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Forgot PIN, can’t unlock, and recovery

Reset your vault PIN with your account password, and recover Recoverable encryption albums with email OTP. Maximum privacy has no FWDLink recovery.

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Forgot PIN, can’t unlock, and recovery

There are two different recoveries. Using the wrong one will not unlock encrypted albums — and Maximum privacy has no FWDLink recovery at all.

Situation What to use
Forgot App Lock / vault PIN Forgot PIN? → account password → set a new PIN
Forgot encryption passphrase on a Recoverable album Forgot passphrase? Recover with email
Forgot passphrase on Maximum privacy No recovery — photos cannot be restored by FWDLink

Reset the vault PIN (Forgot PIN?)

Use this when App Lock or Require unlock to open asks for a PIN you no longer know.

  1. On the unlock screen, tap Forgot PIN?.
  2. Enter your Account password (FWDLink sign-in password — not the old vault PIN).
  3. Tap Verify & continue.
  4. Set a new PIN (4–6 digits) and confirm it.

What this does / does not do

  • Does: Reset the vault PIN used by App Lock and album unlock gates that use the vault PIN.
  • Does not: Decrypt Maximum privacy albums if you also lost a custom encryption passphrase that was not the vault PIN.
  • Does not: Replace email recovery for a Recoverable encryption passphrase when that passphrase was custom (not the vault PIN).

Example

You changed phones and remember your FWDLink login but not the vault PIN. You open the app, tap Forgot PIN?, enter your account password, and set a new PIN. App Lock works again. If you used a custom Maximum privacy passphrase and lost it, resetting the vault PIN will not bring those photos back.

Unlock an album

  • Require unlock to open: enter the vault PIN.
  • Encrypted / Locked album: enter the encryption passphrase (or vault PIN if you chose “use my vault PIN” when encrypting).

Recover a Recoverable encryption passphrase

Only for albums encrypted with Recoverable encryption (not Maximum privacy):

  1. On the unlock screen, tap Forgot passphrase? Recover with email.
  2. Check your email for the recovery message (and spam).
  3. Enter the Email code.
  4. If phone verification is enabled, complete phone OTP when prompted.
  5. Tap Verify & unlock.

After a successful recovery you can unlock the album and, if you want, set a passphrase you will remember — or remove encryption from full lock settings.

Maximum privacy: no FWDLink recovery

If the album used Maximum privacy and the passphrase (or the only copy of the vault PIN used as that passphrase) is lost, nobody — including FWDLink — can restore those photos. There is no reset for that level. That is the tradeoff you accepted when enabling Maximum privacy.

Wrong PIN or too many attempts

  1. Re-enter the PIN carefully (digits only, 4–6 length).
  2. After too many mistakes, wait and try again.
  3. If you still cannot unlock, use Forgot PIN? (App Lock / vault PIN) or the Recoverable passphrase path above.

Related guides

Troubleshooting

Incorrect or expired code
Request a new recovery email and enter the latest Email code promptly. Check spam. Confirm you used the email on the account.

Incorrect account password
Forgot PIN? needs your FWDLink account password (sign-in), not the vault PIN. Reset the account password through normal account recovery if needed, then return to Forgot PIN?.

I reset my PIN but an encrypted album still won’t open
Check the security level. Maximum privacy with a lost custom passphrase cannot be recovered. Recoverable encryption needs Forgot passphrase? Recover with email, not only a new vault PIN (unless you originally used the vault PIN as the passphrase and the album is set up to follow that).

I used Recoverable recovery but meant Maximum privacy
Recovery only works for Recoverable encryption. Maximum privacy was designed so FWDLink cannot unlock it for you.

Need more help?
Browse the Help Center or Contact support.

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