Forgot your photo vault password? How to get back in, app by app

The short answer#

Whether you can reset a forgotten photo vault password depends on the app, and on what you set up before you got locked out. Most vault apps can reset it through a recovery email or a backup password you added earlier. If you never added one, and the app really encrypts your photos, there's no way back in. That's the trade-off of real encryption: nobody can open the vault without your key, and that includes the company that made it.

Find your app#

Steps differ for every app. Here's what each one offers, taken from the company's own help pages or App Store listing.

Checked on 3 November 2026. Apps change their recovery options, so if a step doesn't match what you see, check the app's own help page.

Step-by-step, app by app#

Private Photo Vault

Private Photo Vault can recover your app or album password only if you set up a recovery email when you first used the app.

1. 1

   Enter the wrong password 8 times

   On the app's lock screen, enter the password incorrectly eight times in a row. For an album password, it's five times in a row.
2. 2

   Choose Yes

   When the password recovery prompt appears, choose Yes.
3. 3

   Check your recovery email

   Follow the steps sent to the recovery email you set up.

The Cloud Vault password is separate from the app password. Private Photo Vault says its team can't recover it, because Cloud Vault backups are encrypted before upload. Source: Private Photo Vault FAQ.

Keepsafe

Keepsafe resets your PIN with a code sent to the email addresses verified on your account.

1. 1

   Open the reset

   On iPhone, tap Forgot PIN in the top right corner. On Android, tap the three-dot menu, then Reset PIN, then Send code.
2. 2

   Wait for the email

   For extra security, Keepsafe waits 5 minutes before sending the access code.
3. 3

   Enter the code

   Go back to Keepsafe and enter the code on the page that opened when you asked for it.
4. 4

   Create a new PIN

   Set a new PIN (or a pattern, on Android).

Forgot an album password instead? In Keepsafe's settings, open Album Passwords and tap Unlock All Albums (iPhone) or Remove all Passwords (Android), then enter the emailed code. This unlocks every locked album, including those in your Decoy Vault.

If you've lost access to every verified email address, Keepsafe says it can't recover the account or its contents. Sources: Keepsafe: lost PIN, lost email, album passwords.

LockMyPix

LockMyPix offers two recovery options. Both only work if you turned them on in its settings beforehand.

1. 1

   Open password recovery

   On the login screen, enter a wrong password, then tap password recovery in the top menu.
2. 2

   Option 1: recovery email

   Enter your email. LockMyPix sends a link to a verification code. Enter the code in the app and it shows your password. The email can take up to 5 minutes.
3. 3

   Option 2: alternative access password

   If you set a backup password, enter it to open your vault, then change your main password in settings.

In LockMyPix's own words: "You cannot gain access if you forget your password and didn't activate a recovery option. There's no backdoor." Source: LockMyPix password recovery.

Calculator# (calculator vault apps)

Calculator# says on its App Store listing that you can retrieve a lost password through your registered email. It doesn't publish step-by-step instructions, so look for a forgotten-password option on the app's lock screen. Source: Calculator# on the App Store.

Other calculator-style vault apps vary a lot. Most tie recovery to an email you add in their settings. Check the app's App Store page or help section for its exact steps before trying anything that could delete your photos.

SPV Secret Photo Vault

SPV doesn't publish recovery steps on its App Store listing or its developer's website. Contact the developer through the support link on its App Store page, and don't reinstall the app while you wait.

Hide It Pro

Hide It Pro doesn't publish recovery steps on its website. Contact its support team at [email protected]. Be wary of forum "tricks" for getting around the lock: they're unofficial, and some involve reinstalling, which can delete your files.

iPhone Hidden album

The Hidden album in Photos doesn't have a separate password. On iOS 16 and later it opens with Face ID, Touch ID or your iPhone passcode (Apple Support). If Face ID fails, enter your passcode. If you've forgotten your iPhone passcode, follow Apple's steps for a forgotten passcode. That process erases the iPhone, so your photos come back only from a backup, such as iCloud Photos.

More on how private the Hidden album really is: Where are hidden photos on iPhone, and who can see them?

VaultShield

VaultShield has no account and no email reset. Instead, it gives you a 24-word recovery phrase once, when you create your vault.

