Set up a decoy photo vault in Vault Max

Create a Vault Max decoy with its code, add a separate collection, check which library opens, and understand backup, capacity and duress-vault differences.

By FalconPublished 23 October 20264 min read

Vault Max main and decoy vault list, credential screen and private media library — Vault Max lets separate credentials open separate private libraries. The main/decoy management screen, lock screen and Library illustrate how to organize different collections without putting everything behind the same vault code.

To create a decoy in Vault Max, unlock your main vault and open Settings → Decoy & duress vaults → Add decoy vault. Give it a management label, choose a credential different from your other vaults and confirm it. Entering that decoy credential on the locked app opens its separate library.

A decoy is useful when you want different collections to open with different codes. You choose the content in each library. An ordinary decoy opens its own collection; it does not need the destructive erase option available to a duress vault.

Understand what is separate

Each vault has its own credential and library contents. The lock screen does not present a list of vaults to choose from; the matching credential determines which one opens. Inside, the interface looks like the regular Vault Max library.

Vault Max management screen showing My Vault and Decoy 1 — **Let the credential select the private collection**Vault Max lists the sample main vault and Decoy 1 in its management screen, while the locked entry screen asks for a credential. This separates the owner's management view from the code-based way each library opens.

Vault Max credential entry without a visible vault list — **Let the credential select the private collection**Vault Max lists the sample main vault and Decoy 1 in its management screen, while the locked entry screen asks for a credential. This separates the owner's management view from the code-based way each library opens.

The management label is visible where you manage the child vault. A newly created decoy calls itself My Vault inside its own interface. Keep a private record of which credential belongs to which library so an intentionally empty collection is not mistaken for missing files.

Create a decoy from the main vault

Unlock the main vault and open Settings → Decoy & duress vaults.
Choose Add decoy vault.
Enter a label that makes sense in the management list.
Choose Continue to passcode, then enter and confirm the new credential.
Wait for the ready message before opening or configuring the new library.

The new credential must differ from every other vault's credential and use the same configured unlock type. With PIN entry, follow the length and strength requirements shown by the app. If the app says a credential is already in use, choose a different one rather than assuming it created another vault.

Find the separate-vault management controlsThis recording shows the Vault Max vault-management screen with a main vault, a sample decoy and Add decoy vault. It identifies where you create and manage a separate collection; the clip does not stand in for entering a new credential.

Vault Max with sample content. Use the controls to pause or replay.

The free plan includes one extra vault. Optional subscriptions and Lifetime Unlock support up to eight total vaults per device. If creation is unavailable, check both the free/paid capacity message and whether the device already holds the maximum number of vaults.

Add content to the intended library

Open the decoy from its management entry with Open this vault, or lock the app and enter the decoy's credential. Add a small, recognizable sample before committing a larger batch. In that library, use the plus button to import from Photos or Files, use Private Camera, or create a note.

Vault Max Library with its plus button and media filters — **Build and organize the collection inside the chosen vault**These Vault Max Library and Albums screens show the interface used by a vault's own collection. After opening your decoy, use its plus button and albums to add and organize that library; the sample media here illustrates the interface rather than a completed decoy import.

Sample private albums in Vault Max — **Build and organize the collection inside the chosen vault**These Vault Max Library and Albums screens show the interface used by a vault's own collection. After opening your decoy, use its plus button and albums to add and organize that library; the sample media here illustrates the interface rather than a completed decoy import.

Check which library is open before importing. Creating a decoy does not automatically copy the main vault's pictures into it or remove the main collection. The import walkthrough covers verifying copies and handling Photos originals.

Check access through the locked app

Lock the vault and enter each credential deliberately to confirm that the intended collection opens. If you use biometric unlock, check which vault its existing enrollment opens; do not assume the face or fingerprint prompt is choosing the same collection as the decoy credential.

With calculator disguise, a PIN and equals still uses the matching vault credential. Press and hold equals when you need the regular lock screen for another entry method.

Vault Max calculator disguise — **Use the entry method that matches your vault credential**Vault Max offers calculator entry for a PIN and the regular screen for credential options. Check the library reached by each of your own codes so a different entry appearance does not confuse which private collection you opened.

Vault Max regular unlock screen — **Use the entry method that matches your vault credential**Vault Max offers calculator entry for a PIN and the regular screen for credential options. Check the library reached by each of your own codes so a different entry appearance does not confuse which private collection you opened.

Know the difference between decoy and duress

Choose Add decoy vault when you want an ordinary separate library. A duress vault has a different role: its settings can either just open that vault or erase every other vault when its credential is entered.

The erase choice permanently destroys the main and other vaults on that installation, without an undo or an on-screen warning at unlock. It is an explicit destructive option. Keep an independent backup and read the action setting before enabling or using it; ordinary decoy organization does not require it.

Deleting a decoy from management is also a destructive content action for that selected vault. Read the confirmation and preserve content you want before choosing Delete vault.

Back up the collections you intend to keep

In the main vault, Settings → Encrypted backup exports the current main vault and its included descendants into a separately password-protected .vaultmax file. Confirm the scope, save the archive outside the phone and keep its password. Make a new snapshot after important changes to child vaults.

Vault Max main and decoy vault management — **Include your separate collections in the recovery plan**Vault Max's management list helps you identify the child vaults to preserve, and Backup creates the encrypted recovery archive. Check the included vaults and keep the file and password independently so separate collections remain recoverable after a phone change.

Vault Max encrypted backup create and restore controls — **Include your separate collections in the recovery plan**Vault Max's management list helps you identify the child vaults to preserve, and Backup creates the encrypted recovery archive. Check the included vaults and keep the file and password independently so separate collections remain recoverable after a phone change.

Restored child vaults need new credentials assigned in Settings → Decoy & duress vaults. A restored duress vault's erase action stays off until it has a credential. Follow the backup guide and new-iPhone checklist before retiring the old installation.

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