Phone passcodes, cloud photos, social accounts: leaving your digital life in order

Today almost all of a family's photos, contacts, and bills are on a phone or in the cloud. If no one can unlock your phone, your family may not even be able to get the photos. Here's what to note down, and the official options the platforms already offer.

Based on laws and official guidance as checked on 2026-10-20. Rules and screens can change, so check the latest official guidance before you act.

Start by listing your accounts

Your phone's passcode
Your Apple Account: iCloud Photos, device backups
Your Google Account: Gmail, Google Photos, Google Drive
Messaging and social accounts like WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram
Online banking and payment apps like PayPal or Venmo
Monthly subscriptions such as streaming services and cloud storage

Just list the names for now, no passwords. The list alone tells your family where they'll need to look.

Use the platforms' official tools first

Rather than handing over passwords, the platforms' own tools are more reliable and don't break their terms of service.

Platform	Feature	What your family can do
Apple	Legacy Contact	Request access to iCloud photos, messages, notes, files, and more
Google	Inactive Account Manager	After your account goes inactive, download the data you chose to share with them
Facebook	Legacy contact	Look after your memorialized account, such as pinning a post; they can't read your private messages
Instagram	Legacy contact, memorialization request	You can choose a legacy contact ahead of time; family can also ask to have the account memorialized or removed

For setup steps, see Apple Legacy Contact on iPhone and Google's Inactive Account Manager. Feature names and rules change from time to time, so go by each platform's official help pages.

Accounts with no official tool

Many messaging apps, such as WhatsApp, have no way to pass an account on to someone else. Save important chats, photos, and files to your photo library or cloud storage as you go, instead of leaving them only in the chat.

If you do need to leave passwords

Write them on paper, seal it, and keep it with your important documents, or give it to someone you trust.
Don't send passwords by text, chat app, or email.
When you change a password, update the paper.
Your phone passcode is the most useful one to leave. Once the phone is unlocked, a lot of other things fall into place.

Keep photos in more than one place

For your most precious photos, make a shared album with your family, or export a copy to a hard drive once a year. If something goes wrong with one account, your family still has a copy.

FAQ

Should I tell my family my phone passcode?

Consider writing it down and sealing it instead of telling them directly. That keeps your privacy day to day, and your family can still get it when they need it.

If I've set up the platform tools, do I still need to write a letter?

Yes. Those tools give your family your data, but they don't tell them what you wanted to say. A photo with a letter means something very different.

Sources and fact-check

This guide is general information, not legal, medical, or financial advice. For your own situation, talk to a qualified professional. Laws and platform features change, so rely on the latest version of the official pages below.

If you spot something wrong or out of date, email us at [email protected] and we will correct it.