The Apple Journal app is the free journaling app Apple added to the iPhone with iOS 17.2, and it has since spread to iPad and Mac. It's the journal app iPhone owners already have, which makes it the obvious place to start. Using it well takes about five minutes of setup, and knowing its limits early saves a migration later.
Quick answer
Apple Journal is Apple's free journaling app for iPhone, iPad and Mac. To use it, open Journal, turn on Journaling Suggestions, tap the plus button, and write or pick a suggested moment. Lock it in Settings > Apps > Journal, and turn on Journal under iCloud to sync. It exports entries as PDF.
How to use the Apple Journal app on iPhone
These steps follow Apple's Journal guide for iPhone as of November 2026 (iOS 27).
1. Open Journal and set up suggestions. The first time it opens, Journal asks whether to turn on Journaling Suggestions. These are built on the device from your photos, outings, workouts and media, and you choose which sources it can use.
2. Create an entry. Choose a journal, tap the plus button, and start typing, or tap a suggestion to start an entry with its photos and places already attached. Reflection prompts on gratitude, kindness and purpose are there for days with nothing specific to write about.
3. Add what the words can't. While writing you can add photos and videos, drawings (with tools such as Crayon, Reed Pen and Watercolor Brush), a map location, an audio recording, and a State of Mind log that saves to the Health app. Text formatting covers bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, lists, block quotes and font color.
4. Use voice when typing is too slow. Tap the record button, speak, and Journal transcribes the recording. You can then add the transcript to the entry. Transcription is English only, excluding the Singapore and India locales.
5. Organize with multiple journals. Tap the plus button in the journal list to create separate journals, for example one for work and one for travel, each with its own name, color and icon.
6. Build the habit. Insights show your streak and the days you wrote. Under notifications you can set a writing schedule and a reminder before a streak ends.
7. Capture from other apps. From Music, News or Safari, tap Share, then Journal, to save a thought with the link attached. Touching and holding the Journal icon on the Home Screen gives shortcuts for a new entry, suggestions, photos or an audio recording.
Journaling Suggestions and Apple Intelligence prompts
Journaling Suggestions are what set Apple Journal apart from every other journal app on iPhone. Instead of a blank page, it offers moments: a walk you took, the photos from Saturday, a workout, a song you played on repeat. Apple says suggestions are created using on-device intelligence and can sync securely to your iPad.
A second layer arrived with Apple Intelligence. On an Apple Intelligence-capable iPhone (iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max or any iPhone 16 or later), Journal can suggest writing prompts based on what you've written and the photos or drawings in the entry, up to three per entry. Apple notes the feature isn't available in every language or region and requires confirming you're an adult.
In practice, suggestions are strongest for remembering what happened and weakest for working something out. A suggested photo of a dinner gets you a record of the dinner; it won't get you to the argument you're avoiding writing about. That second kind of entry usually starts from a question, which is where a list of journal prompts helps.
How to use Apple Journal on iPad and Mac
Journal reached iPad with iPadOS 26 and Mac with macOS Tahoe 26, and the three versions share entries through iCloud.
Turn on sync first. On iPhone, go to Settings, tap your name, tap iCloud, tap See All next to Saved to iCloud, and turn on Journal. Do the same on the iPad and Mac with the same Apple Account. According to Apple's guide to protecting Journal entries, entries and edits then appear on all three.
On iPad, the bigger screen suits longer entries and Apple Pencil: you can sketch, doodle and write entries in your own handwriting.
On Mac, click the Add button at the top of the window to start an entry. The Journal User Guide for Mac covers the same core features: drawings, photos and audio, Insights in the sidebar, and scheduled reminders under Journal > Notifications.
Is Apple Journal private?
Apple Journal is one of the more private options among mainstream journal apps, and Apple documents why.
Apple's iCloud data security overview lists Journal data as end-to-end encrypted under standard data protection, with keys stored on trusted devices. That means entries synced to iCloud are encrypted with keys Apple doesn't hold, without having to turn on Advanced Data Protection. Journaling Suggestions are generated on the device, and you decide which data sources feed them.
