Guide

How to Store Passport and ID Scans on iPhone Safely

Published November 9, 2026

Short answer

Do not leave passport, license and ID scans in your camera roll. They sit next to everything else you share and sync. Keep them in one encrypted place with its own passphrase, remove the loose copies, and keep a paper or offline copy of anything you cannot afford to lose.

Why the camera roll is a poor home for IDs

They are mixed in with photos you share, so a wrong tap while attaching a picture can send an ID.
They sync to every device signed in to your iCloud Photos.
They show up when you hand your phone to someone to look at a picture.
They get forgotten, and old scans pile up for years.

Where to keep them instead

An encrypted vault with its own passphrase keeps IDs apart from your photo library and from your phone passcode. In Sealed you can add any file, including PDFs, from the Files app, or take a photo straight into the vault, and organize it into folders such as Passport, License and Insurance.

How to move the scans you already have

Create folders in your vault, for example Identity, Travel and Insurance.
Import the scans from Photos or Files into the vault.
Open each one in the vault to confirm it imported correctly.
Delete the originals. Sealed can remove them from Photos for you after they are encrypted.
Open Recently Deleted in Photos and delete them there too. Photos keeps deleted items for 30 days.
Check Mail, Messages and Downloads for copies you sent yourself and remove them.

Keep one copy that does not depend on your phone

If you lose your phone and your recovery key, an encrypted vault cannot be opened by anyone, including us. Keep a paper copy of your passport details in a safe place, and print the optional 24-word recovery key and store it away from the phone. How the recovery key works covers making one and keeping it safe.

Sharing a scan when you need to

When a bank or an airline asks for a copy, export just that file through the share sheet, send it, then delete the sent copy from the app you used. The vault copy stays encrypted.