Turn on Apple’s Lockdown Mode before you cross any border.

There’s a setting on your iPhone that most people have never heard of — and for most situations, you don’t need it. But there are moments in life when you absolutely do. Crossing a border. Getting pulled over. Traveling to certain countries. Attending a protest. Entering a legal situation. In any of these moments, Lockdown Mode is the single most powerful thing you can turn on.

What Lockdown Mode actually does

Lockdown Mode, introduced by Apple in July 2022, is an extreme protection setting that shuts down most of the ways a sophisticated attacker — or a government-grade surveillance tool — can get into your device.¹ It blocks message attachments, disables certain web browsing features, turns off FaceTime calls from unknown contacts, prevents wired connections to accessories when the phone is locked, and turns off shared photo albums. It essentially closes every door that doesn’t need to be open.

It is designed for journalists, activists, human rights workers, and people who believe they may be targeted by state-sponsored spyware. And as of 2026, Apple confirmed that no one who had Lockdown Mode enabled has ever been successfully compromised by mercenary spyware.²

But the reality is, you don’t have to be a dissident to benefit from it — you just have to be crossing a border or getting pulled over.

If nothing else, turn it on when crossing borders

U.S. Customs and Border Protection has broad authority to search your devices at the border — including your phone, laptop, and tablet — without a warrant and without needing to tell you why. This applies to American citizens returning home just as much as to visitors.³ CBP agents have copied the entire contents of travelers’ phones on the spot, and they are authorized to retain that data for up to 15 years.⁴

Lockdown Mode won’t make your phone invisible, but it dramatically limits what can be extracted — especially from the sophisticated forensic tools border agents use. Turn it on before you get to the airport. Leave it on until you’re home.

Getting pulled over is not as safe as you think

In the United States, law enforcement can seize your phone during a stop. With or without your consent, police can connect your phone to a device called a UFED — a Universal Forensic Extraction Device made by a company called Cellebrite — and copy your entire phone’s data in minutes.⁵ Your text messages, deleted texts, location history, photos, app data, and more. This has happened to people who were never charged with anything. The Michigan ACLU documented cases of police using these devices during routine traffic stops without a warrant.⁶

Lockdown Mode makes this dramatically harder. It limits the USB attack surface, prevents unauthorized accessory connections, and keeps many of the exploits these tools rely on from working. It’s not a guarantee — but it’s a significant barrier.

When to use it

You don’t need Lockdown Mode at the grocery store. But consider turning it on any time you’re in a situation where your phone could be taken from you or interrogated without your consent: international travel and border crossings, interactions with law enforcement, protests or politically sensitive events, travel to countries with aggressive surveillance laws, or any time you feel your device may be at risk.

It’s not paranoia. It’s preparation. The same way you buckle your seatbelt not because you plan to crash, but because the option to be protected is right there.

How to turn it on

Go to Settings → Privacy & Security
Scroll to the bottom and tap Lockdown Mode
Tap Turn On Lockdown Mode
Tap Turn On & Restart

Your phone will restart and Lockdown Mode will be active. A banner will appear at the top of Settings confirming it’s on. To turn it off, follow the same steps and tap Turn Off Lockdown Mode.

Some apps and features will behave differently while it’s active — that’s the point. Turn it off when you’re safely home.