Guide
Advanced Data Protection for iCloud, explained
Advanced Data Protection (ADP) is an optional iCloud setting that end-to-end encrypts most of your iCloud data, including iCloud Backup, Photos, Notes and iCloud Drive, so the keys live only on your trusted devices and Apple can’t read or recover them. Before you can turn it on, you set up a recovery contact or a recovery key, because if you lose access, Apple can’t help. It’s in Settings → your name → iCloud → Advanced Data Protection.
Facts and paths checked against Apple’s “iCloud data security overview”, “How to turn on Advanced Data Protection for iCloud” and its UK notice on Oct 24, 2026.
Standard protection vs. Advanced Data Protection
With standard data protection, the default, your iCloud data is encrypted in transit and on Apple’s servers, but Apple keeps the keys so it can help you recover your data when you sign in on a new device or forget your password. 15 categories are always end-to-end encrypted, including passwords in iCloud Keychain, Health data and Messages in iCloud.
With Advanced Data Protection, the number of end-to-end encrypted categories rises to 25. Here’s what changes for the data people worry about most:
| Data | Standard | With ADP |
|---|---|---|
| iCloud Backup (including device and Messages backup) | Apple holds keys | End-to-end |
| Photos | Apple holds keys | End-to-end |
| Notes | Apple holds keys | End-to-end |
| iCloud Drive | Apple holds keys | End-to-end |
| Reminders, Safari Bookmarks, Voice Memos, Wallet passes | Apple holds keys | End-to-end |
| Passwords and Keychain, Health, Journal | End-to-end | End-to-end |
| iCloud Mail, Contacts, Calendars | Apple holds keys | Still Apple holds keys |
What ADP doesn’t cover
- Mail, Contacts and Calendars stay under standard protection.
- Shared Albums in Photos, iWork collaboration and anything shared with “anyone with the link” aren’t end-to-end encrypted, even with ADP on.
- Shared content in general stays end-to-end encrypted only if every participant has ADP on.
- Metadata, such as dates and file sizes, isn’t the content, and parts of it stay visible to Apple to run the service.
The Messages detail most people miss
Messages in iCloud is end-to-end encrypted even without ADP. But with standard protection, if you use both iCloud Backup and Messages in iCloud, Apple says your backup includes a copy of the Messages in iCloud key, to help you recover. So, in practice, your messages are only as private as your backup. With ADP, the backup is end-to-end encrypted too, key included.
Recovery: the part to get right
With ADP on, Apple can’t reset your way in. You recover your account and data with one of:
- Your device passcode or Mac login password, on a device that’s still signed in.
- A recovery contact: someone you trust, with an Apple device, who can give you a code. Apple says they get no access to your account or data, only the ability to help.
- A recovery key: a 28-character code you use with a trusted phone number and an Apple device. Write it on paper and store it like a passport.
Set up two if you can. A recovery contact is easier to keep; a recovery key doesn’t depend on anyone else.
Apple’s recovery contact is different from Legacy Contact, which lets someone access your data after you die. See Apple Legacy Contact explained.
How to turn it on
Requirements: two-factor authentication, a passcode on your device, and every device signed in to your Apple Account updated to at least iOS 16.2, iPadOS 16.2, macOS 13.1, watchOS 9.2 or tvOS 16.2. Managed Apple Accounts and child accounts aren’t eligible.
On iPhone or iPad: Settings → your name → iCloud, scroll down, tap Advanced Data Protection, then Turn on Advanced Data Protection, and follow the steps to review your recovery methods.
On Mac: Apple menu → System Settings → your name → iCloud → Advanced Data Protection → Turn On.
Turning it on from one device turns it on for your whole account. After that, you can sign in only on devices that meet the software requirements, and iCloud.com access to your data is off unless you turn it back on, in which case a trusted device has to approve each web session.
Turning it off is allowed at any time: your device uploads the keys to Apple again, and your account goes back to standard protection.
In the UK: Apple says it can no longer offer ADP to new users in the United Kingdom, and photos, notes, backups and iCloud Drive stay under standard protection there.
What ADP means for apps you use
Apple’s overview says third-party app data in iCloud is always encrypted in transit and on the server, and that with ADP on, third-party app data in iCloud Backup and in CloudKit’s encrypted fields and assets becomes end-to-end encrypted. Without ADP, the app’s own encryption is what keeps Apple out.
How Bunker’s Encrypted Backup differs
Bunker’s Encrypted Backup doesn’t depend on ADP. Each vault is encrypted on your device, with keys that only that vault’s Pattern or Recovery Phrase can unlock, before anything is sent to your private iCloud. So with standard protection or ADP, on or off, and in the UK, the backup’s contents stay unreadable to Apple and to us.
| iCloud with ADP | Bunker Encrypted Backup | |
|---|---|---|
| Who holds the keys | Your trusted Apple devices | Only your Pattern or Recovery Phrase |
| Depends on your Apple Account password | Yes, as the way into the account | No: someone signed in to your account still sees only encrypted data |
| Recovery if you forget | Device passcode, recovery contact or recovery key | The vault’s Recovery Phrase |
| Covers | Most of iCloud | Only what’s in your vaults |
| Cost | Free | Free, for every vault |
The limits of ours: someone who can read your iCloud account can estimate how many backup records there are and their rough sizes, even though we pad them and mix in decoy records. Restoring a vault by Pattern on a new device needs iCloud Keychain on; otherwise you use the Recovery Phrase. And if you forget the Pattern and lose the Recovery Phrase, nobody can restore that vault, including us. The details are on our security page.
Our recommendation: turn on both if you can. ADP protects the rest of your iCloud; a vault protects the things that matter most with a key that isn’t tied to your Apple Account.
When you don’t need an app
If your concern is “Apple or a breach at Apple could read my photos”, ADP answers it for free, for your whole library. A vault adds something different: a separate key for a few things, protection from people who can unlock your phone, and backups that stay encrypted wherever ADP isn’t available.
Related: how to keep private photos out of iCloud, how to back up a photo vault, and for passwords, password manager emergency access compared.
Questions
Should I turn on Advanced Data Protection?
If you can keep a recovery method safe, yes for most people: it means Apple holds no keys to your photos, notes, backups and iCloud Drive. If you would struggle to keep a recovery key or recovery contact, weigh that first, because Apple can't help you recover the data.
Does Advanced Data Protection encrypt everything in iCloud?
No. iCloud Mail, Contacts and Calendars stay under standard protection, and Shared Albums, iWork collaboration and "anyone with the link" sharing aren't covered.
Is Advanced Data Protection available in the UK?
Apple says it can no longer offer Advanced Data Protection to new users in the United Kingdom. It remains available elsewhere.
What happens if I lose my recovery key and forget my passcode?
Apple doesn't have the keys, so it can't recover your end-to-end encrypted data. That's the trade-off that makes it private.