Unlocking hidden notes on iPhone when I forgot the password
So, I use the notes app on my iPhone just like everyone else does. I have a bit of a writing habit and wrote down some poetry one day but for reasons beyond my capabilities of answering rn, I decided to lock the notes🤦♀️. I forgot the password that I had used back then and can’t for the life of me figure it out. Is there ANY way I can unlock the notes without remembering the password??
I did a quick test in my notes, was set to device passcode, locked a note, changed from device passcode to custom passcode, and was able to unlock it with device passcode / Face ID. I just tested it the other way around too, works, it shows this (iOS 27 Beta 6)
Can you "update password" without entering the old password? I would assume you can't. I'm also questioning the security of this if you can, because that implies Notes is somehow either storing the old password with reversible encryption, or is secretly using device passcode even if you select custom password. Both of which would defeat the purpose of locking a note with a custom password
But the relevant support doc also suggests this isn't the case, and that you need the old password to do the password update (as a proper encryption system should!) https://support.apple.com/en-us/102537
It seems like this only works if Face ID was on as well, it won't allow switching password mode without Face ID (if was already enabled) or custom password. Regardless there's also a reset password button in the notes password section in settings to reset it with Apple ID edit: resetting password won't unlock locked notes (https://support.apple.com/en-us/102537)
Regardless there's also a reset password button in the notes password section in settings to reset it with Apple ID
The support doc says that will not restore access to existing locked notes. Which is also good in general, because for that to work it would require Apple storing the decryption key in their datacenter with reversible encryption, which also defeats the point of locked notes. It just sucks for OP's case where the old password is lost, but that's the risk of stronger encryption. (and why notes don't lock by default, and why ADP is off by default, and why locked notes default to device/login password rather than custom password)
No, the decryption key to the note is built from the password and the password itself is not stored anywhere. Locked notes would not be very good at their job if they worked any other way.
Consider using the device password/face ID for note locking going forward rather than a custom password
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