Restore from backup

If you’ve replaced your iPhone, reset it or reinstalled Paperwise, your encrypted iCloud backup brings your vault back. You need the same Apple ID and your recovery key. A reinstall starts fresh and keeps none of the old keys, so the recovery key is needed there too.

What it is

Restoring downloads your backup from your own iCloud and decrypts it on the iPhone with your recovery key. Documents, pages, files, notes, cards, folders and signatures come back as they were, encrypted again under this iPhone’s own key as they arrive. Hidden items come back still encrypted, ready for Hidden’s own unlock.

Which key you need:

If you were signed in with Apple when you turned the backup on and used your account key, it’s your Paperwise account’s recovery key.
Otherwise it’s the backup recovery key Paperwise showed you when you turned the backup on.

Both are 32 letters and numbers in groups of four.

When to use it

On a new iPhone signed in to the same Apple ID.
After resetting your iPhone or deleting and reinstalling Paperwise.
After restoring your iPhone from a device backup, or moving to it with a device-to-device transfer. Neither can bring your vault: its key never leaves the old iPhone.

Step by step

During your first run

Make sure the iPhone is signed in to iCloud with the same Apple ID as before.
Open Paperwise. When a backup exists in your iCloud, the first screen shows Restore from iCloud backup. Tap it.
Type your recovery key. Dashes and spaces don’t matter.
Tap Restore.
Keep Paperwise open while it shows “Opening your backup…” and then “Restoring n of N…”. Your files are decrypted on this iPhone.
When it’s done, you’ll see “Your documents are back” and how many items were restored. Tap Continue.
The first run carries on with Face ID for your vault, so you can still turn on the app lock, then the remaining steps.

Later, from Account

Tap your avatar on the Vault to open Account.
Under Back up my stuff, tap Restore from backup.
Type your recovery key and tap Restore, then follow steps 5 and 6 above.

The iCloud backup screen also shows Restore from iCloud backup while the backup is off on this iPhone and one exists in your iCloud.

Open Hidden afterwards

Each Hidden space opens with its own Hidden recovery key, the one you saved when you set it up. That’s true on a new iPhone and also on the same iPhone after reinstalling Paperwise: a reinstall deletes Hidden’s old keys. See Recovery key and Forgot passcode.

After a restore, this iPhone keeps the same backup up to date from then on.

Free and Pro

Restoring is free, like the backup itself.

Privacy

Privacy: The backup is decrypted only on your iPhone, with your recovery key. Paperwise’s servers aren’t involved: the records come straight from your iCloud. A wrong key restores nothing.

Tips

Restore before you set up Hidden on the new iPhone, so your backed-up Hidden spaces come back as they were. Documents you add before restoring are kept either way.
Items that are already on the iPhone are kept as they are and counted as “already on this iPhone”.
Settings such as your scanning preferences and the app lock, and the list of share links you made, aren’t part of the backup. Set your preferences again after restoring. During the first run you’re offered the app lock right after the restore.
If you use sync (Pro), you can also bring everything back by signing in and setting up the iPhone with another device or your recovery key.
If you restore and then sign in, Paperwise asks whether to add the restored documents to your account. See Sign in with Apple.
A backup you kept when you deleted your Paperwise account still opens with the recovery key that protected it.

What if…

What if it says “That recovery key doesn’t open this backup. Check it and try again.”?

The key doesn’t match. Nothing was restored. Check each group of four, and try the other key if you have both an account recovery key and a backup recovery key.

What if I don’t see Restore from iCloud backup on the first screen?

The iPhone isn’t signed in to iCloud, is signed in with a different Apple ID, or has no Paperwise backup. Check Settings, then use Account → Restore from backup later.

What if it says “Almost everything is back”?

Some items couldn’t be fetched, usually because the connection dropped. Tap Try again. Items already restored are skipped, so it only fetches what’s missing.

What if I stopped it halfway?

Run it again. It picks up where it stopped.

What if I’ve lost my recovery key?

Without it, the backup can’t be opened by anyone, including us. If you still have another device signed in to your account, you can set up the new iPhone from it with Add a device by code (sync, Pro).