How to set up an Apple Digital Legacy contact
Learn how to set up an Apple Digital Legacy contact in Settings, share the access key safely, and let a trusted person reach your account after you die.
To set up a Legacy Contact, open Settings, tap your name, then Sign-In & Security → Legacy Contact → Add Legacy Contact — or System Settings → your name on a Mac. You need iOS 15.2 or later, an Apple Account you're signed in to, and two-factor authentication turned on. Share the resulting access key by iMessage and keep a printed copy with your estate documents, because the key plus a death certificate are both required to claim access later.
What is an Apple Legacy Contact, and what does it do?
A Legacy Contact is someone you choose to access certain data in your Apple Account after you die. Apple describes it as the easiest, most secure way to give a trusted person access to data such as photos, messages, notes, files, and device backups. You set it up once while you control the account, and the person you name does nothing until they need to make a request.
What do you need before you start?
Three conditions gate the feature, and the Legacy Contact menu stays hidden until all three are met. You need an Apple device on iOS 15.2 or later (or the equivalent iPadOS 15.2 or macOS 12.1), you must be signed in to your Apple Account, and two-factor authentication must be on. If two-factor isn't enabled yet, turn it on first — the Legacy Contact option won't appear without it.
How do you add a Legacy Contact on iPhone or iPad?
Each row below maps to one tap in Apple's documented path, in order:
| Step | Where to tap |
|---|---|
| 1 | Open Settings |
| 2 | Tap your name at the top |
| 3 | Tap Sign-In & Security |
| 4 | Tap Legacy Contact |
| 5 | Tap Add Legacy Contact |
| 6 | Authenticate with Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode if asked |
| 7 | Choose a Family Sharing member, or tap Choose Someone Else |
| 8 | Share the access key by iMessage, or print or save a copy |
If you're in a Family Sharing group you can pick a member of that group; otherwise tap Choose Someone Else to add a person from your Contacts using their phone number or email.
How do you add a Legacy Contact on a Mac?
The Mac path matches iPhone but renames "Settings" and swaps taps for clicks. Open System Settings, click your name, click Sign-In & Security, click Legacy Contact, then add and choose the contact. macOS may ask you to authenticate with Touch ID or your Mac login password.
How should you share the access key?
You have two delivery methods, and using both protects you against losing either copy:
- Send an iMessage when you add them. If the person accepts, their device automatically stores a copy of the access key in their Apple Account settings.
- Print a copy, or save a PDF or screenshot to file with your estate-planning documents.
The key itself is an alphanumeric code with an associated QR code; it saves automatically on supported devices, but it can also be printed and stored offline. A digital-only copy vanishes if your contact replaces their device without migrating data, so the printed copy is the backstop — it's one of the documents your accounts depend on having somewhere findable.
Can you add more than one Legacy Contact?
Yes. You can have more than one, and any single one of them can individually make decisions about your account data after your death, including permanently deleting it. Because one contact acting alone can act for the whole account, name only people you'd trust with that full authority. Apple sends you an email confirmation each time a contact is added.
How old does a Legacy Contact have to be?
A Legacy Contact must be over the age of 13 — the exact age varies by country or region — to request account access after the account holder dies.
What can a Legacy Contact access, and what stays locked?
Some categories transfer on request; others are sealed at the cryptographic layer and never move. The table separates the two:
| Accessible | Not accessible |
|---|---|
| Photos, messages, notes, files, device backups | Movies, music, books, or subscriptions purchased with the account |
| iCloud Keychain data: payment info, passwords, passkeys |
Apple confirms a Legacy Contact cannot access purchased movies, music, books, or subscriptions, nor data stored in iCloud Keychain. At the cryptographic level, the keying information used by a beneficiary doesn't encompass the information necessary to decrypt the decedent's iCloud Keychain — so passwords and passkeys stay sealed by design, not by policy.
How does a Legacy Contact actually claim access later?
The request fails without two specific items. The contact must hold both the unique access key created when they were added and the account holder's death certificate, then start the request on their device or at digital-legacy.apple.com.
Apple then verifies the documentation — generally a death certificate, with requirements varying by country or region (Japan, for example, may require a family certificate instead). After the security checks clear, Apple issues a user name and password for the new account and releases the necessary keying information to the Legacy Contact. In the U.S. and some other locales, a person can also request access with a court order even without being a designated Legacy Contact — but that route runs slower, which is the whole reason to designate someone in advance.
How do you remove a Legacy Contact?
Open the same screen and tap or click Remove Contact. After you do, the person isn't notified, you no longer appear in their Legacy Contact list, and the access key they received no longer works. Apple emails you a confirmation on removal. Because the old key dies the moment you remove someone, issue a fresh key to whoever replaces them.
Where Proceedly fits
Apple's Legacy Contact covers exactly one account. The domains, payment processors, and the server where a side project lives ship no Legacy Contact feature of their own. Proceedly is a business-continuity check-in: miss it past a grace window and a person you name confirms (or, on the Pro plan, it releases automatically) before your encrypted handoff plan reaches the people who depend on you. It stores your instructions and where keys live — including a line noting that your Apple access key is printed and filed — never the passwords themselves.
FAQ
Do I need two-factor authentication turned on? Yes. The feature requires two-factor authentication on your Apple Account, alongside iOS 15.2 or later and being signed in, and the menu won't appear until two-factor is active.
Can my Legacy Contact get my saved passwords? No. A Legacy Contact cannot access iCloud Keychain data, which includes passwords, passkeys, and payment information.
Will the person know I added or removed them? They find out when you add them, via the iMessage invitation; on removal they aren't notified. You get an email when one is added and another when one is removed.
What two things does my contact need to claim access? The unique access key and the account holder's death certificate — the request won't proceed without both.
Can someone access the account without being a Legacy Contact? In the U.S. and some other locales, yes — with a court order — though it takes longer than using a pre-set Legacy Contact.