How to Hide Photos on iPhone (and When the Hidden Album Isn't Enough)
There are two ways to hide photos on an iPhone: Apple’s built-in Hidden album, or a separate photo vault app that encrypts them. The Hidden album takes ten seconds and is fine for keeping photos out of your main library. If you need more than that, a vault is the better fit. Here’s how to do both, and how to choose.
Option 1: Hide photos with the Hidden album
- Open Photos and select the photo or photos you want to hide.
- Tap the More button (the circle with three dots).
- Tap Hide, then confirm.
The photos disappear from your library and move to the Hidden album. To find them again, scroll down in Photos to Utilities and tap Hidden (on older iOS versions, it’s in the Albums tab). Can’t see it? Here’s where the Hidden album is and how to show it.
Lock the Hidden album with Face ID
On recent versions of iOS, the Hidden album is locked with Face ID or Touch ID. To check:
- Open Settings, then Apps, then Photos.
- Make sure Use Face ID (or Use Touch ID) is on.
While you’re there, you can also turn off Show Hidden Album so the album doesn’t appear in Photos at all.
What the Hidden album doesn’t protect you from
The Hidden album is a privacy screen, not a safe. Keep these limits in mind:
- Your phone passcode opens it. Face ID falls back to your iPhone passcode. Anyone who knows that passcode, like a partner, a kid or a friend who watched you type it, can open the album or switch the lock off in Settings.
- It syncs everywhere. With iCloud Photos on, hidden photos appear in the Hidden album on your iPad and Mac too, and they’re stored in iCloud like the rest of your library.
- It’s not separately encrypted. Your iPhone encrypts all its data, but hidden photos don’t get an extra lock of their own. Once the phone is unlocked, Face ID or the passcode is the only barrier.
- Apps with full photo access can still read them. If an app has access to your full photo library, it can see your hidden photos too.
That last point matters more than it sounds. In 2025, security researchers at Kaspersky found apps in the App Store that scanned people’s photo libraries for screenshots of crypto recovery phrases and sent them to attackers.
Option 2: Use a photo vault app
A photo vault app keeps photos in its own encrypted storage, separate from your photo library. A good one gives you:
- Its own passcode, different from your phone’s, so knowing your phone passcode isn’t enough.
- Real encryption, so the files are unreadable without your passcode.
- No access for other apps, because the photos are no longer in your photo library at all.
The catch is that many vault apps in the App Store aren’t as private as they look (what to check before you trust one). The short version:
| Check | What to look for |
|---|---|
| Does it say how it encrypts? | A named method like AES-256, explained somewhere on its website |
| Does it need an account? | It shouldn’t. An account means your data, or data about you, sits on someone’s server |
| Privacy label in the App Store | “Data Not Collected” is best. Avoid “Data Used to Track You” |
| Ads | A vault full of ad trackers is a contradiction |
| Deleting originals | It should offer to delete the originals, and remind you to empty Recently Deleted (no app can do that step for you) |
After you move photos into a vault
Moving a photo into a vault doesn’t remove it from everywhere it has been. Finish the job:
- Delete the original from Photos.
- Empty Recently Deleted. In Photos, go to Utilities, then Recently Deleted, and delete the photos there. Otherwise they stay for 30 days. Our guide on how to permanently delete photos on iPhone covers every copy.
- Check your other devices and shared albums.
- Check apps you’ve sent it through, like Messages or WhatsApp. Copies in chats aren’t affected by anything you do in Photos. If a private chat keeps surfacing photos in Photos, turn off Shared with You for that conversation.
Which one should you use?
- Hidden album: you just want a few photos out of your main camera roll so they don’t pop up when you show someone your pictures.
- A photo vault: other people know your phone passcode, you’re storing IDs, documents or recovery phrases, or you don’t want the photos in iCloud Photos at all.
Related guides
- How to lock photos on iPhone
- How to hide videos on iPhone
- Are hidden photos saved to iCloud?
- Does iPhone have a guest mode? How to lend your phone safely
Frequently asked questions
Can someone see my hidden photos on iPhone?
Anyone who knows your iPhone passcode can open the Hidden album, because the passcode works as a fallback for Face ID. They can also turn the Face ID lock off in Settings.
Are hidden photos on iPhone encrypted?
They're protected by the same iPhone encryption as everything else on your phone, but they aren't separately encrypted with their own key. Once your phone is unlocked, the only extra barrier is Face ID or your passcode.
Do hidden photos sync to iCloud?
Yes. If iCloud Photos is on, hidden photos sync to your other Apple devices and are stored in iCloud like your other photos.
How do I hide the Hidden album itself?
Go to Settings, then Apps, then Photos, and turn off Show Hidden Album. The album disappears from Photos until you turn it back on.