Forgot your Apple Notes password? Here’s what still works

Apple Notes has two ways to lock notes, and you choose one per account (iCloud, or On My iPhone / On My Mac):

• Device passcode. Your iPhone or iPad passcode, or your Mac login password, opens locked notes. Face ID and Touch ID work too. This needs iOS 16, iPadOS 16 or macOS 13 or later.
• Custom password. A separate password used only for locked notes. It’s the same on every device signed in to your Apple Account, and it’s the one people forget.

To see which one you have, on iPhone go to Settings›Apps›Notes›Password. On a Mac, open Notes and choose Notes›Settings, then look at the Locked notes menu. If it says you use your device passcode, the rest of this page doesn’t apply. Your notes open with the passcode you unlock your device with.

A reset can’t be undone, and it doesn’t help with old notes. So try these first, in this order:

1. 1
   Read the hint. If you set one, Notes shows it after a few wrong attempts, so entering a wrong password a couple of times on purpose will bring it up.
2. 2
   Try Face ID or Touch ID. If it was turned on for Notes before you forgot the password, it may still open your locked notes. If it works, copy out anything important straight away, or remove the lock from each note with More›Remove Lock. Don’t change your Face ID or Touch ID settings first: Notes asks for the password again after you do.
3. 3
   Try another device. An iPad or Mac signed in to the same Apple Account may still have Touch ID or Face ID turned on for Notes even if your iPhone doesn’t.
4. 4
   Try older passwords. Each locked note keeps the password that was in place when you locked it. A note locked three years ago may still use a password you’ve since changed, so try those too.

Resetting gives you a new password for notes you lock from now on. It needs your Apple Account password.

1. 1
   Open Settings›Apps›Notes›Password. On iOS 17 or earlier, there’s no Apps step: go straight to Settings›Notes›Password.
2. 2
   If you have more than one Notes account, choose the account.
3. 3
   Tap Reset Password and enter your Apple Account password when asked.
4. 4
   Set the new password and add a hint. Or skip the custom password entirely and switch to your device passcode, as described in section 6 below.

1. 1
   Open Notes and choose Notes›Settings. If you have more than one account, select the account first.
2. 2
   Click Reset Password, then OK.
3. 3
   For an iCloud account, enter your Apple Account password and press Return.
4. 4
   Click Reset Password again to confirm.
5. 5
   Type a new password in the Password and Verify fields, add a hint, then click Set Password.

If you only want a different password and still know the current one, use Change Password in the same window instead. Changing updates every locked note to the new password. Resetting doesn’t, which is why Apple recommends changing whenever you can.

They stay where they are. Each one keeps showing its title in the notes list and keeps asking for the password that locked it. The new password won’t open them, and nothing will delete them unless you do.

That’s the reason to keep them. If the old password comes back to you, maybe in a password manager or an old notebook, enter it on the note. Once it’s open, remove the lock or lock it again so it uses your current password, and you’re back to one password.

If you’re sure a note is gone for good, you can delete it like any other note. It moves to Recently Deleted first, so there’s a window to change your mind.

The simplest fix is to stop using a separate password. Switch the account to your device passcode:

• iPhone or iPad: Settings›Apps›Notes›Password, choose the account, then Use Device Passcode.
• Mac: Notes›Settings, open the Locked notes menu, then choose Use Login Password.

Apple says notes you could open with the old method switch to the new one. Notes still locked with a password you can’t remember won’t open, so they stay as they are.

If you’d rather keep a custom password, save it in the Passwords app or another password manager the day you create it, and write a hint that would make sense to you in five years but not to anyone else.

Checked against Apple’s documentation on 16 October 2026:

• ↗Apple: Lock your notes on iPhone (iOS 27)
• ↗Apple: Lock your notes on Mac
• ↗Apple: Change your password for locked notes on Mac
• ↗Apple Platform Security: Secure features in the Notes app