Lockbook Accounts

Lockbook’s accounts are designed to prevent everyone, even Lockbook team members, from reading your notes without your permission. We don’t use an email or password. Instead, you choose a username and a secret key is generated for you.

Your secret key serves as your password and is presented as a 24-word phrase. You’ll see it when you sign up and can access it from settings anytime, either as a 24-word phrase or as a QR code to sign you in on a mobile device. It comes with two important rules:

1. Keep your key secret. Anyone who gains access to your key gains access to your account. They can sign in as you, read and modify your files, and delete your account. There is little the Lockbook team can do to support you in this situation because we have no way to distinguish between you and someone else with your key.

Tips to keep your key secret:

1. Don’t share it. There is no reason to. The Lockbook team will never ask for your key — they went quite out of their way to ensure that sharing your key would never be necessary. If you receive a text or email asking for your key, this is extra suspicious because Lockbook gathers neither your phone number nor email.
2. Sign up and sign in at private locations. A person or camera watching over your shoulder can gain access to your key. You’ll only need to sign in once per device, so this isn’t a frequent consideration.

2. Don’t lose your key. Your key is required to access your files, so without it, your files are forever lost. There is little the Lockbook team can do to support you in this situation because we don’t have your key and we, too, cannot access your files without it.

Tips to not lose your key:

1. Sign in on another device. Each device you sign in on stores a backup of your key, so if you lose one, it’s good to have another. We recommend signing in on a second device right after you sign up.
2. Save it to a password manager. An open source password manager like Bitwarden uses a similar zero-trust design as Lockbook itself. We don’t recommend storing it in another notes app, as a photo, or with another cloud storage provider, as these have weaker security guarantees.
3. Write it down and physically store it somewhere safe from disaster and theft.
4. Memorize it. Become inseparable from your key.

Sign Up

To create your Lockbook account, install and launch any of our apps and choose the ‘Create Account’ option. You’ll be prompted to choose a unique username and to backup your secret key, which we recommend doing right away.

Sign In

To sign in, install and launch any of our apps and choose the ‘Import Account’ option. You’ll need your secret key, which is available from any signed-in device through settings.

To sign in on mobile, we recommend revealing a QR code from a signed-in device. You can scan it to transfer your key and save yourself a few moments of typing.

Sign Out

To sign out, find the option in settings. Signing out removes your key from this device — make sure you have another signed-in device or a backup to retain access to your account.

Delete Account

You can delete your account in settings to leave Lockbook for good. Your username will remain reserved and can’t be re-used.