If you died tomorrow, could anyone you trust get into your photos, notes and files? For most people the answer is no. Both Apple and Google offer a free setting that fixes this, but you have to turn it on while you’re alive. It takes about five minutes.
Here’s how to set up each one, what it does and doesn’t cover, and what to do about the gaps.
Apple: Add a Legacy Contact
A Legacy Contact is a person you name who can request access to the data in your Apple Account after your death. They don’t need an Apple Account or an Apple device. They do need an access key you generate and your death certificate.
What you need first
- An iPhone or iPad on iOS or iPadOS 15.2 or later, or a Mac on macOS Monterey 12.1 or later.
- To be signed in to your Apple Account on that device.
- Two-factor authentication turned on, if it isn’t already.
Steps on iPhone or iPad
- Open Settings and tap your name.
- Tap Sign-In & Security, then Legacy Contact.
- Tap Add Legacy Contact and confirm with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
- Pick a Family Sharing member, or tap Choose Someone Else to select a person from your Contacts.
- Choose how to share the access key: send it by iMessage, or print a copy.
Steps on a Mac
Choose Apple menu > System Settings, click your name, then Sign-In & Security > Legacy Contact > Add Legacy Contact. The rest matches the iPhone steps.
Don’t skip the access key
The iMessage option only appears if you and your contact both have iMessage turned on. If you choose “Print a Copy,” you can print the key, send a PDF or screenshot, or tuck it in with your estate papers. Either way, your contact needs both the key and a death certificate to request access. You can look the key up again later under the same Legacy Contact menu.
What your contact can and can’t see
According to Apple, a Legacy Contact can reach things like photos, messages, notes, files and device backups. They cannot get movies, music, books or subscriptions bought with your Apple Account, or anything in iCloud Keychain, which holds payment information, passwords and passkeys.
You can name more than one person. Apple notes that any one of them can make decisions about the data on their own, including permanently deleting it, so choose people who will talk to each other.
Google: Set Up Inactive Account Manager
Google’s version works differently. Instead of waiting for a death certificate, it acts when your account has been inactive for a period you choose. Then it either notifies someone or shares the data you picked.
- Go to myaccount.google.com/inactive while signed in to your Google Account.
- Set up your plan there. Google says you tell it how long to wait before treating the account as inactive.
- Add trusted contacts. You can choose up to 10 people.
- Pick which data types each person can receive. You can share all or only some, and different people can get different things. Google notes that some information can’t be shared.
- Write the message your contacts will receive.
Your contacts get nothing during setup. They are notified only once your account has been inactive for the time you chose. Google looks at signals such as your recent sign-ins, My Activity, Gmail use and Android check-ins to decide. You can edit or turn off your plan at the same address at any time.
One more reason to bother: Google says it can delete an account and its data if it’s inactive across Google for at least two years. A plan puts your wishes on record before that happens.
What Neither Tool Covers
These settings cover two companies. Your bank, email at work, social media, password manager and phone-company accounts each have their own rules. A short written list of where your important accounts live, kept somewhere a trusted person can find it, fills much of the gap. Since Apple’s Legacy Contact can’t unlock your passwords, tell someone how to get into your password manager or where your recovery information is kept.
These tools don’t replace a will or other estate documents. If you have complicated accounts or digital assets, ask an estate attorney how they fit into your plan.
A Five-Minute Checklist
- Add a Legacy Contact on your iPhone, iPad or Mac, and store the access key with your important papers.
- Set up Inactive Account Manager for your Google Account.
- Tell the people you named what you did and where the key is.
- Write down where your other key accounts and password-manager details live.
- Review it once a year, or after a move, marriage or divorce.
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