How to Make a Private Photo Album on iPhone

You can’t lock a regular album on iPhone. Albums you make in Photos have no password option, and every photo in them still shows up in your main library. To get a private photo album, use one of four things instead: the built-in Hidden album, a locked Photos app, a locked note, or a photo vault app with its own passcode. Here’s how each one works and which to pick.

Why a normal album isn’t private

Making an album is easy: open Photos, go to Albums (under the Collections tab on iOS 26 and later), tap +, then New Album. But an album is just a way of sorting photos, not a lock:

• The photos stay in your library. Anyone scrolling through Photos still sees them.
• Anyone can open it. Albums you create don’t ask for Face ID or a passcode.
• It syncs. With iCloud Photos on, the album appears on your iPad and Mac too.

So an album called “Private” is mostly a signpost. For something that actually keeps people out, use one of the options below.

Option 1: The Hidden album

Every iPhone already has one private album built in. Hidden photos leave your library and your other albums, and the Hidden album is locked with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode (it’s been locked by default since iOS 16).

1. Open Photos and select the photos you want to keep private.
2. Tap the More button (the circle with three dots).
3. Tap Hide, then confirm.

To open it, scroll down to Utilities and tap Hidden. If you can’t see it, here’s where the Hidden album is and how to show it. You can also make the album disappear from Photos: go to Settings, then Apps, then Photos, and turn off Show Hidden Album.

Two things to know. There’s only one Hidden album, so you can’t keep separate private albums for different things. And your iPhone passcode opens it, because the passcode is the fallback for Face ID.

Option 2: Lock the whole Photos app

Since iOS 18 you can put Face ID in front of any app, including Photos:

1. On the Home Screen, touch and hold the Photos icon.
2. Tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID, or Passcode).
3. Tap it again and confirm with Face ID.

This is handy if you hand your phone over to show something in another app, because Photos won’t open without you. It protects your whole library, not one album, and it still falls back to your iPhone passcode.

Option 3: A locked note

The Notes app can lock individual notes, and a note can hold photos. It’s the closest built-in thing to a private album with its own password.

1. Open Notes and create a new note.
2. Tap the camera or attachment button and add photos from your library.
3. Tap the More button (the circle with three dots), then Lock.
4. Choose your iPhone passcode or a separate Notes password. A separate password is the more private choice.

A few limits, from Apple’s own rules: you can’t lock a note that contains video, PDFs or audio, or a note shared with someone else. If you forget a separate Notes password, Apple can’t get the note back. The note’s title still shows in your notes list, so give it a dull one.

The photos you added are copies. The originals are still in Photos, so delete them there and empty Recently Deleted afterwards.

Option 4: A photo vault app

A photo vault app gives you a private album with a lock that isn’t your phone passcode. The photos live inside the app, out of your library, so other apps with photo access can’t see them and they don’t sync with iCloud Photos.

Not every vault app does this well. Many only hide photos without encrypting them, or need an account on someone’s server. Check what makes a photo vault app safe before you trust one with anything personal.

Which one should you use?

	Own lock, not your phone passcode	Several private albums	Videos	Out of iCloud Photos
Hidden album	No	No, just one	Yes	No
Locked Photos app	No	No, locks everything	Yes	No
Locked note	Yes, with a Notes password	Yes, one per note	No	Yes
Photo vault app	Yes	Depends on the app	Usually	Yes

• Nobody else knows your passcode and you just want photos out of sight: the Hidden album is enough.
• You lend your phone a lot: lock the Photos app as well.
• A partner, kid or friend knows your passcode, or the photos are intimate, IDs or recovery phrases: use a locked note with its own password for a few photos, or a vault for more.

Whichever you pick, finish the job. Delete the originals from your library, then go to Utilities, then Recently Deleted, and delete them there too, or they stay for 30 days.

Easy Vault is a vault built for this. Photos and videos are encrypted on your iPhone with a key only you hold, behind a 5×5 pattern or password that’s separate from your phone passcode, with optional Face ID. It offers to delete the originals from Photos when you import, needs no account and shows no ads. If someone pushes you to open it, a decoy vault opens with a second passcode. For more on the built-in options, see how to hide photos on iPhone.

Related guides

• How to lock photos on iPhone
• How to lock a folder on iPhone
• How to remove location from photos on iPhone