCloud Photos on, the image goes to every device signed in to your Apple account, including an old iPad a family member now uses.
- **It's searchable.** Photos recognises text in images, so a search for "passport" can surface it.
- **It shows up uninvited.** Memories, featured photos and the Photos widget can put a picture of your ID on screen at an awkward moment.
- **Apps can read it.** Any app you've given full access to your photo library can see the image. You can check which apps have access in **Settings → Privacy & Security → Photos**.
- **It's easy to send by accident.** One wrong tap in a share sheet or a shared album and it's gone.

An ID photo is exactly what someone needs to open accounts in your name, so it deserves better than the camera roll.

## Option 1: Apple Wallet digital IDs, where available

Apple Wallet can hold some official IDs, but only in specific places, and the list keeps changing:

- **US passports.** Since November 2025, people in the United States can create a Digital ID in Apple Wallet from a US passport and present it at participating TSA checkpoints for domestic flights. It doesn't replace your passport for international travel or border crossings.
- **US driver's licences and state IDs.** A growing number of states support adding a licence or state ID to Wallet. Acceptance is mostly at participating airports and some businesses; many states still advise carrying the physical card.
- **Japan.** The My Number Card can be added to Wallet on supported iPhones.

Check Apple's current list of supported regions before relying on it, and check that the place you're going actually accepts it. A Wallet ID is protected by your device and Face ID or passcode, and you present it without handing over your phone, which is a real improvement. But it covers only certain documents in certain places, so most people still need a secure copy of everything else.

## Option 2: A locked note

The Notes app can scan documents and lock individual notes. It's built in and free.

1. Open **Notes** and create a new note.
2. Tap the attachment button and choose **Scan Documents**. Hold the camera over your passport photo page; Notes captures and crops it.
3. Add a line with the document number and expiry date if you like.
4. Tap the **More** button (⋯) and choose **Lock**.
5. The first time, set a notes password. You can choose your iPhone passcode or a separate password. To change it later, go to **Settings → Apps → Notes → Password** (on iOS 17, **Settings → Notes → Password**).

Choose a **separate password** if you can. With the device passcode option, anyone who knows your iPhone passcode can open the note. And write the password down somewhere safe: Apple can't open locked notes for you, and resetting the password doesn't unlock notes that were already locked.

## Where built-in options stop

A locked note is a reasonable choice, with some limits worth knowing:

- **The scan isn't the original.** Notes keeps a document scan inside the note; it isn't a general place to store the full-quality files, PDFs and photos you might have.
- **It's tied to your Apple account.** If your notes sync with iCloud, they're part of your account. That's convenient, but it means the security of your documents leans on the security of that account too.
- **The device passcode option is a single point of failure.** If you picked it, your iPhone passcode is the only thing between someone and your ID.
- **The Hidden album isn't a substitute.** It hides a photo from view, but it opens with your phone's unlock and stays in your normal library. See [Hidden album vs an encrypted vault](/blog/iphone-hidden-album-vs-encrypted-vault) for the full comparison.

## Option 3: An encrypted vault

An encrypted vault app stores files in its own encrypted storage, behind a key that isn't your phone's passcode. For identity documents, that means a scan of your passport stays unreadable even to someone who knows your iPhone code or copies files off the phone.

With VaultCave, as one example:

1. Create a vault and choose a pattern or passcode for it. It's separate from your iPhone passcode.
2. Write down the 12-word recovery phrase it generates. It's the only way to restore the vault if you forget the pattern; nobody can reset it for you. Here's [how to store a recovery phrase](/blog/recovery-phrase-how-to-store-it).
3. Tap + and import your ID photos from Photos, with the option to delete the originals from your library once the encrypted copy is verified. PDFs and other files come in from Files, and you can also use the built-in camera, which never saves to the camera roll.
4. Group them into a folder such as "Travel documents" so you can find them quickly at a counter.

