Chat Lock

What Chat Lock does

Chat Lock is a privacy feature that hides selected conversations from your normal chat list and puts them behind an extra layer of authentication on your device. Locked chats move into a separate Locked Chats folder, and you have to prove it is you — with your device’s own Face ID, Touch ID, fingerprint, or passcode on a phone, or a passkey on the web — before their contents appear.

Chat Lock is designed for the everyday situation where someone glances at your screen or picks up your unlocked phone. It hides the conversation and its previews from casual view, and it keeps the sender and message text out of notifications for those chats. It is a convenience and privacy tool, not message encryption — see “What Chat Lock is and is not” at the end of this guide.

Chat Lock is included with Stitch Plus. You can lock one-to-one chats and group chats.

How to lock a chat

There are two ways to lock a conversation, and both do the same thing:

• From the chat itself: open the chat, tap the name or group info at the top to open its profile, and turn on Chat Lock.
• From the chat list: press and hold the chat on a phone, or right-click it on the web, and choose Lock Chat from the menu.

After you lock a chat

The chat leaves your main inbox and moves to the Locked Chats folder. Its message previews stop showing in the list, and its notifications become private, so a new message shows a generic alert without the sender’s name or the message text.

There is no separate Stitch code to create. To open the chat again, you authenticate with your device — Face ID, Touch ID, fingerprint, or your device passcode, PIN, pattern, or password on a phone, or a passkey on the web. Stitch never stores your passcode, your biometrics, or any code of its own; your device or browser performs the check and only tells Stitch whether it succeeded.

Opening your Locked Chats

Open the Locked Chats folder from your chat list, then authenticate. Opening the folder always requires authentication, and so does opening a locked chat directly from search, a notification, or a shared link — Stitch routes you through the unlock screen first so locked content never appears without your approval. Using the back button, refreshing the web page, or reopening the app does not bypass this.

How device unlock works

Chat Lock uses your device’s own secure authentication — the same biometrics or screen lock you already use to unlock your phone, or a passkey on the web. Stitch never has its own code and never stores your biometrics or your device passcode. Your device, browser, or operating system performs the check and simply reports back whether it succeeded.

• iPhone and iPad: Face ID, Touch ID, or your device passcode. If biometrics are unavailable or cancelled, iOS falls back to your device passcode.
• Android: your fingerprint or face unlock, or your device PIN, pattern, or password. If biometrics are unavailable or cancelled, Android falls back to your device screen lock.
• Web: a platform authenticator or passkey (such as Windows Hello, Touch ID in Safari, or an Android screen lock). If your browser has no passkey or platform authenticator available, Chat Lock cannot be used in that browser.

No Stitch code to remember

Chat Lock does not use a separate 4-digit Stitch code. There is nothing to create, change, or memorize, and nothing to type in. Unlocking is always handled by the device in front of you, using its own biometrics, passcode, or passkey.

Because authentication is per-device, which chats you have locked is what follows your account: when you sign in on another phone, tablet, or the web, those same conversations stay in your Locked Chats folder, and each device unlocks them with its own authentication. Stitch stores neither your device passcode, your biometrics, nor any code verifier — there is no code for it to store.

Resetting Chat Lock if you can no longer unlock

If you can no longer unlock your locked chats — for example after losing access to the device authentication you used to lock them — you can reset Chat Lock from the Locked Chats screen. Reset is deliberately destructive, because it is the safety valve that stops the reset from becoming a way to quietly read locked chats without authenticating. Reset never reveals your locked chats; it only clears them.

When you reset, Stitch removes Chat Lock from all of your locked chats and permanently clears their message history — text, photos, videos, GIFs, voice notes, files, and call cards — from your account’s view. Those conversations return to your main chat list, but they come back blank. This cannot be undone, so Stitch shows a clear warning before you confirm.

Reset only affects your copy. It does not delete the other participant’s messages or media from their account — they keep their side of the conversation as normal. Shared media may still be available to anyone who still has their own copy or access, but it is removed from your view. After a reset, your Locked Chats folder is empty and you can lock chats again whenever you like. Any new messages sent after the reset appear normally.

Unlocking a chat (keeping its history)

Normal unlocking is not destructive. To move a chat out of Locked Chats and back to your inbox, open the Locked Chats folder (which requires authentication), then press and hold the chat on a phone, or right-click it on the web, and choose Unlock Chat. The conversation returns to your main list with its full message history intact.

This is the important difference to remember: unlocking a chat keeps everything, while resetting Chat Lock clears your locked-chat history. Use Unlock Chat for day-to-day changes, and only reset Chat Lock when you genuinely can no longer authenticate to get in.

Notifications for locked chats

Notifications from locked chats are private by design. Instead of showing the sender’s name and a message preview, they show a generic alert so nothing sensitive appears on your lock screen or in your notification shade. Your other, unlocked chats keep their normal notifications.

Troubleshooting

• The biometric prompt does not appear: make sure Face ID, Touch ID, or fingerprint/face unlock is enrolled in your device settings and allowed for apps. If biometrics are cancelled or fail, your device falls back to its own passcode, PIN, pattern, or password.
• Your device has no biometrics: that is fine — use your device passcode, PIN, pattern, or password to unlock. You can add biometrics later in your device settings.
• You can no longer authenticate: if you have lost access to the device authentication you used, reset Chat Lock from the Locked Chats screen. Remember that reset clears your locked-chat history and cannot be undone.
• A locked chat is missing from your inbox: it is not gone — it is in the Locked Chats folder. Open that folder and authenticate to see it.
• A reset did not remove the other person’s messages: that is expected. Reset only clears your own copy; other participants keep their side of the conversation.
• Your web browser does not support device unlock: some browsers do not offer a passkey or platform authenticator. Chat Lock cannot be used in that browser — open your Locked Chats on a device or browser that supports device authentication.

What Chat Lock is and is not

Chat Lock hides chats inside the app and gates access with your device’s own authentication — its biometrics or passcode on a phone, or a passkey on the web. It is not end-to-end encryption, and it is not a guarantee against every form of access — someone who can unlock your device or has access to your account may still be able to reach your chats.

Separately from Chat Lock, Stitch protects your data with standard encryption in transit and at rest. Stitch is not end-to-end encrypted. For the full detail, read the Privacy & safety guide and the Privacy Policy.