# Store medical photos and records on iPhone privately

> Medical photos, lab results and insurance letters sit loose in Photos, Files and Messages. Move them into a Vault9 vault, and plan how family can reach them fast.

Source: https://vault9app.com/scenarios/medical-photos-records-iphone/

Medical photos and records land all over a phone. Move them into a Vault9 vault and delete the loose copies, so that someone who scrolls through your camera roll finds nothing there. The vault does not replace the official copies that your doctor or insurer keep.

## Where the copies hide

Start with what you would least want seen by accident. Look in three places:

- Photos: a picture of a rash, a screenshot of lab results, a photographed letter
- Files and downloads: PDFs from your insurer or clinic
- Messages: images and documents that people sent you

## Move them in, then delete the rest

1. Import photos and screenshots from Photos into Vault9. Import PDFs from the Files app.
2. Open a few items to check them.
3. Delete the originals in Photos. Vault9 never does it for you.
4. Open **Recently Deleted** and delete them there too. Photos keeps deleted items for 30 days.
5. Remove the copies in Files, downloads and Messages yourself.

With iCloud Photos on, a delete on one device reaches every device on your Apple Account. Check the vault copy first.

A lab result should not sit in the same scroll as holiday photos. Vault9 encrypts it on the iPhone and opens it with a pattern or passphrase of its own (or Face ID, if you turn it on). [Vault9 on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/id6830759639?pt=129716075&ct=medical-photos-records-iphone-md)

## Think about who needs a file in a hurry

A caregiver needs your pattern or passphrase and your Secret Key to open the vault, or your Face ID if you turn it on. Vault9 cannot reset any of them for you. If a family member may need a document fast, decide now how they get it. We would keep the official original where the clinic or insurer wants it, and not rely on the vault for that.

Apple's Medical ID is a separate feature. With **Show When Locked** on, anyone who holds your locked iPhone can read it without your passcode. Add only what you accept a stranger to see. Set it up in the Health app: **Summary**, your profile picture, **Medical ID**.

## Limits and backup

Vault9 does not protect a vault that is open on an unlocked phone. A person who makes you unlock the phone and the vault can open your files. Your phone passcode never opens the vault. Vault9 has no sharing either: an export decrypts the file and hands it to the iOS share sheet.

A lost or reset phone takes the vault with it, unless the vault is in the iCloud backup. That is the only copy outside the phone, and it does not hold the Secret Key. Your normal iPhone backup does not hold the vault. Keep your [Emergency Kit](https://vault9app.com/emergency-kit/) on paper, with your pattern or passphrase written on it, in a safe place.

## Sources

- [Apple Support: Delete photos on your iPhone or iPad](https://support.apple.com/en-us/104967) (checked 2026-11-06)
- [Apple Support: Set up your Medical ID in the Health app on your iPhone](https://support.apple.com/en-us/105072) (checked 2026-11-06)