Manual method
- Inventory passports, identity cards, birth/marriage certificates and other documents you need to preserve.
- Save official electronic originals where the issuing authority provides them; keep signature/verification files together.
- For paper originals use a scanner or Files > More > Scan Documents on iPhone; include relevant fronts/backs and avoid cropped edges.
- Verify legibility and label issuer, document type and date privately; keep the physical original safely.
Coverage and limitations: No universal identity-document download exists. A scan is not automatically a legally accepted replacement for an original. Avoid broadly shared cloud folders and do not combine credentials/password exports with document scans.
Size and time to allow
Illustrative planning size: 0.1 GB; scenario range 0.01–1 GB. This is a storage-planning example, not a measured average. Your archive may be smaller or larger. Around 50 carefully scanned documents at 2 MB each.
Preparation and hands-on time: Scanning 50 documents may take 30–90 minutes; transfer is usually brief. Issuer requests have separate deadlines.
For the 0.1 GB example, network transfer alone is approximately:
| Connection download speed | Transfer estimate |
|---|---|
| 10 Mbit/s | 2 min |
| 50 Mbit/s | 23 sec |
| 100 Mbit/s | 12 sec |
These calculations use decimal GB and 70% of the advertised speed. Tiny transfers can take longer because of startup overhead. Local exports do not need an internet download; use these numbers only for a network transfer. Preparation, retries, extraction, checking and a cloud upload are additional; use upload speed for the latter.
Where and how to keep it
An encrypted USB key can hold this example, but keep another independent copy on an external drive or in private encrypted cloud storage. A USB key alone is easily lost and is not a complete preservation plan. These files expose sensitive identity or financial details; avoid shared folders and retain an independent recovery method.
Create a dated identity_documents/YYYY-MM-DD/ folder. Keep received originals unchanged, use a separate working copy, and note the account/profile, selected dates, formats and known gaps in a private README. Compare file sizes, check any supplied checksums, and open sample files from the backup before considering the task finished. Repeat after meaningful additions. Follow the storage, archive-checking and large-file guide.
Sources and review
Public documentation was reviewed on 27 October 2026. No signed-in export or restoration was performed. Account options and availability can change; follow the current provider instructions.