To lock it, go to Settings > Apps > Journal and tap Lock Journal, or use the lock option inside the app. The lock uses Face ID, Touch ID or your device passcode. One consequence worth knowing: anyone who knows your phone's passcode can open the journal too.
Backups work differently from most apps. Apple states that Journal entries aren't included in iCloud backups. Your copies are the iCloud-synced entries themselves plus, if you want one, an encrypted local backup of the iPhone on a computer or external drive.
Apple Journal's limits
Apple Journal does a lot for a free app. The limits show up in five places:
- Apple devices only. There is no web, Windows or Android version, so it can't be your journal on a work PC or an Android phone.
- Export is PDF. You can print or export single entries, a date range or the whole journal, but only as PDF. Moving years of entries into another app means re-typing or converting PDFs.
- The lock is your device passcode. Convenient, but it doesn't keep out someone who already knows how to unlock your phone.
- Feature availability varies. Transcription is English only, and Apple Intelligence prompts depend on device, language and region.
- Light structure. Journal gives you entries in a feed. There's no fixed amount of space per day, which suits occasional entries better than a daily writing practice.
When another journal app fits better
Apple Journal is the right default if you write occasionally, use only Apple devices, and like being prompted by your own photos. Another app fits better in three situations.
You write on more than Apple hardware. A journal that runs in the browser goes wherever you do. Day One and Journey have native apps for Windows and Android.
Our roundup of the best journal apps compares prices and platforms for each option.
You want a daily writing structure. 3 Pages Daily gives every day three open pages, in its native app for iPhone, iPad and Mac and separately in the browser. The app keeps entries on the device and has its own four-digit passcode with Face ID, so the journal stays locked even when the phone is already unlocked and in someone else's hands. More on that is on the journal app for iPhone page.
You want a portable archive. Day One exports PDF, CSV and JSON; Diarium exports Word, HTML, text and JSON; 3 Pages Daily's web app exports pages as PDF, or in batches as Markdown or PDF.
Many people keep both: Apple Journal for the photo-driven record of what happened, and a writing journal for thinking things through. Which one you open first each day is what decides which becomes the habit.
Wendy Zhang
I founded 3 Pages Daily because a journaling app should clear your head, not give you one more system to maintain. I write about what the research actually supports — and where it stops.
Facts and pricing in this article were last verified on November 9, 2026.
Frequently asked questions
It's Journal, Apple's own free journaling app, released with iOS 17.2 in December 2023. It lets you write entries, add photos, video, drawings, places and voice recordings, and start from Journaling Suggestions built from your photos, workouts and outings. If it isn't on your Home Screen, search for Journal in the App Library or download it free from the App Store.
Yes, by Apple's own documentation. Apple's iCloud security overview lists Journal data as end-to-end encrypted under standard data protection, so the keys stay on your trusted devices. Journaling Suggestions are generated on the device. You can also lock the app with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode, which is the same passcode that unlocks your phone.
Update to iPadOS 26 or later, open Journal, and turn on Journal in Settings > [your name] > iCloud so entries sync from your iPhone. Writing works the same as on iPhone, with a bigger canvas: you can sketch or write by hand with Apple Pencil and see Journaling Suggestions that were created on your iPhone and synced to the iPad.
Yes. Journal is free on iPhone, iPad and Mac with no subscription or in-app purchases. Some features depend on your hardware and region: the Apple Intelligence writing prompts need an Apple Intelligence-capable iPhone such as an iPhone 15 Pro or later, and audio transcription works in English only.
Yes, since macOS Tahoe 26. The Mac version has its own user guide on Apple's support site and covers writing, drawings, photos, audio, Insights, scheduled reminders and locking with Touch ID or your passcode. Entries sync with your iPhone and iPad through iCloud when Journal is turned on in iCloud settings.
Yes, as PDF. You can print or export a single entry, or select all entries or a date range and export them as PDF files to the Files app. Journal entries aren't part of iCloud backups, so the other way to keep a copy is an encrypted local backup of your iPhone on a computer.
Apple Journal runs only on iPhone, iPad and Mac, and it has no web version. If you also write on a Windows PC, an Android phone or a work computer, use a journal that runs in the browser or has apps for those platforms, such as 3 Pages Daily's web app, Day One or Journey.
