Keep PDFs and documents private on iPhone
Where documents end up
- Files. Scans, downloads and saved attachments.
- iCloud Drive. A copy there may also be on your other devices.
- Your email. An attachment stays in the message until you delete the message.
- Chat apps. A PDF someone sent you may be saved by the app. Here's how to stop chat apps saving pictures; look at each app's own settings for files.
- Your camera roll. A photographed page is a picture, not a PDF. Here's how to find those.
Searching your email and chats for words like "payslip" or "passport" finds old copies. Delete the ones you don't need, in each place.
What Apple's own settings cover
iCloud Drive. Apple says your iCloud data is encrypted in transit and stored in an encrypted format at rest. With standard data protection, iCloud Drive's keys are held by Apple, which lets it help you get your data back. If you turn on Advanced Data Protection, Apple lists iCloud Drive as end-to-end encrypted, with the keys on your trusted devices. Apple can then no longer help you recover it, so you must set up a recovery contact or recovery key first. Here's what it changes and what it needs. That is about the copy in iCloud. It is not a lock on the Files app.
Locking an app. Apple's Personal Safety guide says a locked app requires Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode to open. It also says information inside a locked app won't appear in some places on your iPhone, such as notification previews, search, Siri suggestions or your call history. Locking an app that holds your documents, such as your email app, may be a sensible extra step. That page doesn't mention the Files app, so don't assume Files can be locked. Because your passcode opens a locked app, anyone who knows your passcode can get in.
A password on a PDF. We don't give steps for this here. Apple has its own guide to locking a PDF; look for it in your iPhone User Guide.
How FirstHour's Vault fits
The Vault keeps files behind its own pattern or PIN, separate from your iPhone passcode. To add a document, open the Vault, tap +, then Choose from Files. The steps are here.
- A PDF opens inside the Vault, and links inside it don't open.
- Other kinds, such as Word files, are stored sealed and show read-only when you tap Open. That makes one temporary unlocked copy, removed when you tap Done or the Vault locks.
- A PDF with its own password is stored, but can only be saved or shared.
- Anything over 200 MB, PDFs included, can't be opened in the Vault.
A file sent from another app's Share menu waits for you to unlock the Vault. While it waits it is an ordinary unlocked copy, and if you don't unlock, it is removed.
What FirstHour can't do
- The original stays in Files. FirstHour tells you so. Delete it there yourself once you can see it in the Vault.
- It doesn't touch other copies. Copies in email, chats and iCloud Drive stay where they are.
- Save to Files and Share make an unlocked copy. Once it's outside the Vault, the Vault no longer protects it.
- It's not a backup. The Vault stays on this iPhone unless you save an encrypted backup yourself.
- Its checks don't read PDFs or other files, and search can't read the words inside them. Give each file a clear name.
For scanning, keeping tax papers and where to keep a second copy, see Store tax and important documents on iPhone. For health papers, see Medical papers and test results.
Questions
Should I delete the copy in Files after adding it to the Vault?
If you don't need it in Files, yes. Check first that you can open it in the Vault. Keep a copy somewhere that isn't this phone, since the Vault isn't a backup.
Sources
- iCloud data security overview, Apple Support, read 4 November 2026
- Lock or hide an app, in the Personal Safety User Guide, Apple Support, read 4 November 2026