How to transfer a photo vault to a new iPhone

By The StrongRoom team · Published 2026-10-30 · Updated 2026-10-30 · Last verified on iOS 26.x on 2026-10-30

To move a StrongRoom Vault to a new iPhone, make an Export Package for each Vault on the old phone, move the file to the new phone yourself, then choose "Restore from an Export Package" on the new phone's first screen and type that Vault's 12 Recovery Phrase words. Without a package, nothing can be moved.

Why a Vault does not simply follow you to a new phone

StrongRoom has no account and no cloud. Nothing is copied off your phone unless you export it. On top of that, a Vault's key is made from your pattern or passphrase and a secret that lives in the old phone's Secure Enclave and never leaves it. A copy of the app's files is useless on any other device. That is the point of the design, and it is also why a normal phone-to-phone set-up cannot be trusted to carry a Vault across. The Export Package is the one supported route, and it is a file you hold.

Before you start

Do this while you still have the old phone and can unlock it.

• You need the old phone, unlocked, and the Recovery Phrase of every Vault you want to move. Exporting asks you to type the phrase, because the app keeps no copy of it. If you cannot find a phrase, see the section on a lost phrase below.
• Pick somewhere to put the file: Files, a drive or computer you own, AirDrop to the new phone, or a mail attachment to yourself. The package is encrypted and opens only with the phrase, so where it travels matters less than where the phrase is kept. Keep the two apart.
• Install StrongRoom on the new phone but do not create a Vault there yet. Restore only works on a phone that has no Vault.

Step by step: make the package on the old phone

1. Unlock the Vault you want to move.
2. Open Settings and choose Export Package.
3. Type the Recovery Phrase of this Vault. The app checks it is the right one before it makes anything.
4. Tap Make Export Package and keep the screen open while it works. A large Vault takes longer.
5. Save or send the file when the share sheet appears. The app tells you when it was saved or sent.
6. Repeat for each other Vault. Each Vault has its own package and its own phrase.

If your Vault has been growing, make the package last, right before you switch. A package is a snapshot: it holds what the Vault held when you made it, not what you add later.

Move the file

Use whatever you like. AirDrop, Files with a drive, a computer, an email to yourself all work, because the file is one encrypted blob. You can even put it in a cloud account of your own: without the phrase it is unreadable. Check the file arrived, and check its size is plausible for the Vault. A truncated file is refused when you restore.

Restore on the new phone

1. Open StrongRoom on the new phone. On the first screen choose Restore from an Export Package.
2. Choose the file.
3. Type the 12 Recovery Phrase words of the Vault that package holds.
4. Choose a new pattern or passphrase for the Vault on this phone. It does not have to match the old one.
5. Wait for the restore to finish. If anything is wrong with the file or the phrase, the app refuses and writes nothing, so a failed attempt leaves no half-restored Vault behind.

To restore a second Vault, you need its package and its phrase. The app refuses to restore onto a phone that already has a Vault, so restore before you create anything else.

Check the result

Open the Vault and look. Items, thumbnails and folders should be there. Open a few photos, play a video, open a document. Then check what did not come across:

• Recovery PIN. It is tied to the old phone and is not in the package. Set a new one in Settings if you want one.
• The Recovery Phrase. The restored Vault keeps the same phrase, so your written copy still works.
• Anything added after the package was made. It stays on the old phone only.

Only when you are happy should you erase or sell the old phone. Keep the package and the phrase until you have used the new Vault for a while.

If it will not restore

• "That file could not be opened with that phrase." The app does not say whether the phrase or the file is at fault. Check you typed the phrase of the Vault that package came from, in the right word order, and that the file is the whole package.
• This phone already has a Vault. Restore needs a fresh install. Delete StrongRoom, install it again and restore from the first screen. Only do this on a phone where the Vault you would lose is not one you need.

If the old phone is lost or broken

You can still restore if you already had a package and the phrase. The package is a file, so any copy you saved earlier works: on your computer, in Files, in a mail attachment. It holds the Vault as it was when you made it.

If the phone is lost, see what to do if you lose your iPhone

If you have no package

Nothing can be moved. The Recovery Phrase on its own does not restore a Vault on a new phone, because it works together with the secret inside the old phone. We cannot help: we never held your keys and keep no copy of your data. Start a new Vault on the new phone, and make a package from the first day so that this does not happen twice.

The page on what StrongRoom does not protect against says this plainly

If you have a package but not the phrase

The same: the package cannot be opened without the phrase, by you or by anyone else. If the old phone still works and you can unlock the Vault, you can make a new phrase in Settings (New Recovery Phrase) and then make a new package. The old package still needs the old phrase, so export again after you change it.

Other vault apps

This page is about StrongRoom. For any other vault app, before you change phones, find out three things: does the app have an export or a backup of its own, where does that copy go, and what do you need to open it on a new phone (your device, an account, a phrase)? Do not assume that an ordinary phone-to-phone transfer carries an app's private files across. Test with a few throwaway photos on a spare device if you can, and keep your photos exported somewhere you control until you have seen them open on the new phone.

Do vault apps back up to iCloud explains how to find out

Frequently asked questions

Sources

• None needed: this page states no Apple platform behaviour. Everything about StrongRoom comes from the app and its documentation.