The emergency passcode

The emergency passcode is for the moment someone makes you open Hidden. Type it instead of your usual passcode: it opens a space and quietly erases the other spaces on that iPhone.

What it is

You set an emergency passcode from inside a space. Typed on the Hidden is locked screen, it:

erases the keys of every other space on this iPhone, before anything appears on screen,
opens the space you set it from, looking exactly as it normally does,
erases the emergency passcode itself, so afterwards nothing says one existed,
deletes the erased spaces’ files in the background.

Each space can have one emergency passcode of its own. Typed instead of that space’s passcode, it opens that space and erases the others on this iPhone.

What it doesn’t do

It only erases spaces on this iPhone. Copies of those spaces synced to your account (Pro) or kept in your encrypted iCloud backup are not erased. They stay encrypted, and you can restore each one later with its recovery key.
It doesn’t erase the space it opens. Whatever is in that space is visible to whoever is looking.
It doesn’t touch your vault (All items, folders and the rest) or anything outside Hidden.
It doesn’t turn off share links you made from items in the erased spaces. They keep working until they expire (7 days at most) unless you revoke them.
It loses Lock Screen camera shots that haven’t been imported yet. Shots stay encrypted for Hidden until a space opens and imports them; an emergency unlock replaces that key, so shots still waiting can never be opened. Open Hidden after using the Lock Screen camera so they’re imported.

When to use it

If you think you might one day be forced to open Hidden: at a border, in an abusive relationship, during a robbery. Pair it with a space that looks ordinary, so opening it is believable.

Step by step

Set an emergency passcode

You need Pro and a Hidden passcode or pattern.

Open the space you want the emergency passcode to open.
Tap ••• → Hidden settings → Passcodes…, and confirm it’s you.
Tap Set an emergency passcode.
Read the screen: “Type this if someone makes you open Hidden. It opens this space and quietly erases the others on this iPhone.”
Enter the emergency passcode twice and tap Save emergency passcode.
Confirm with Face ID.

It has to be different from this space’s own passcode (“Use a passcode different from this space’s own.”). Don’t reuse a passcode that opens one of your other spaces. To keep your other spaces secret, Paperwise answers exactly as if it had saved it, but never uses it as an emergency passcode, so it would do nothing in an emergency. Saving replaces any earlier emergency passcode for this space.

Test it safely

On the same screen, under Test a passcode, type a passcode and tap Test. Paperwise tells you whether it’s this space’s emergency passcode. Nothing is erased. Each test counts as a wrong try until you next open this space, so tests can’t be used to guess.

Turn it off

On the same screen, tap Turn off the emergency passcode.

Use it

On Hidden is locked, after Face ID, type the emergency passcode as if it were your normal one. The space opens as usual.

Get the erased spaces back later

Each erased space comes back only with its own recovery key, and only if a synced or backed-up copy exists.

On the same iPhone, later: open Hidden, tap Forgot passcode?, and enter the erased space’s recovery key. Paperwise offers Restore a space with this key: choose a passcode and tap Restore. Its items arrive as they sync. This needs Pro.
On an iPhone where Hidden isn’t set up yet: open Hidden, tap Set up Hidden, then I use Hidden on another iPhone, enter the recovery key and tap Use this key.

Free and Pro

Pro: the emergency passcode is a Pro feature and needs a Hidden passcode or pattern.

Privacy

The settings look identical either way. Hidden settings have one Passcodes… row and the emergency screen is the same whether or not an emergency passcode is set. Its wording says “Saving replaces any earlier emergency passcode” for everyone.
An emergency unlock takes about as long as a normal one. Paperwise erases the other spaces’ keys first (“crypto-shredding”: without keys, their data can’t be opened by anything on the phone) and deletes their files right after, in the background. If the app is closed before that finishes, it carries on the next time the surviving space opens.
Known tells we fixed: the sync screen no longer counts the erased spaces’ items as missing, and links to hidden items no longer reappear in your vault’s Shared links. The backup’s copy of erased spaces can’t be compared with the live records.
What remains: someone who examines the iPhone’s database could see how many hidden items exist (not which space they belong to), and iCloud’s storage figure for Paperwise includes the backup copies of erased spaces. See What Hidden can and can’t protect against.

Tips

Practise with Test, not with the real thing. Using it for real erases your other spaces on this iPhone.
Make sure each space you’d want back is synced or in your encrypted iCloud backup, and that you have its recovery key somewhere safe away from the phone.
If you’re signed in, Revoke all in Vault → Shared links stops every link you’ve made, including links to hidden items.

What if…

What if I typed the emergency passcode by mistake?

The other spaces on this iPhone are erased and can’t be brought back from this iPhone. If they were synced or backed up, restore each with its recovery key as described above.

What if someone forces me to type it at “Confirm it’s you”?

An emergency passcode typed at a “Confirm it’s you” prompt (or when adding a device) erases the other spaces too, and cancels the action that asked.

What if it says “Couldn’t save this passcode. Try again later.”?

Paperwise gives this one answer for every refusal, so it never says why. Try again later. Use a passcode you don’t use for any other space: one that opens another space is never kept as an emergency passcode, even though saving looks normal.

What if Face ID changed on this iPhone?

Open each space again with its own recovery key (see Recovery key and Forgot passcode), then set its emergency passcode again: the old one was locked to the old Face ID.

What if Paperwise says to add a code or pattern first?

The emergency passcode is a passcode of its own, so Hidden needs one first. Tap Add a code or pattern.