If something happened to you tomorrow, could anyone you trust get to the photos, notes and files on your iPhone? For a lot of people the answer is no. Your Apple account is protected by your passcode and password, and without some planning, family members can be left locked out of years of memories.
Apple’s Legacy Contact feature is the fix. You pick one or more people who can request access to your account data after your death. Setting it up takes about five minutes.
What you need
- An iPhone or iPad running iOS or iPadOS 15.2 or later, or a Mac running macOS Monterey 12.1 or later.
- A contact who is over 13 (the minimum age can vary by country or region).
- Two-factor authentication on your Apple Account, which Apple recommends.
How to add a Legacy Contact on iPhone or iPad
- Open Settings and tap your name at the top.
- Tap Sign-In & Security, then tap Legacy Contact.
- Tap Add Legacy Contact and confirm with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
- Pick someone from your Family Sharing group, or tap Choose Someone Else to add a person from your contacts.
- Choose how to share the access key: Send an iMessage or Print a Copy.
How to do it on a Mac
- Choose Apple menu > System Settings, then click your name.
- Click Sign-In & Security, then Legacy Contact.
- Click Add Legacy Contact and sign in with Touch ID or your login password.
- Select a Family Sharing member or click Choose Someone Else.
- Send the access key by iMessage or print a copy.
Don’t lose the access key
The access key is the important part. To request access, your contact will need that key plus a copy of your death certificate. If you print it, file it with your will or other important papers and tell your contact where it is. Adding someone without giving them the key doesn’t help much.
What they can and can’t see
According to Apple, a Legacy Contact can get to your photos, messages, notes, files, device backups and more. They can’t get movies, music, books or subscriptions you bought, and they can’t see anything stored in iCloud Keychain, which is where your saved passwords live. So if family members would need your passwords, that needs a separate plan.
Use Google, too?
Google has a similar tool called Inactive Account Manager, at myaccount.google.com/inactive. You decide how long Google should wait after your account goes quiet, and you can choose up to 10 people to receive your data, such as Gmail and Drive files. It’s worth setting up both if you use both.
More on Contoh
- How to Add Emergency Medical Info to Your iPhone or Android Phone
- How to Set Up a Passkey for Your Google Account
- How to Back Up Your Phone Properly (iPhone and Android)