How to encrypt your phone: A complete guide for Android and iPhones

What is phone encryption?

An encrypted phone refers to a mobile phone that uses advanced cryptography to scramble stored data into an unreadable format, accessible only with a valid PIN, passcode, or biometric identifier. Recent Android and iOS devices use encryption by default, which ensures that sensitive information, such as payment details, personal messages, and work files, stays protected against hackers, thieves, and unauthorized access.

Why should you encrypt your phone? 

If your device is lost or stolen, encryption is what stops a stranger from reading everything on it. 

Advantages of encrypting your phone

Encrypting your phone offers many helpful security benefits because it:

• Protects your personal information. 

  Privacy is a fundamental right, and you should protect it. If your device is lost or taken by an opportunistic thief, encryption prevents anyone from extracting your data. You can strengthen this protection further with automatic data deletion after 10 incorrect passcode attempts. It’s optional on iOS, and Android support varies by manufacturer and OS version.

• Keeps your photos and videos safe. 

  Thieves can use stolen media for blackmail or online impersonation. Encryption also protects you when you resell or dispose of a device — residual data left after a factory reset stays unreadable without the key.

• Helps work phones meet compliance standards. 

  If you handle customer data with your work smartphone, encryption may be required to meet data compliance standards and avoid costly fines.

Are there any disadvantages to encrypting your phone?

For most people, the benefits of encryption clearly outweigh the downsides. Still, a few trade-offs are worth knowing:

• You need to remember your passcode.

  If you forget your PIN or password, you’ll lose access to your encrypted data.

• Encryption can slow down old devices.

  On older smartphones running legacy manual encryption, encrypting your data could slow down performance. On newer devices, however, hardware encryption is enabled by default with no noticeable speed impact.

• Encryption doesn’t protect against all security risks.

  Encryption primarily protects data at rest. It does not protect your information while the phone is unlocked and in use, nor does it shield you from malware or phishing attacks.

Is your phone already encrypted? 

If you already protect your phone with a PIN, password, pattern, or biometric lock, your data is almost certainly encrypted right now. On newer iPhones and Android devices, storage encryption activates automatically the moment you set up a screen lock. Android required full-disk encryption on most devices from version 6, and file-based encryption became mandatory with Android 10.

Even if your phone encrypts data automatically, your setup isn’t foolproof. Weak lock screen credentials and skipped software updates can easily undermine built-in security. Below, we’ll walk through the steps of checking your encryption status and closing the most common security gaps.

How to encrypt your Android phone

If you’re searching for how to encrypt your Android phone or tablet, here’s how to confirm your current security status, strengthen your protection, and manually enable encryption on older Android devices.

How to check if encryption is enabled on your Android phone 

On current Android devices, encryption is on by default. Here’s how to check your encryption status on Android:

• Android encryption relies on your device lock to secure its decryption keys. Go to “Settings,” “Security & privacy,” “Device lock,” and make sure you have set a secure PIN, password, or pattern.
• On the newest Android versions (including devices running Samsung One UI), it’s completely normal not to find an “Encrypt phone” button. That usually means your phone is already encrypted, not that the feature is missing.
• If you use a Google Pixel or a stock Android device, open the “Settings” app, tap “Security & privacy,” select “More security settings,” and tap “Encryption & credentials” to view your storage protection status. 

How to manually encrypt older Android devices

The newest smartphones lack a manual encryption option because they encrypt storage by default. On older devices running Android 5.1 or lower, encryption required manual setup — here’s how to do it.

1. 1. Open the “Settings” app.
2. 2. Go to your security settings. Depending on your version, they are usually found under “Security” or by selecting “System” and only then tapping “Security.”
3. 3. Look for an option labeled “Encrypt phone” or “Encrypt device.”
4. 4. Follow the on-screen prompts to set or confirm your PIN or password and initiate the process. Keep the phone plugged in and don’t interrupt the process until encryption finishes.

You might not see an encryption option in your Android settings for two reasons. First, your device may already be encrypted by default and requires no action — that’s the case with newer phones. Second, some budget or niche legacy devices lack the hardware needed to support encryption at all.

Before starting manual encryption on a legacy phone:

1. 1. Back up your data to prevent loss if the process is interrupted.
2. 2. Charge your phone to at least 80% and keep it plugged in.
3. 3. Set a strong PIN or password beforehand to serve as your decryption key.
4. 4. Set aside time — the process takes 30 minutes to several hours, during which your phone will be unusable.

How to strengthen encryption on your Android phone 

Your passcode isn’t the encryption key itself — it’s what your phone uses to derive that key. When you unlock your device, Android passes your entry to a hardware-backed security chip, which derives the key needed to decrypt your personal data. 

That’s why learning how to lock your phone with a complex PIN or password is one of the most effective Android security tips — a strong passcode makes brute-force guessing impractical.

