Recovery support
Help with access and recovery
Find your situation below to see what you can do next.
I forgot my PIN, pattern or passwordReset your lock using your recovery code.
Vaulteon gives you a 16 character recovery code when you first set up your lock. Entering it resets the lock and leaves every file in your vault untouched. Five wrong attempts freeze the entry for an hour, and a typo never costs you an attempt.
I have lost my PIN and my recovery codeWithout either, the vault cannot be unlocked.
Then the vault stays closed. We store only a hash of your recovery code, so we cannot show it to you again, and there is no master key that opens anyone's vault. This is the cost of the files being genuinely encrypted rather than merely hidden.
I lost my backup keyGet it back from your account with your PIN, pattern or password.
Vaulteon saves a copy of your backup key to your account, locked with your PIN, pattern or password. On a new phone, sign in, pick your backup file, tap Find my key, and enter the PIN, pattern or password your old phone last used. We check each try without receiving it, and ten wrong tries in a day close the copy for a day.
I uninstalled Vaulteon and my files are goneA saved backup is required to restore your files.
Uninstalling removes the vault along with the app, which is why Vaulteon warns you before you do it and keeps pointing you at a backup. If you made one, install Vaulteon again, sign in and restore from the file, and if you no longer have its key, Find my key gets it from your account. If you did not make a backup, the files are gone and we cannot retrieve them.
Getting your files back is always free
Unhide, export and restore from a local backup are available without Pro.
Other questions
Do I need an account?
Yes, at first install. Sign in with an email address and a 6 digit code. No password is ever created.
What do your servers hold?
What an account needs: your email address, your licence, which devices are yours, and a copy of your backup key that your PIN, pattern or password locks before it leaves the phone, with a check value that confirms that lock without receiving it. We also keep break-in records (which app, when, how many tries) and the short-lived technical records any online service keeps. Never anything from inside your vault. The full list is in our Privacy Policy, section 2.
Do my photos leave the phone?
Only if you connect somewhere for them to go, and what leaves is the already encrypted container. The photograph taken after a break-in never leaves at all.
Does Vaulteon work without Google Play services?
Yes. The lock, the vault, and backups to your phone, an SD card or a USB drive all work without them. With Pro you can also back up to OneDrive or Dropbox. Google Drive, and restoring a purchase made on Google Play, need Google services.
Does Vaulteon remove the location from my photos?
Not unless you ask it to. Removing location data is a Pro setting and it is off by default, because it deletes information that belongs to you. Until you turn it on, your photos keep the date and place your camera recorded.
Is getting my files back ever behind Pro?
No. Unhide moves a file back to your phone, Export copies it out while the vault keeps its own, and restoring from a backup file on the phone works at every tier. None of the three has ever been behind Pro and none of them will be.
Is Pro a subscription?
No. It is one payment, there is nothing to renew, and the free tier keeps working whether or not you ever buy it.
How many apps can I lock without paying?
Three. The lock itself is free at every tier and always will be; Pro removes the cap.
Support
Still stuck? Write to us.
Tell us what happened and we will help with the next step.
Prefer email? You can reach us here, too.