Everything is encrypted with AES-256, including file names and thumbnails, and an optional encrypted backup to your own iCloud means losing the phone doesn't mean losing your documents. The backup can only be restored with the recovery phrase. The details are on our [security page](/security).

Be honest with yourself about the trade-off: if you forget both the pattern and the recovery phrase, the vault can't be opened by anyone.

## Comparing your options

| | Camera roll | Locked note | Apple Wallet ID | Encrypted vault |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Separate key from your iPhone passcode | No | Optional | No (uses device unlock) | Yes |
| Encrypted on the device | Only as part of the phone's normal protection | Yes, when locked | Yes | Yes, with its own key |
| Kept out of search, Memories and other apps | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Works for any document | Photos only | Scans and attachments | Supported IDs and regions only | Any file type |
| Officially accepted as ID | No | No | In supported places | No |

## Travel tips

- **Before you leave,** scan the passport photo page, your visa if you have one, your driver's licence and the back of any card you might need to cancel, such as a health insurance card.
- **Note the numbers** separately: passport number, issue date and place, and your embassy's contact details for the countries you're visiting.
- **Keep paper too.** A printed copy in a different bag from the passport still works when your phone is lost, stolen or dead.
- **Check your backup** before you fly, so a lost phone doesn't take your copies with it.
- **Don't hand over an unlocked phone** to show an ID scan. Open the one document first, and if you're using a vault, close it afterwards.
- **Mind public Wi-Fi printers and kiosks.** Sending an ID scan to a hotel business-centre printer leaves a copy you don't control.

## Mistakes to avoid

- **Leaving the original photo in Recently Deleted.** After moving an ID scan somewhere safer, delete it from your library and empty **Recently Deleted**, or it stays for up to 30 days. Our guide to [permanently deleting photos](/guides/permanently-delete-photos-iphone) covers this.
- **Emailing ID scans to yourself.** Your inbox becomes another place holding your passport, often for years.
- **Sending ID copies over chat to anyone who asks.** Share them only with organisations that genuinely need them, and ask whether showing the original would do.
- **Using your iPhone passcode as the only lock.** Anyone who has seen you unlock your phone then has your documents too.
- **Assuming a digital ID works everywhere.** Check before you travel; keep the physical document.

## The short version

- A copy of your passport and ID is a useful backup, never a replacement for the original.
- Don't leave ID photos in the camera roll: they sync, show up in search and Memories, and apps can read them.
- Use Apple Wallet's digital ID where your country or state supports it, and check where it's accepted.
- Keep scans in a locked note with its own password or in an encrypted vault with a separate key.
- Back up your copies, carry a paper copy when travelling, and keep your recovery details safe.

## FAQ

### Is a photo of my passport a valid travel document?

No. A photo or scan is a backup that helps you report a loss and apply for a replacement faster. Borders, airlines and officials expect the physical passport. A digital ID in Apple Wallet, where available, has its own rules about where it's accepted, so check before you rely on it.

### Can someone steal my identity from a photo of my passport?

A clear image of an ID page shows your name, date of birth, document number and photo, which is exactly what fraudsters look for. That's why it belongs somewhere locked and encrypted, and why you shouldn't send it to anyone who doesn't genuinely need it.

### Should I keep a copy of my passport in iCloud Photos?

It's better than no copy, but your camera roll is the most exposed place on your phone. It syncs to every device on your Apple account, shows up in search and Memories, and apps with full photo access can read it. A locked note or an encrypted vault is a better home.

### What should I do if I lose my passport abroad?

Contact your country's embassy or consulate, and report the loss to local police if they ask for it. Having a copy of the photo page, plus your passport number and issue date, usually makes the replacement process quicker. Check your government's official travel advice for the exact steps.

### Can I store my passport in Apple Wallet?

In the United States, Apple Wallet can create a Digital ID from a US passport, accepted at some TSA checkpoints. It doesn't replace the passport for international travel. Some US states and Japan also support ID cards in Wallet. Availability changes, so check Apple's current list.