iPhone Security Tip 8: Set a Recovery Key on your iPhone

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A recovery key is a measure that can help you recover your data in the event of a theft, but there are many important factors and caveats you must consider before opting to setup a recovery key, which we will mention throughout this tip and in the accompanying commentary to this video.

Unlock your iPhone and head to settings.

Tap your Apple ID at the top. If you previously restricted access to your Apple ID via the screentime passcode in our previous video, then you will need to disable this momentarily to setup the recovery key feature.

Tap on password and security. And then scroll down until you see the setting for Account Recovery. Tap on this.

As the subtext shows, a recovery key is a 28-character code that you can use to recover your Apple ID if you lose access to your account. We highly recommend that you tap the “Learn more” button to read Apple’s article on the topic to decide whether or not you want to turn this feature on.

To turn it on, tap on the recovery key setting, and then enable the toggle. You will be shown an extra confirmation prompt with vital information. If you choose to turn on recovery key, this puts you in charge of recovering your account should you lose access to your passcode, and Apple will not be able to help you regain access to your account or your data.

Whilst this can ultimately be considered a good idea, there are factors you need to consider before turning this on. If you do not have a recovery key set up and lose access to your phone, you must go through the account recovery process with Apple, where they will hopefully be able to verify you as the owner of the device and the account. This can be a tedious process and may not always be successful.

If you turn on the recovery key, you are able to recover your data by yourself a lot quicker, but you must keep this code protected, ideally in a dedicated password manager such as Keeper, as you lose access to the Apple recovery process in doing so. Ultimately, if you lose your recovery key, you lose all chance of ever gaining access to your account and your data.

We recommend that this feature only be turned on in conjunction with the earlier screentime passcode feature that restricts access to your Apple ID, requiring a unique passcode to make changes. Without the screentime passcode feature set up, a thief can easily access your Apple ID settings and turn your recovery key off. Worse yet, they can then setup a new recovery key, giving you no chance of ever recovering your data.

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