Manual method
Preserve dated medication lists, prescription documents and care instructions from the sources that hold them.
- For a list stored in Apple Health, open Health → Browse → Medications, scroll down and choose Export PDF.
- Use the share sheet to save privately rather than send the list to a third party.
- From pharmacy/provider portals, download available prescription histories and care-plan PDFs using their own documented controls.
- File each source separately with its date; request unavailable documents from the issuing provider.
Coverage and limitations: A current medication-list PDF is not a complete prescription or administration history. Different sources may conflict or be outdated. Preserve discrepancies and source dates rather than editing them into a single assumed truth.
Size and time to allow
Illustrative small / central / large case: 0.001 / 0.05 / 1 GB (decimal GB). These are planning assumptions, not a measured average per person. 50 MB represents a collection of lists, prescription PDFs and care plans; it is a planning allowance rather than a population average.
Preparation: The Apple PDF is an interactive on-device export. Allow 5–20 minutes to gather several documents; provider-request timing varies.
For the central 0.05 GB example, network transfer alone is approximately:
| Connection | Estimated transfer |
|---|---|
| 10 Mbps | 57 seconds |
| 50 Mbps | 11 seconds |
| 100 Mbps | 6 seconds |
Assumes 70% sustained use of the stated connection. Provider throttling, many small files, retries, local extraction and copying add time. For online backup use your upload speed. These are not estimates of the provider’s preparation queue. See calculation and large-file advice.
Store and verify the archive
The example is small enough for an encrypted USB key, external drive or private cloud folder. Choose a second independent copy as well; a single USB key is easy to lose and a sync folder alone can propagate deletion. For health records, restrict access and avoid shared-family/public-link destinations; keep encryption recovery information separately.
Create medication_records/YYYY-MM-DD/originals/, preserve the untouched download, and extract a separate working copy when needed. Allow extra free space for archive plus extraction; compressed text can expand far beyond twice its size. Record account/scope, export date, date coverage and missing items in a local README without passwords.
Confirm date, medication names, strength and page completeness against the source. Archive only; do not use this workflow to change medication or care instructions. Reopen a sample from the second copy before deleting or replacing any source. Storage choices and verification.
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.