Digital Legacy Kit

Apple, Google, Facebook and Instagram each have a setting that lets you choose who can look after your account or reach your data after you die or stop using it, and password managers have their own ways to pass on access. Each one has to be set up ahead of time, and each lives in a different menu. This 17-page kit walks you through them one by one, then gives you a printed "where things are" sheet, so your family knows who to contact and where to look, without a single password written on it.

What's inside

• What this kit is (and isn't) (page 2): the never-write-passwords rule, the not-legal-advice note and exactly which devices and accounts it covers.
• The 30-minute plan (page 3): pick your main and backup trusted person, turn on the four big switches, fill in the map and store it safely.
• Apple Legacy Contact (pages 4–5): setup on iPhone, iPad and Mac, how to handle the access key, what a Legacy Contact can and can't get, and what happens later.
• Google Inactive Account Manager (pages 6–7): setting up your plan, three things that trip families up, what families can do without a plan, Google Takeout and Google recovery contacts.
• Facebook and Instagram (page 8): choosing a legacy contact or deletion after death, and what a legacy contact can and can't do.
• Microsoft and accounts with no legacy setting (page 9): what Microsoft allows, what to do now, what other companies will ask your family for, and a heads-up about scams after a death.
• Password manager emergency access (pages 10–11): Bitwarden Emergency Access, the 1Password Emergency Kit and family recovery, Apple Passwords shared groups, Google Password Manager family sharing, and a "which approach fits you?" table.
• Phones and computers (page 12): a passcode handover plan, Google backup codes, the Microsoft recovery code, the BitLocker recovery key and Apple recovery contacts.
• Photos and files (page 13): iCloud Shared Photo Library, Google Photos partner sharing and one offline copy that needs no account at all.
• The "where things are" sheet (pages 14–15): 24 account rows plus where the key papers are kept. No password fields anywhere.
• Yearly check-up (page 16): 10 checkboxes, the life events that call for a check-up right away, and a 5-year log.
• Official pages checked (page 17): the company help pages the steps were checked against on Oct 24, 2026.

iPhone and iPad (iOS/iPadOS 15.2 or later) and Mac (macOS Monterey 12.1 or later); personal Google Accounts (not work or school); your main Facebook profile and Instagram; personal Microsoft accounts; 1Password, Bitwarden, Apple Passwords and Google Password Manager.

Menus were checked on each company's own help pages on Oct 24, 2026, and the last page lists every page used.

Companies rename menus often. If yours looks different, the kit tells you to look for the closest match or use the search box in Settings.

For anyone who wants their family to be able to reach their photos, accounts and devices

Best for: Adults who want their family to be able to reach their photos, accounts and devices if they die or can't manage things themselves. No tech skills needed: the steps are written out menu by menu.

You'll need: Your phone and computer, about 30 minutes, the name of one trusted person and one backup, and a printer (or a PDF app you can write in).

One PDF, 17 pages, US Letter (8.5 x 11 in), printable, with write-in lines and checkboxes.

What you get out of it

• The switches, in one sitting. Apple, Google, Facebook and Instagram, and your password manager, each with its steps written out and a "check it stuck" habit where it matters.
• A map, not a mystery. The "where things are" sheet records which accounts exist, who to contact and where the recovery information is kept, with no passwords on the page.
• Safer by design. The kit never asks you to write passwords, passcodes, PINs, backup codes or keys on its pages. If it's lost, it doesn't hand anyone the keys to your accounts.
• Honest about the gaps. It says plainly where a company has no legacy setting, and what your family would need instead.
• The phone in the drawer, too. A plan for passcodes and recovery keys, because account settings don't unlock a device.
• Photos kept within reach. Shared photo libraries and one offline copy, because photos are often what families want most.
• Easy to keep current. A 10-box yearly check-up and a 5-year log.

How it works

1. Download the PDF and print it, or open it in an app you can write in.
2. Pick your main trusted person and a backup, and tell them both.
3. Turn on the four big switches: Apple Legacy Contact, Google Inactive Account Manager, Facebook and Instagram legacy contact, and password manager emergency access.
4. Fill in the "where things are" sheet. No passwords.
5. Keep the kit with your estate papers and tell your trusted person where it is.
6. Do the 15-minute check-up once a year.

Questions

Not legal advice. This kit covers the tech settings only. It isn't a will and doesn't replace one, and the settings in it don't decide who inherits anything. Talk to an estate attorney about your will, powers of attorney and how your digital accounts should be handled where you live. Laws on who can access a person's digital accounts after death vary by state, so check with an estate attorney in your state.

Free to use and share with your family and friends. Please don't resell it, and credit Tech Cheat Codes when you share it.

Product and company names are used only to say what this kit covers; we're not affiliated with or endorsed by any of them. Menus change over time; the date in the kit shows when the steps were last checked.