Is Apple Notes Secure?

Locked notes. When you lock a note, Apple derives a key from your password using PBKDF2 with SHA-256 and encrypts the note and every attachment with AES in Galois/Counter Mode. The password never goes to Apple. On your own devices, Face ID or Touch ID stands in for the password. This is real end-to-end encryption of the note body.

Everything else. Unlocked notes are encrypted in transit and at rest in iCloud with keys Apple manages. That protects you from a stolen laptop or an intercepted connection. It does not protect the notes from Apple itself, or from anyone who can compel Apple.

With standard data protection, Apple can decrypt the unlocked notes in your account. Apple’s stated position is that it accesses that data only in limited circumstances, and it publishes transparency reports on the legal requests it receives. Whether that is acceptable depends on what is in the notes.

Notes kept in an “On My Mac” or “On My iPhone” account never sync to iCloud, and so are never on Apple’s servers. Most people have iCloud Notes on, so most notes are.

Advanced Data Protection for iCloud is an opt-in setting that moves the keys for most iCloud categories, Notes included, onto your devices. With it on, Apple cannot read your notes, and neither can anyone who breaches or compels Apple. The trade is responsibility: you must set up a recovery contact or a recovery key, because Apple can no longer reset the account for you. If you keep sensitive notes in Apple Notes and want to stay there, this is the setting to turn on.

• No lock on the app. Anyone who unlocks the Mac or phone sees every unlocked note. There is no app-level password or auto-lock timer.
• Locked notes are limited. They cannot be shared, their content is not searchable, and the title stays visible.
• No duress password. There is no way to open a decoy set of notes if someone demands the device unlocked.
• No self-destructing notes. A note you want gone in an hour has to be deleted by hand.
• Account-bound. Notes live in an Apple Account; there is no account-free mode outside the local “On My Mac” folder, and export (Markdown or PDF, since macOS 26) is per note and drops folder structure.

If your sensitive notes are a handful, lock them in Apple Notes and turn on Advanced Data Protection; that is a sound setup. If sensitive notes are the point, a dedicated encrypted notes app is the better fit. Dash keeps notes on the device with no account, locks any note with AES-256-GCM, locks the whole app behind Touch ID or Face ID with auto-lock, adds a duress password and self-destructing notes, and only syncs, end-to-end encrypted, if you ask it to. It is open source, so the claims can be checked. See notes app with password protection for how it compares.