Apple’s Notes lets you set a password for your most private notes, but take care to remember or store it.
By Glenn Fleishman , Senior Contributor, Macworld DEC 27, 2021 3:00 AM PST
The Notes app, particularly paired with iCloud syncing, provides an easy way to jot down shopping lists, share information with other people, and record your private thoughts. But because some people might feel a little exposed by that, Apple lets you set a password for Notes on your devices and selectively lock notes for which you want extra protection. This password syncs across iCloud if you use have Notes enabled in iCloud settings on your devices.
But set that password carefully! The password is not stored in iCloud Keychain, nor can it be retrieved from anywhere else. If you can’t remember and haven’t stored it manually in a password manager, the notes locked with it are unrecoverable forever. Apple can’t unlock them.