Contents
Short answer
A digital emergency folder is an overview that tells a trusted person in an emergency which devices, accounts and contracts exist and how to get the access they need. Passwords don’t belong in plain text in a freely accessible file. Keep pointers and access information separate and protected – for example via a password manager with emergency access or an encrypted file.
Emergency folder and digital estate
Digital emergency folder
A practical overview for illness, accident, device loss or other situations in which you temporarily can’t act yourself.
Digital estate
Additionally concerns what should happen to accounts, data and contracts after death. The German consumer advice centres (Verbraucherzentrale) recommend a written power of attorney for a trusted person that remains valid after death.
Legal questions
Powers of attorney, inheritance law and directives may require individual advice. This guide only covers the organisational preparation.
What the overview can include
- Important devices and how they can be unlocked (a pointer, not the PIN itself)
- Important accounts, above all email
- Banking pointers: which banks, no PINs or TANs
- Insurance policies and ongoing contracts
- Cloud storage, photos and documents
- Social networks and what should happen to them
- Subscriptions that would need cancelling
- Domains or websites, if privately relevant
- Password manager and where access is stored
- Important contacts
Step by step
- 01
Choose a trusted person
Think about who should act in an emergency and talk to them. They need to know the folder exists and where it is.
- 02
Create the overview
List devices, accounts and contracts – at first without passwords. The Verbraucherzentrale offers a free online tool for this (in German). Start with the most important, above all your email account.
- 03
Decide how access works
Choose how your trusted person gets login details: for example via a password manager’s emergency or recovery feature if available, an encrypted file or a securely kept physical pointer.
- 04
Separate access and key
Keep access information and the information needed to decrypt it in different places, for example the encrypted file in one place and its password in another. No method is absolutely secure; separation makes misuse harder.
- 05
Record your wishes
Note what should happen to accounts: keep, cancel, delete or memorialise, where the service offers that.
- 06
Update regularly
New devices, accounts or contracts quickly make the overview outdated. Review it when things change and at regular intervals.
Checklist
- A trusted person is chosen and informed.
- Devices, accounts and contracts are listed.
- Passwords aren’t stored in plain text in a freely accessible file.
- Access information and decryption are kept separately.
- Wishes about accounts and data are noted.
- A power of attorney for the digital estate has been considered.
- The overview is up to date.
Common mistakes
- Writing all passwords into an unencrypted file on the desktop.
- Creating the folder but telling no one where it is.
- Keeping login details and the decryption password in the same place.
- Creating the overview once and never updating it.
- Trying to settle estate questions with a list alone.
Frequently asked questions
Should I put passwords in the emergency folder?
Not in plain text in a freely accessible file or an open folder. A protected route is better, such as a password manager with emergency access or an encrypted file whose password is kept separately.
Where should I keep the emergency folder?
In a protected place your trusted person knows – for example kept securely at home or encrypted digitally. What matters is that they can find it in an emergency.
How is it different from a digital estate?
The emergency folder helps when you temporarily can’t act. The digital estate additionally covers what happens to accounts and data after death, often supported by a power of attorney.
Do I need a password manager for this?
No, it’s one of several options. If your manager offers emergency access, it can make the process easier.
How often should I update the folder?
Whenever something important changes, such as a new device or email account, and at regular intervals as well.
Sources
- Verbraucherzentrale – Digitale Vorsorge, digitaler Nachlass
- Verbraucherzentrale – Selbstbestimmt: Mein digitales Leben (Online-Tool)
Checked on 7 October 2026.
This information is for general guidance only and does not replace individual legal advice.