Back up Private vaults

Private vaults are backed up with the rest of Paperwise, still under their own encryption. One switch in Account → Private vaults decides whether vaults are backed up at all, and each vault’s own setting decides whether it can be recovered.

What it is

Account → Private vaults looks the same for everyone, whether or not you use vaults. It never counts or names them. It has:

Back up vaults: one switch for every vault, on at first. It applies to Sync & Backup and to the iCloud backup, on all your devices.
Delete all vault backups…: removes every vault’s copy from Paperwise sync and from this iPhone’s iCloud backup.
Check my vaults key… and Make a new vaults key…: your vaults key is the key that, with a vault’s pattern, brings a vault back on a new iPhone. See Set up Private vaults.

Inside each vault, its Recovery setting is either:

Recoverable (the default): your vaults key and that vault’s pattern bring it back on a new iPhone, from Sync & Backup or the iCloud backup.
This iPhone only: it never syncs, and it can’t be recovered anywhere else. The iCloud backup still holds its items, as ciphertext that can never be opened.

When to use it

Before you rely on a vault for papers you can’t afford to lose: keep Back up vaults on, the vault Recoverable, and your vaults key written down.
When you’d rather no copy of any vault leaves this iPhone: turn Back up vaults off, or use Delete all vault backups….

Step by step

Turn vault backups on or off

Tap Account in the bottom bar, then Private vaults.
Turn Back up vaults on or off, and confirm with Face ID.

Turned on, each vault goes back into your backups the next time it’s opened. Turned off, nothing new from a vault is uploaded, and your other devices turn it off too. If it was turned off on another device, Account tells you.

Delete all vault backups

Open Account → Private vaults.
Tap Delete all vault backups… and read what it does, then tap Delete all vault backups and confirm with Face ID.

Copies become unreadable within minutes on this iPhone, on your other devices the next time they open a vault or ask for Face ID (about a week at most while you use them), and within about two weeks on a device you no longer use. Vaults on your devices aren’t touched. Back up vaults is turned off. If you lose this iPhone afterwards, its vaults can’t be recovered.

Only the iPhone that writes your iCloud backup can delete the vaults from it. If another iPhone keeps that backup, Paperwise says so: do it there too.

Bring vaults back on a new iPhone

Restore your documents first, from the iCloud backup or Sync & Backup. See Restore from backup.
Open Private vaults and tap Restore vaults…, then Restore vaults from your backup.
Type your vaults key from your copy.
Draw each vault’s pattern, one vault at a time, then tap Done.

Add this iPhone to vault backups

Only your own devices, with Face ID, can change what your backup keeps for Private vaults. A device you add by scanning a code, or with your recovery key, is one of them at once. If this iPhone isn’t yet, Account → Backup and sync → Sync & Backup shows Add this iPhone to vault backups…: type your recovery key and tap Add now, or tap I don’t have it: add in 7 days (your other devices are told and can cancel it).

Free and Pro

The iCloud backup of your vaults is free. Syncing vaults between devices and backing them up on our servers is part of Sync & Backup (Pro). The switch and Delete all vault backups… are there for everyone.

Privacy

Privacy: Vault items are backed up still encrypted with their vault’s keys. Our server can’t tell vault items from your other items: they have the same kind of history, the same sizes and the same schedule. Your vaults key is never sent anywhere.

Each device keeps a fixed-size, signed record of the keys for vault items, uploaded on a fixed schedule whether or not you use vaults. That’s what makes a deleted vault item unreadable everywhere, and what stops someone with only your account key from deleting vault items: your devices put them back.
Deleting an item inside a vault is final: it can’t be restored from Sync & Backup.
See What Private vaults can and can’t protect against.

What if…

What if a vault isn’t on my new iPhone after restoring?

Vaults don’t come back with your documents. Use Restore vaults… with your vaults key and the vault’s pattern. A This iPhone only vault can’t be brought back.

What if I lost my vaults key?

Vaults that are still on your iPhone keep working. Make a new key in Account → Private vaults → Make a new vaults key… and keep it on paper. See Forgot your pattern.

What if it says “Backup protection paused: open Paperwise with Face ID”?

Open Paperwise and confirm with Face ID when asked. Your devices renew their permission to update your backup about once a week.