Set Up a Decoy Vault

A Decoy Vault is a second vault that opens with its own pattern or PIN. If someone makes you open Vaultine, you enter the decoy lock and they see a real, working vault with nothing sensitive in it. Your real vault stays encrypted, hidden and untouched. Decoy Vault is part of Vaultine Pro.

What it does, and what it doesn't

	Decoy Vault
Opens with	Its own pattern or PIN, different from your real lock
Shows	A harmless vault with whatever you put in it
Your real vault	Stays hidden and untouched. Nothing is deleted
Undo	Nothing to undo. Enter your real lock and your real vault opens as normal

Decoy Vault is not the same feature as Duress Vault. Duress opens a fake vault and permanently wipes your real vaults. Decoy deletes nothing. They're separate, and you can use either, both or neither. Decoy Vault vs. Duress Vault explains when each one makes sense.

Before you start

• You need Vaultine Pro. Decoy Vault isn't in the free plan.
• Know your real lock and keep your recovery phrase safe. The decoy never replaces either. Set up your lock covers both.
• Pick a decoy lock you'll remember under pressure. It must be different from your real pattern or PIN, and different from your phone or computer passcode.

Set it up

Decoy Vault is available on Mac, Windows, iPhone and Android.

1. Open Vaultine and unlock your real vault.
2. Go to Settings, then Additional Vaults, and tap Add Vault. A short four-step setup called Create Additional Vault opens.
3. Choose Decoy Vault ("A secondary vault with harmless files"). Don't pick Duress Vault by mistake: that's the one that wipes your other vaults. On the free plan, this is where Vaultine shows the upgrade screen.
4. Choose the lock type: Pattern Lock or Numeric Passcode.
5. Set the decoy lock. Draw a different pattern on the 5×5 grid (at least 4 dots) or enter a different 6-digit PIN, then enter it again to confirm.
6. Seed your vault. Tap Select Dummy Files to Import to add a few ordinary files now (see the next section), or tap Skip and add them later.
7. Lock Vaultine, then unlock it with the decoy lock. You're now in the Decoy Vault.
8. Lock Vaultine again and unlock with your real lock to check your real vault opens as before.

Make it believable

An empty vault invites the question "so what were you hiding?". A decoy works when it looks like something you'd actually keep:

• A handful of real but boring files. Screenshots of receipts, a scanned warranty, a few photos you wouldn't mind anyone seeing.
• Not too few, not too perfect. Two or three files read as staged. A small, slightly messy set reads as real.
• Add to it now and then. A decoy that hasn't changed in a year looks set up for the occasion.

Use it

When someone insists you open Vaultine, enter the decoy lock instead of your real one. They see the Decoy Vault and nothing about it says another vault exists. When you're alone again, lock Vaultine and open it with your real lock.

Practise once or twice when nothing is at stake, so that entering the decoy lock is a habit, not a decision you make in the moment.

Good to know

• Your real lock still opens your real vault. Entering it never shows the decoy.
• A decoy only works because the real vault is encrypted. Your real files are encrypted on your device with AES-256, so they stay unreadable, not just out of sight. Hiding files without encryption gives a decoy nothing to stand on. Why the hidden folder isn't really hidden explains why.