How to hide photos on iPhone (and what each method misses)
The iPhone has four ways to hide photos. None of them stops someone who knows your passcode.
In short
To hide a photo on iPhone, open it in the Photos app, tap the More button, then tap Hide. It moves to the Hidden album, which is locked with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode, and you can remove that album from view in Settings › Apps › Photos by turning off Show Hidden Album. Hidden photos still sync through iCloud Photos and open with your iPhone passcode.
Key takeaways
- Hide moves a photo to the Hidden album, locked by Face ID or passcode.
- Show Hidden Album off removes the album from view, not from iCloud.
- Every built-in method opens with your iPhone passcode.
Four built-in ways to hide photos
Method 1: the Hidden album
- Open the Photos app and open the photo or video.
- Tap the More button, then tap Hide. To hide several at once, tap Select in your library, choose the items, then tap More › Hide.
- Confirm. The photo leaves your library and moves to the Hidden album, under Utilities in Collections.
Apple says hidden items no longer appear in your library, in other albums or in the Photos widget on the Home Screen. Since iOS 16 the Hidden album is locked by default and opens only with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
Method 2: hide the Hidden album itself
A locked album called “Hidden” still announces that something is in it. To remove it from the Photos app entirely, go to Settings › Apps › Photos (Settings › Photos before iOS 18) and turn off Show Hidden Album. The photos are still in your library; they are just not visible anywhere in Photos until you turn the setting back on.
In the same screen, keep Use Face ID (or Use Touch ID, or Use Passcode) turned on. It is what locks the Hidden and Recently Deleted albums.
Method 3: keep photos out of Memories and Featured Photos
Photos you have not hidden can resurface on their own in Memories, featured photos and the Photos widget. In the Photos app, tap Collections, tap your account in the top-right corner, and turn off Show Featured Content. You can also tell Photos to feature a specific person less, or never.
Method 4: lock the Photos app
Touch and hold the Photos icon on the Home Screen and tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID, or Passcode). The whole app then asks for authentication each time it opens. Photos comes with the iPhone, so it can be locked but not hidden: its icon stays where it is.
What none of these methods do
- They all open with your iPhone passcode. Anyone who knows it can unhide everything in a few taps.
- With iCloud Photos, a photo hidden on your iPhone is hidden — not removed — on your iPad and Mac too, and stays in iCloud.
- Hiding a photo that sits in an iCloud Shared Photo Library moves it to the Hidden album for every participant, who can view or unhide it.
- A locked app is locked only on that iPhone. The lock does not sync to your other devices.
When a separate vault makes sense
A vault app such as Latent keeps photos outside the photo library, encrypted, behind a pattern or password that is not your iPhone passcode. After moving photos into it, delete the originals and empty Recently Deleted, which otherwise keeps them for 30 days.