To maximize your device’s protection:

• Swap a basic 4-digit PIN for a 6+ digit PIN or, ideally, an alphanumeric password. 
• Avoid predictable patterns or repeated digits.
• Use biometrics for everyday convenience, but protect your device with a strong passcode too. Biometrics are faster for daily use, but if someone gets physical access to your phone, a passcode can’t be unlocked without your active cooperation. 
• Install system updates as soon as they arrive. Keeping your Android device up to date helps close security gaps as new vulnerabilities are discovered.

How to encrypt your iPhone

iPhones automatically encrypt all personal data saved on the device. When you set a passcode, Face ID, or Touch ID, your phone ties its encryption keys to the Secure Enclave — a dedicated security chip built into the processor. Here’s how to confirm this protection is on and tighten it further. 

How to check your iPhone encryption status

Starting with iOS 8 on devices with the Secure Enclave, encryption keys are derived from a combination of your personal passcode and a unique hardware key bound to the device chip. As Apple explicitly states in its law enforcement guidelines, the company does not hold these keys and cannot extract readable data from a locked device.

To confirm that data protection is active on your iOS device:

1. 1. Open the “Settings” app.
2. 2. Tap “Face ID & Passcode” (or “Touch ID & Passcode” on older models) and enter your passcode.
3. 3. Scroll to the bottom of the menu.
4. 4. Verify that the text “Data protection is enabled” is visible.

How to add extra security measures on your iPhone

Beyond baseline encryption, a few more iPhone security tips help protect your data if your phone ever gets stolen:

• Set a custom alphanumeric passcode

  Your passcode acts as the primary defense for your encryption keys. To upgrade beyond a standard numeric PIN, open the “Settings” app, select “Face ID & Passcode,” tap “Change passcode,” and choose “Custom alphanumeric code” under “Passcode options.”

  
  

  While Face ID and Touch ID are great for day-to-day convenience, a strong, memorized passcode offers protection that biometrics can’t. If someone snatches your phone at a busy bar, they could easily hold the screen up to your face before you even realize what’s happening. Biometrics rely on physical attributes, and they can sometimes be used without your active consent. A complex passcode, on the other hand, lives entirely in your head — meaning nobody can force open your encrypted data without your deliberate cooperation.

• Set up stolen device protection

  Open the “Settings” app, tap “Face ID & passcode,” and turn on “Stolen device protection.” If someone steals your phone and knows its passcode, this feature prevents them from immediately taking over your account. The built-in iPhone security delay gives you time to mark the phone as lost and secure the account before unauthorized changes can take effect.

• Turn on two-factor authentication

  Two-factor authentication adds a second verification step when you sign in to your Apple Account on any device. To set it up, open “Settings,” tap your name, select “Sign-in & security,” and choose “Two-factor authentication” to add a trusted phone number.

How to encrypt your phone backups 

By default, Apple holds the encryption keys to your data under standard data protection. Your data is encrypted in transit and on Apple’s servers, but because Apple can unlock it to help you recover your account, iCloud backups and messages aren’t end-to-end encrypted. 

This setup is at the heart of the long-running Apple encryption backdoor debate, in which Apple faced pressure from law enforcement to provide access to user cloud data. Turning on advanced data protection means that those encryption keys are able to be used strictly on your own devices, providing true end-to-end encryption across your backups, photos, notes, and messages so not even Apple can access them. 

Here’s how to turn on advanced data protection on your iPhone:

1. 1. Make sure two-factor authentication is active and your iPhone is updated to iOS 16.2 or newer.
2. 2. Open “Settings,” tap your name, select “iCloud,” and then tap “Advanced data protection.”
3. 3. Set up an account recovery method (a recovery contact, a recovery key, or both).
4. 4. Tap “Turn on advanced data protection.”

On Android, Google encrypts account backups by default, and supported devices automatically apply end-to-end encryption using your device PIN, pattern, or password.

But be aware that with end-to-end encryption enabled, Apple and Google cannot access or recover your data. If you lose your passcode, password, or recovery key, your backup is permanently lost.

Additional encryption tools for your smartphone 

Both Android and iOS devices have very strong built-in encryption, along with support for multi-factor authentication. For most people, this encryption is enough, but if you use your phone for work and need to meet compliance requirements, add extra layers with third-party tools, such as apps that offer end-to-end encryption for messaging and data storage.

Encrypting data in transit vs. data at rest 

Data at rest and data in transit need different types of protection. 

Data at rest refers to information stored directly on your phone or saved on cloud servers, such as your photos, local files, app data, and backups. Device encryption (like the built-in encryption on iOS and Android) protects this stored data so that unauthorized users cannot read your files without your passcode, PIN, or decryption keys.

Data in transit refers to the information moving back and forth between your phone and the internet. A VPN encrypts your internet connection while it’s in transit, which is especially important when using unsecured public Wi-Fi networks where attackers might try to intercept your data or snoop on your activity.

To make a long story short, a VPN complements your device’s built-in encryption but doesn’t replace it. So using a provider like NordVPN gives you added privacy for your internet traffic, but it will not encrypt files stored locally.

Getting VPN encryption on your phone takes just three steps:

1. 1. Get the NordVPN app for Android or the NordVPN app for iOS.
2. 2. Log in to your account.
3. 3. Choose a VPN server and connect.