Before starting

Inventory the vault while the old phone still works:

  • approximate item and album counts;
  • oldest and newest items;
  • large videos, Live Photos, RAW images, notes, or documents;
  • the app version and supported backup method;
  • the recovery phrase or other required credential;
  • enough storage on the new phone for the restored content.

Do not put a recovery phrase in screenshots, Photos, email, chat, a cloud note, or the same backup it unlocks. A recovery secret must remain available even if the old phone is lost, but separate from the protected data.

Choose the supported migration path

Possible paths include an app-specific encrypted backup, a provider account, an encrypted computer backup, Apple's device-to-device transfer, or a manual export and re-import. These paths are not interchangeable.

An ordinary iPhone transfer can reinstall the app without guaranteeing that a local-only vault, protected keys, or excluded files are present. Follow the vault app's current documentation and confirm whether its backup is complete, current, and compatible with the new app version.

Restore without destroying the source

  1. Finish basic setup on the new iPhone.
  2. Install the vault app from its official listing.
  3. Choose the documented restore path rather than creating an unrelated empty vault.
  4. Enter recovery material privately and only inside the expected app flow.
  5. Allow the restore to complete without switching networks or deleting the old source.
  6. Lock the app, reopen it, and authenticate again.

If the app warns that a recovery action will replace existing data, stop and confirm which side is authoritative before continuing.

Verify the result

Counts alone are not enough. Open a sample across:

  • different years and albums;
  • photos and large videos;
  • edited or unusually formatted files;
  • items near the beginning and end of the collection;
  • metadata or notes that matter to you.

Confirm that full-resolution content renders, not only thumbnails. Test offline behavior where local availability matters. Then confirm that a fresh backup from the new phone completes successfully.

Keep the old phone until confidence is high

Use the new setup for several days if practical. Do not erase the old iPhone while a restore is incomplete, a count is unexplained, a format is missing, or the only recovery credential remains unverified.

When you are satisfied, follow Apple's supported erase flow for the old phone. Erasing the device and removing cloud-side copies are different actions; review private-photo cleanup before selling an iPhone if the device will leave your control.

Check the vault app's migration model

Confirm the exact platform, backup format, account dependency, and recovery credential supported by the vault app you use. A recovery phrase is not necessarily the backup itself. Read recovery phrase versus encrypted backup and encrypted photo backups before depending on any restore path.

If the old phone is already broken

Do not guess credentials repeatedly or erase the device. Preserve any known backup, locate the original recovery material, and use only the app's documented restore path. Support may explain the process, but it should never ask for the recovery secret or promise to bypass encryption.

Guide reviewed: 23 August 2026.