1. 1

   Tap Forgot pattern

   It's on the vault's lock screen.
2. 2

   Enter your recovery phrase

   Type your 24 words, in order, separated by spaces.
3. 3

   Set a new pattern

   Draw a new pattern, then draw it again to confirm. Your vault opens with everything still in it.

If you lose both your pattern and your recovery phrase, nobody can open the vault, including us. That's deliberate: there's no copy of your key anywhere else. More on how it works: the recovery phrase.

Why some vault passwords can't be reset#

Vault apps protect photos in one of two ways, and it decides whether a reset is even possible.

• A lock screen in front of the files. The photos are stored normally, and the app just asks for a PIN before showing them. The company can usually help you reset the PIN, because the photos never depended on it.
• Encryption. Each photo is scrambled using a key that comes from your password or recovery credential. Without that key, the files are unreadable, and no support team, email link or master key can open them.

A useful test: if an app can show you or email you your old password, it has a way to read that password. That makes forgetting it less of a risk, but it also means the password isn't only in your head. Encrypted apps can't do that, which is why they rely on something you saved in advance, like a recovery phrase or a backup password.

Neither approach is wrong. It's a choice between convenience if you forget, and nobody else being able to get in. Our security page explains the choice VaultShield made.

Can you get your photos back without the password?#

Sometimes, depending on what existed before you got locked out.

• The app's own cloud backup. Some vault apps back up to their own cloud. Restoring that backup usually needs the backup's own password, which can be different from your app password (Private Photo Vault's Cloud Vault works this way).
• A computer or iCloud backup of your iPhone. Some vault apps' data comes back when you restore an iPhone backup, and some don't (VaultShield keeps its vault out of device backups on purpose). Even when it does come back, it's still locked, so a backup can help if the app was deleted but won't get you past a forgotten password.
• Photos you didn't delete from Photos. If you imported photos into the vault but never removed the originals, check Photos, including the Recently Deleted album, which keeps deleted items for about 30 days.
• "Recovery" software. Paid tools that promise to unlock vault apps can sometimes find files from apps that only hide them. They can't decrypt files from an app that really encrypts them, so treat big promises with caution.

What not to do#

How to avoid this next time#

A few minutes now saves you from being locked out later.

• Turn on the app's recovery option today, whether that's a recovery email, a backup password or a recovery phrase. Most apps only let you add it while you can still get in.
• Write a recovery phrase on paper and keep it somewhere safe at home. Don't keep it as a screenshot on the same phone as the vault.
• Use a password manager for a vault password or backup password.
• Use an email you'll keep. Email-based recovery fails if you lose access to that inbox.
• Test it once. Make sure the recovery works before you need it.

Frequently asked questions#

What if I forgot my photo vault password?

Don't delete the app. Look for a Forgot password or Forgot PIN option on its lock screen, or, in some apps, enter the wrong password several times to bring up a recovery prompt. Recovery almost always relies on an email, a backup password or a recovery phrase you set up earlier.

How can I open my vault if I forgot my password?

Use the app's recovery option: a recovery email (Private Photo Vault, Keepsafe, LockMyPix, Calculator#), a backup password (LockMyPix) or a recovery phrase (VaultShield). If you never set one up, contact the app's support team. For apps that truly encrypt your photos, there's no way in without one of these.

Will deleting and reinstalling the app reset the password?

It can, but it usually deletes your photos too, because they're stored inside the app. Try every recovery option first.

Can the app's support team unlock my vault?

Only if the app is able to read your password or files. Apps that encrypt your photos with a key only you hold can't unlock them, and they'll usually tell you so.

Can I recover a photo vault without a backup?

If you're still locked out with no recovery option and no backup, usually not. Check whether the originals are still in Photos or in Recently Deleted.

Does factory resetting my phone help?

No. A factory reset erases every app, including the vault and its photos. It doesn't unlock anything.

The bottom line#

Most vault apps can let you back in, but only through a recovery option you set up before you forgot. Check the table above for your app, follow its steps, and don't delete the app while you try. Once you're back in, set up recovery properly so this doesn't happen again.

Looking for a vault that recovers with a phrase only you hold, without an account or email? See how VaultShield's photo vault works.