Keep all your secrets away from prying eyes.

Christmas is fast approaching and those of you who’re more organised may have your shopping done, presents wrapped and be feeling as cool as a cucumber about now.

Many of you may be feeling equally as chilled, relying on your old and trusty pal – Amazon Prime next day delivery.

For those of you who, like me, are beginning to scramble, I feel you. One thing I’m guilty of around Christmas is my relentless need to make a thousand lists on my Notes app.

Whether that’s a collection of gifts we plan on buying, recipes you’ve seen for the best roasties or top tips on how to turn your home into a grotto.

Some of you may not know that you can store documents and files in your Notes too – the perfect place for receipts, order confirmations and everything else in between.

A lot of this stuff you’ll want to keep private and sometimes a passcode on your iPhone just isn’t enough to keep the nosey parkers out.

Did you know there’s actually a way you can lock your Notes on your iPhone so that nobody can sneak in and read them? It’s true. Here’s how.

Write it and lock it.

The first time you lock a note, you’ll be asked to create a password and a hint. You’ll want to make sure it’s something a little more complicated than 1234 or your birthday.

When you’ve done this, locking a note is easy peasy.

1) Open the Notes app.

2) Tap the three-dotted more button.

3) Choose the Lock option.

The great thing about all of this is that you can enable Touch ID or Face ID if you want that extra sense of security.

Lock Notes setting on iPhone.
Keeping all your secrets safe is easy. 

If you decide that you no longer need to lock the note, that’s okay too.

1) Open the note.

2) Tap the Lock icon from the top toolbar.

3) Enter your password to unlock it.

Voila! You’re all unlocked – maybe wait until after Christmas, just to be on the safe side.

Scan it and save it.

We’ve mentioned that you can save those all-important documents to your Notes, but if you’re unsure how to do this, we’ve got you covered.

1) Open the Notes app.

2) Create a new note.

3) Tap the camera button at the bottom of the screen.

4) Choose photo or video.

5) Select scan documents.

You can now use your iPhone camera to scan any documents into your Notes. It’s your choice what you do with this document, you can lock it in a note or save it to files and forward it on via email or text message.

1) Click on the document you’ve scanned.

2) Select the box with an arrow in it, in the top right corner.

3) Choose the action you want to carry out.

Like we said, this will come in super handy for saving receipts and other bits and bobs this Christmas.

Your secret’s safe with Notes.

This handy guide should help you out this Christmas and will keep your lists and all your documents safe and sound.

If you’re looking for an iPhone to try this out on or just fancy treating yourself this Christmas, you’re in luck.

We’ve got epic deals on the best from Apple – including the latest iPhone 13 and best-selling iPhone 12. We’ll even throw in free delivery too.