Why Back Up?¶
Private Passwords keeps your items in the Keychain on your device and, if you chose to sync, in iCloud Keychain too. Nothing else holds a copy. A backup is one locked file, made by the app, that you keep somewhere else. It is how you get your items back when something goes wrong.
What a backup protects you from¶
| What happens | What you lose without a backup |
|---|---|
| Your iPhone or Mac is lost, stolen or broken, and your items are kept on that device only | Everything. Items kept on one device are never synced or moved anywhere by themselves. |
| You delete an item by mistake | The Bin keeps it for the Days in the Bin set in Settings (30 to start). After that, or once you empty the Bin, it is gone for good. |
| You use Delete All Data on the Info page | Every item, at once. It can't be undone. |
| With sync on, you delete something on one device | A delete reaches every device, so the item goes everywhere at once. |
With a backup, Restore brings back everything the file holds, on the same device or a new one. See Making and Restoring a Backup.
Sync is not a backup¶
If you chose Sync via iCloud Keychain, a lost device is less of a worry: your other devices hold the same items, and a new device gets them through iCloud. But sync copies every change, mistakes included. Delete an item on your iPhone and it disappears from your Mac as well.
| Sync via iCloud Keychain | A backup | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Your devices kept the same, all the time | A snapshot of everything at the moment you made it |
| An item you delete | Deleted on every device | Still in the backup |
| A lost device | Your other devices and iCloud still have everything | Restore it on the new device |
| Where it lives | iCloud Keychain, end-to-end encrypted by Apple | One file, wherever you put it |
So even with sync on, a backup now and then is your way back from a mistake.
What a backup holds¶
- Every item in use, with its earlier passwords, its one-time code and its Other Websites.
- Your archived items and the items in your Bin, unless you turn their switches off.
- Your own item templates and password templates, and any built-in ones you have changed.
- Your tags and your types.
- The pictures and site icons your items show.
- Your settings, and which built-in tags, templates and types you have switched off.
- The pairs you marked Not Duplicates, so that Merge keeps them apart after a restore.
It doesn't hold your sync choice: that belongs to each device.
The backup reminder¶
While your items are kept on this device only, Recent reminds you to back up. With sync on it never does, because your other devices hold the items too.
The reminder appears:
- The first time: once you have 30 items (not counting the Bin), or your oldest item is 30 days old, and you have never made a backup.
- After that: 90 days after your last backup, and only if something has changed since.
It says Your items have never been backed up. A backup is the only way back from a loss., or, later, It has been 95 days since your last backup, and things have changed since.
[Screenshot: the backup reminder at the top of Recent]
The reminder is a card at the top of Recent. Tap Back Up on it to make a backup. To put it away, tap the × in its corner, or swipe the card to either side. It stays away for 40 days.
The reminder is a line at the top of Recent. Click Back up now on it to make a backup. To put it away, click the × at its end. It stays away for 40 days.
The Info page shows your last backup beside Back Up, for example Last backed up 17 Oct 2026, 412 items, or Never backed up.
When to make one¶
- Once your items are in, whether you typed them or imported them.
- Every few months, or after a lot of changes. A backup is a snapshot: items you add later are not in it.
- Before you use Delete All Data, import with Delete all existing, change your sync choice, or move to a new device.
An old backup still works as long as you have its recovery key, so it does no harm to keep several.
Continue to Making and Restoring a Backup.