# App lock: why there is no way to set a PIN, only remove one

Setting a PIN was removed from this build. The App lock card only appears at all if an older version already set one, and it holds a single Remove PIN button with no recovery.

*https://perpetualtechnologies.co.uk/support/app-lock-pin — last checked 2026-09-08*

## Steps

1. On a fresh install, Settings, System has no App lock card. That is correct: there is nothing to configure, because a PIN cannot be set in this build.
2. If you set a PIN in an older version, the card appears with one control: Remove PIN.
3. Removing it takes effect immediately and the card then disappears, the same as a fresh install.

## How to tell it worked

Once removed, launching NeuralVault goes straight to the app rather than a PIN prompt.

## If it does not work

**You set a PIN in an old version and have forgotten it.**

There is no recovery of any kind: no forgot-PIN link, no reset. The unlock screen backs off further after each wrong guess, up to a five-minute wait, but a forgotten PIN is not recoverable through the app. This is the reason the ability to set one was removed.

**You want to set a PIN and cannot find where.**

It was deliberately removed: a PIN with no recovery path could permanently lock someone out of their own plain-Markdown files. It may return with a real recovery path in a future version; it is not hidden somewhere in this one.

## Related guides

- [Remove everything NeuralVault has put on this machine](https://perpetualtechnologies.co.uk/support/remove-my-data)
- [The Safety screen: rewrites, security events and audit logs](https://perpetualtechnologies.co.uk/support/safety-queues)

## Still stuck

Bug reports belong in the app, in Settings, About. Those carry no contact details, so they
get fixed rather than answered. To get a reply, email us instead: that route targets two
business days. https://perpetualtechnologies.co.uk/contact