View your recovery code
Every account gets a 12-word recovery code. How to view it, save it, and why it cannot be changed.
Open the More menu from the tray, tap Settings, then Security, then Recovery code. Your phone asks you to confirm it is you, with Face ID, a fingerprint, or your PIN, pattern or passcode; any one is enough. If your phone has no lock at all, Carlo will not show the code until you add one, so that someone picking up your phone cannot simply read it.
The screen shows a QR code and your 12 words, numbered. The QR is the quick way to bring your account to another phone, since you can scan it there rather than typing.
Tap Export PDF to save both as one document, which Carlo hands to your share sheet so you can put it in Files, AirDrop it, or mail it to yourself. Then store it somewhere safe, printed on paper or in a password manager. This is the copy that saves you if you ever lose access to your cloud account.
It cannot be changed. The code is generated once when your account is created and there is no way to replace it, because it is your encryption key written as words, and changing it would mean re-encrypting everything you have ever recorded. Treat it like a key with no spare: store it once, store it well, and do not leave it anywhere casual.
Screenshots deliberately do not work on this screen. On Android they are blocked outright, and on iPhone the screen goes blank while mirroring or screen-sharing, because a screenshot of your recovery code is the easiest way to lose control of it. Export PDF is the intended way to keep a copy, and that PDF is as powerful as the code itself, so keep it out of shared albums, chat threads and cloud folders other people can reach.
Carlo also keeps a copy in a private area of your iCloud Drive or Google Drive, which is how a new phone can sign you in automatically. Carlo's own servers never store it. You need your own copy most when moving between an iPhone and an Android phone, since each platform keeps its key in its own cloud and the new phone cannot reach the old one's copy; scanning the QR or typing the 12 words is what brings it across.
If the screen says the code saved on this phone belongs to a different account, or that no code is available yet, follow the on-screen prompt. Neither message means your data is lost.