Restore vaults on a new iPhone

On a new iPhone (or after a reinstall, or a Face ID change), recoverable vaults come back with two things you keep: your vaults key and each vault’s pattern.

What it is

Restore vaults… sits under the pad, the same for everyone. It opens a screen that says: “A forgotten pattern can’t be recovered. Recoverable vaults come back with your vaults key and their pattern; This iPhone only vaults can never be recovered from anywhere.”

What needs to be in place first:

Your backup on this iPhone. Restore Paperwise’s encrypted iCloud backup, or sign in to Sync & Backup (Pro) on this iPhone. Either brings the recovery copies.
Your vaults key, on paper.
Each vault’s pattern.

What comes back:

each Recoverable vault you draw the pattern of, with its items from the backup or from sync
not This iPhone only vaults: they can never be recovered
not the decoy and emergency pattern: set them again if you want them

Restoring doesn’t count toward the one-new-vault-a-day limit, so you can bring several back in one sitting. Each pattern you draw still counts as a try.

Step by step

Restore your Paperwise backup first: the iCloud backup during the first run, or Sync & Backup (see Restore on a new iPhone).
Open Private vaults (the lock button on Home, or Account → Lock and privacy → Open Private vaults). If Paperwise asks for your vaults key during set-up, choose I have a vaults key and type it.
On the pad, tap Restore vaults… → Restore vaults from your backup, and confirm with Face ID.
Type your vaults key: “Type it from your copy. It’s used for this restore only and kept nowhere.” Tap Continue.
Draw a vault’s pattern. “One vault at a time. Each pattern counts as a try.” When it works: “A vault is back. It opens with this pattern on the pad.”
Draw the next vault’s pattern, or tap Done.

If you made more than one vaults key over time, tap Add another vaults key and type the other one.

On your iPad or another device

Your vaults key and patterns bring a recoverable vault to any of your devices signed in to Sync & Backup: open Private vaults there, then Restore vaults… as above. Its items then sync.

Free and Pro

Restoring your one vault is free. Restoring a second vault or more needs Pro, as does syncing through Sync & Backup.

Privacy

The vaults key is held in memory for this restore only and wiped when you tap Done, lock, or leave the app.
A guessed key or pattern opens nothing: each recovery copy needs both the right key and the right pattern.
A restored vault opens on this iPhone with the pattern you drew, under this iPhone’s own Face ID.

Tips

Restore all your vaults in one sitting, while the key is at hand.
If a pattern doesn’t work, try it once or twice more, carefully. Each try counts.

What if…

What if it says “No vault in your backup opens with this pattern.”?

The pattern doesn’t match a recoverable vault in your backup, or that vault is already on this iPhone. Check the pattern. If your backup hasn’t finished restoring, wait and try again.

What if it says “This vaults key doesn’t open anything in your backup.”?

Check that you typed the vaults key, not your account’s recovery key. If you made a new vaults key at some point, a vault you didn’t open since may still need the old one.

What if it says “This key isn’t in your backup’s key set”?

It can still open any vault that was sealed to it. Draw the patterns as usual.

What if a vault was This iPhone only?

It can’t be restored anywhere. That’s the choice it was made with.