Where to store passport and ID scans on your iPhone

Why the camera roll is the worst place for an ID

A passport photo page or a driver's license holds almost everything someone needs to pass as you: full name, date of birth, document number, signature and a clear photo of your face. In the camera roll it sits next to holiday photos, so it's one swipe away for anyone you hand your unlocked phone to. It also travels wherever your library does.

• It syncs. With iCloud Photos on, the scan is on every device signed in to your Apple Account, including an iPad the family shares.
• Apple holds the keys. Under standard data protection, Apple lists Photos, iCloud Drive and Notes as not end-to-end encrypted. Only with Advanced Data Protection turned on do they become end-to-end encrypted. Our guide to whether iCloud Photos is private explains what that means in practice.
• It lingers. Deleting it moves it to Recently Deleted first, and copies may still be in old backups or sent messages. See how to permanently delete photos from iPhone.

The five places, compared

Option 1: Apple Wallet Digital ID (US passport only)

If you have a US passport, Apple Wallet can create a Digital ID from it. You can present it at select TSA checkpoints for domestic flights, and to verify your age or identity at select businesses, in apps and on websites. You review each request before anything is shared, and Face ID or Touch ID is required to use it.

Know the limits before you rely on it:

• Apple says it is not a passport and doesn't replace one. You still need the physical passport for international travel and border crossings.
• It needs an iPhone 11 or later on iOS 26.1 or later, with the device region set to the United States, and it can only be on one iPhone at a time.
• It's a credential, not a picture. When a landlord, employer or visa agent asks for a copy of your passport, Wallet doesn't help. You still need a scan, and that scan still needs a safe home.

Option 2: A locked note with a separate password

Notes is already on every iPhone and has a built-in document scanner. Apple says locked notes are end-to-end encrypted for iCloud accounts and that Apple can't access them. That makes a locked note the best free built-in option for ID scans, as long as you set it up carefully.

1. Go to Settings › Apps › Notes › Password and choose a separate Notes password rather than your iPhone passcode. With the passcode option, anyone who knows your passcode can open your locked notes. Turn on Face ID if you like; the password still works as a fallback.
2. Create a new note in your iCloud account (notes in Gmail, Yahoo or other IMAP accounts can't be locked).
3. Tap the attachment button, then Scan Documents. Point the camera at the page, adjust the corners and tap Keep Scan, then Done. Scanning directly into the note means the image never goes to your camera roll.
4. Tap the More button (…) and choose Lock. Tap the lock icon at the top to close it.

Some catches from Apple's own list: notes that contain PDFs, audio, video or Pages, Numbers and Keynote files can't be locked, and neither can shared notes or notes with tags. So don't drop a PDF of your passport into the note; scan it instead. And if you forget the Notes password, Apple can't help. Resetting it only applies to notes you lock afterwards, so store that password somewhere you trust.

Option 3: The Hidden album or the Files app (not enough on their own)

The Hidden album in Photos is locked with Face ID or Touch ID by default on iOS 16 and later, and a hidden photo disappears from the main grid on all your devices that use iCloud Photos. That stops casual scrolling, but the photo is still part of your Photos library and under standard data protection it isn't end-to-end encrypted in iCloud. Our guide to hiding photos on iPhone covers what Hidden does and doesn't protect.

The Files app can also scan documents (tap the More button, then Scan Documents, and choose where to save). It's a tidy place for PDFs, but Files has no lock of its own, so anyone with your unlocked phone can open them. Use it for organising, not for protecting.

Option 4: An encrypted vault app

If you keep more than one or two documents (passports for the whole family, a residence permit, insurance cards, a scanned birth certificate), a dedicated vault is easier to live with than a long locked note. What to look for:

• Real encryption, not just a passcode screen. Many locker apps only hide files behind a PIN. Look for a clear statement of how files are encrypted. Our article on calculator vault apps explains the difference.
• Capture straight into the app, so the scan never touches the camera roll.
• Backups that are encrypted before they leave the phone, and a recovery method that doesn't depend on the company resetting your password.
• Controlled sharing, so a copy you send can expire.

This is the case Hushkeeper was built for. It encrypts photos, videos and documents on your device with AES-256-GCM behind a pattern only you know, with no account. You can import from Photos and Files or take photos directly into the vault, and search by file name or filter to documents only. The encrypted iCloud backup is free, and restoring on a new iPhone needs your recovery phrase. With Pro, you can share selected files as a separate encrypted vault with an expiry date, an open limit and exports blocked. Hushkeeper is coming soon to the App Store.

No app protects a scan from someone who watches you unlock it, or from a person you've shared it with taking a screenshot. Treat the vault as one layer, not the whole plan.

Clean up the copies you already have

1. Scroll through Photos, including Screenshots and the Hidden album, for old scans and photos of documents. Try searching for "passport" or "license" too.
2. Move each one into your locked note or vault, then delete it from Photos.
3. Open the Recently Deleted album and delete them there too.
4. Check Messages, Mail and chat apps for copies you've sent before, and delete the ones you no longer need.

Before you send a copy

Storing the scan safely is half the job. When someone asks for a copy, send a marked-up version rather than the original: add a watermark with who it's for and why using our free ID copy watermark tool, cover numbers they don't need with the redact tool, and strip hidden data with the metadata remover. All three run in your browser and nothing is uploaded. The full walkthrough is in how to safely send a copy of your passport or ID.

Sources

• Apple Support: Use your Digital ID in Apple Wallet
• Apple Support: How to lock or unlock notes on your iPhone or iPad
• Apple Support: How to scan documents on your iPhone or iPad
• Apple Support: Hide photos with the Hidden album
• Apple Support: iCloud data security overview