Replace a lost or broken device

You need: depending on the case, another of your devices, your recovery kit (or the vault’s passphrase), and a copy of the vault (a sync target or a backup).

First, if the device was lost or stolen: lock or erase it with Find My, and cut its access to your storage (sign it out of your Apple Account, or change the password of your WebDAV server or file share). Then find your case below. The device list (Settings ▸ Sync & Devices ▸ Devices) shows which device Manages devices.

Case 1: it did not manage devices

Say you lost the iPhone, and the iPad manages devices.

1. On the iPad, Settings ▸ Sync & Devices ▸ Devices, touch and hold the iPhone, Remove….
2. If it was lost or stolen, turn on Lost or Stolen. Read what the sheet says: when the iPhone last synced (its later changes stay on it), and which storage passwords to change.
3. Remove. The vault gets a new key at once. The iPhone can no longer read anything written from now on.
4. On the replacement iPhone: open the vault from its sync target and join, as in Add a second device.

Case 2: it managed devices

Say you lost the iPad, which managed devices, and you still have the Mac. Nobody can approve or remove devices until a device takes over, so do this first.

1. On the Mac, Settings ▸ Sync & Devices ▸ Devices ▸ Take Over with Recovery Kit… (or View ▸ Vault Keys).
2. Type the recovery key from the kit, or paste it from where you saved it, or type the vault’s passphrase instead. The Mac has opened this vault before, so it does not need the kit’s root.
3. Continue. Under Keep these devices, uncheck the iPad. Keep every device you still have.
4. Take Over. The Mac now manages devices, and the iPad is off the list. Your other devices show an alert about the takeover.
5. If the lost iPad made the current kit, or the kit may be compromised, Replace Recovery Kit… on the Mac.
6. Join the replacement iPad from the Mac, as in Add a second device. To make it home again, Make Home… on the Mac afterward.

If the old iPad turns up again after the takeover, it learns it was removed and offers to save anything it had not synced. To use it again, delete the vault from it and join again.

Case 3: it was your only device

You need the recovery kit (or the passphrase) and a copy of the vault.

1. On the new device, get the vault:
   • from its sync target: Open Vault… and the folder in iCloud Drive (or wherever it was), or Open from WebDAV…;
   • or from a backup: Restore from Backup… and the backup folder.
2. On the unlock screen, Take Over with Recovery Kit….
3. Scan the kit’s two QR codes (the key, and the root next to it), or type the key and the 16 groups of the root. With the passphrase copy, the passphrase alone is enough.
4. Continue, uncheck the lost device under Keep these devices, and Take Over.

The new device makes its own key and manages devices from now on. Print a new kit with Replace Recovery Kit… if the old one may be in the wrong hands.

Only want to read your notes, not write? Or read with the recovery key on the unlock screen opens the vault read-only, without changing anything.

With the CLI

sempere devices remove ID --vault ~/Notes.sempere                     # case 1, on the home machine
sempere devices takeover --vault ~/Notes.sempere --recovery-key key.txt \
    --root "THE 16 GROUPS ON THE KIT"                                 # cases 2 and 3: shows the devices
sempere devices takeover --vault ~/Notes.sempere --recovery-key key.txt \
    --root "THE 16 GROUPS ON THE KIT" --keep ID --keep ID --yes

Afterward, delete the key file. See Use your recovery kit.