You probably already use Face ID, Touch ID or Passcode to lock your iPhone. However, this feature isn’t just for unlocking your iPhone or authorizing Apple Pay payments. Did you know you can also lock messages on your iPhone with Face ID, Touch ID, or Passcode?
Using Face ID, Touch ID or Passcode to lock messages on an iPhone is an easy way to improve the privacy of all your chats.
How to Lock messages on iPhone
Starting with iOS 18, Apple makes it easy to lock apps on an iPhone using Face ID, Touch ID or Passcode. This lets you protect your private conversations from prying eyes. Locking Messages on an iPhone requires Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode to open the app.
Here’s how to lock messages on your iPhone with Face ID, Touch ID, or Passcode:
- Go to the Home Screen.
- Locate the Messages app.
- Touch and hold the Messages app icon until the quick actions menu opens.
- Tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode).
- Tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode) again, then authenticate using Face ID (or Touch ID or a passcode).
If you use third-party messaging apps such as WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, you can also use Face ID, Touch ID, or Passcode to lock them up so that only you can open the messages. Follow the steps above to do that.
After locking the Messages app, you can open and use it.
- Go to the Home Screen.
- Locate the Messages app.
- Tap the Messages app, then authenticate using Face ID (or Touch ID or a passcode).
Unlock Messages app
You can unlock the Messages app so you no longer need to use Face ID, Touch ID, or a passcode to open it.
- Go to the Home Screen.
- Locate the Messages app.
- Touch and hold the Messages app icon until the quick actions menu opens.
- Tap Don’t Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode), then authenticate using Face ID (or Touch ID or a passcode).
None of us want strangers going through our messages, so locking the app behind Face ID, Touch ID or passcode is a smart step for an extra layer of protection. This will stop anyone opening the app if they’ve already gotten hands on your unlocked iPhone. But Messages isn’t the only app you’re going to want to keep people out of.
Lots of other iPhone apps also let you use Face ID, Touch ID or Passcode to lock them, and many of them might be more important to lock than Messages, like banking apps and password managers. Make sure you don’t neglect them.