Your HARD account

You need a HARD account only for Family, HARD for Mac and asking a person. How to create one, and what your Secret Key and Emergency Kit are.

Updated 5 November 2026 View as Markdown

Everything that protects a device works without an account. You need one for Family, HARD for Mac and asking a person.

Create your account

On iPhone, tap your coin at the top right of Home, then Create your HARD account. It takes three steps:

Create your HARD account: your email and a password, your Secret Key, your Emergency Kit — The three steps, before you start

Your email and a password.
Your Secret Key. Your iPhone makes it. Your password plus your Secret Key opens your account, and HARD never sees either of them.
Your Emergency Kit. A PDF with your Secret Key, a space to write your password, and a code to sign in on a new phone. Save it to Files or print it. On its own it can’t open your account, because it never holds your password.

Step 1 of 3: your email and a password — Step 1

Step 2 of 3: This is your Secret Key, your password plus Secret Key equals your account — Step 2

Step 3 of 3: Save your Emergency Kit, with a preview of the real Kit — Step 3

Your account page

Your account is in Settings → Account. There you can:

save your Emergency Kit again;
get a code to sign in on another device;
send yourself the link for HARD for Mac;
see and remove your devices;
sign out, or delete your account.

The Account page: email, Save your Emergency Kit, Sign in on another device, HARD for Mac, Sign out and Delete account — Settings → Account

Your iPhone’s own key is locked in its Secure Enclave. Nothing can copy it off, not even HARD.

Questions

Do I need a HARD account?

Not to be protected. Is this legit?, the text filter, call blocking and HARD codes all work without one. You need an account for Family, HARD for Mac and asking a person.

What is the Emergency Kit?

A PDF with your Secret Key, a space to write your password, and a code to sign in on a new phone. Keep it somewhere safe, like Files or on paper. On its own it can’t open your account, because it never holds your password. Save it again any time from Settings → Account.

Still stuck? Write to support, and tell us what you’ve tried.