# Does deleting a photo vault app delete your photos?

> Deleting an app removes its data from the iPhone. Check the iCloud backup and your Emergency Kit first, and Vault9 comes back from the backup if you did.

Source: https://vault9app.com/guides/does-deleting-vault-app-delete-photos/
Updated: 2026-11-12

Yes, on that phone. Apple says **Delete App** removes the app and its related data. In Vault9 the vault goes with the app, and the iCloud backup is the only copy left.

If you only want the storage back, use **Offload App**. Apple says it frees the space the app uses and keeps its documents and data. Both options are in **Settings**, **General**, **iPhone Storage**, under the app name.

## Check three things before you delete Vault9

We suggest you do all three. The kit is what brings the vault back, so check it while the app is still on the phone.

1. **Look for the backup.** The Gallery shows **All backed up to iCloud** when the iCloud backup is complete. If it shows an error instead, the app names the reason, for example full iCloud storage. In Settings, **Storage** shows what is backed up.
2. **Find your Emergency Kit.** The iCloud backup never holds the Secret Key. The kit is the part you cannot rebuild from the cloud. Check that your pattern or passphrase is written on it.
3. **Run the kit test** in Settings. It scans or reads the kit and tells you whether it still matches the vault.

Is there something you cannot afford to lose even if a step fails? Export it first. Exporting from Vault9 uses the iOS share sheet.

## Getting the vault back

Install Vault9 again, then:

1. Tap **Open from iCloud backup**.
2. Scan or type the Secret Key from your kit.
3. Enter your pattern or passphrase.

Items download in the background, and each one shows as "not downloaded" until it arrives. An item that never reached the iCloud backup is gone, and without the kit you cannot open the backup at all.

One more case. If you delete the vault on an iPhone that is not the active one, the iCloud backup stays. Only the active iPhone saves to it.

## Deleting one item is a different act

Inside the app, a delete asks you to confirm and then removes the item for good, from the iCloud backup too. Vault9 has no Recently Deleted album to catch a mistake.

Vault9 keeps an encrypted copy of your vault in your own iCloud storage. The copy comes back after you delete the app, but only together with your Emergency Kit. [Vault9 on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id6830759639?pt=129716075&ct=does-deleting-vault-app-delete-photos-md)

## Sources

- [Apple Support: How to check the storage on your iPhone and iPad](https://support.apple.com/en-us/108429) (checked 2026-11-06)