If you are ever in an emergency and cannot speak for yourself, your iPhone can speak for you. Medical ID stores your critical health information — allergies, medications, blood type and emergency contacts — where paramedics and first responders can find it in seconds, even if your iPhone is locked.
Setting it up takes about two minutes. Here is exactly how to do it, plus the one toggle that makes the whole feature work when it matters most.
What is Medical ID?
Medical ID is a digital emergency card that lives inside the Health app. It holds your name, date of birth, medical conditions, allergies, medications, blood type, height, weight and organ donor status, along with the emergency contacts you choose. As Apple explains in its Medical ID documentation, the card can be opened from your lock screen by tapping Emergency and then Medical ID — no passcode required.
That last point is the whole reason the feature exists: a paramedic who finds your phone can learn about a penicillin allergy or a heart condition before treatment begins.
How to set up your Medical ID
- Open the Health app on your iPhone.
- Tap your profile picture in the top-right corner.
- Tap Medical ID, then tap Edit (or Get Started the first time).
- Fill in the details that matter most in an emergency: your name, date of birth, medical conditions, allergies, medications, blood type, height and weight, and organ donor status.
- Tap Add Emergency Contact, choose people from your contacts and set their relationship to you (spouse, parent, friend). Your iPhone can notify these contacts automatically after an emergency SOS call.
- Turn on Show When Locked. This is the single most important toggle on the screen.
- Tap Done.
Why “Show When Locked” is essential
Without Show When Locked enabled, your Medical ID can only be viewed after unlocking the iPhone — which defeats its purpose entirely. If you are unconscious, nobody can unlock your phone, and the emergency card is unreachable.
With the toggle on, anyone holding your iPhone can open the card: swipe up (or press the Home button) on the lock screen, tap Emergency, then tap Medical ID. There is a privacy trade-off, of course — you are exposing health information to anyone who picks up your phone — but that is precisely the scenario the feature is designed for. Tech outlets like MacRumors have long recommended enabling it for exactly this reason.
Test that it works
After setup, verify the card is reachable:
- Lock your iPhone.
- Swipe up on the lock screen (or press the Home button).
- Tap Emergency in the bottom-left corner.
- Tap Medical ID and confirm your details appear.
If you ever update your medications or emergency contacts, come back to this screen and keep the card current — an outdated Medical ID can be worse than none at all.
While you are tidying up your iPhone, you may also want to check which built-in iPhone apps you can delete and learn how to stop Safari from suggesting passwords for websites on iPhone.
If it still doesn’t work
If Medical ID does not appear on the lock screen, reopen Health → Medical ID and confirm Show When Locked is actually on — it is easy to tap Done before enabling it. If the Health app itself is missing, you (or a family member) may have deleted it; reinstall it free from the App Store and set up the card again.
Frequently asked questions
Can anyone see my Medical ID?
Only if you turn on “Show When Locked.” Without it, the card is visible only after unlocking your iPhone. Apple does not share your Medical ID with anyone automatically — it stays on your device.
Does Medical ID work on Apple Watch too?
Yes. Your Medical ID syncs to your Apple Watch, where it is available from the Emergency SOS screen. Responders can access it even if your iPhone is out of reach.
Conclusion
Medical ID is one of those features you set up once and hope you never need — but if the moment comes, it can genuinely save your life. Two minutes in the Health app, the right details filled in, and “Show When Locked” switched on: that is all it takes to make your iPhone a voice for you in an emergency.
