# How to hide photos on iPhone: Hidden album and beyond

> Step-by-step ways to hide photos on iPhone with the Hidden album, how to lock it and remove it from view, and when an encrypted vault is the better choice.

Published 2026-11-02 · https://vaultcave.app/guides/hide-photos-iphone

**To hide a photo on iPhone, open it in Photos, tap the More button (⋯), then tap Hide. It moves to the Hidden album, which is locked with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. For photos that must stay private even from someone who knows your passcode, move them into an encrypted vault app with its own code.**

You can hide photos on iPhone in a few seconds with the Photos app's built-in Hidden album, and for most everyday privacy that's all you need. This guide shows you exactly how to do it on current iOS, how to lock the Hidden album and remove it from view, where hiding stops protecting you, and what to use when a photo really has to stay private.

It's for anyone who wants certain pictures off the main screen: a surprise gift, a screenshot of a bank statement, medical photos, or something more personal.

## How to hide photos on iPhone with the Hidden album

Hiding a photo moves it out of your library, albums and the Photos widget and into a separate Hidden album. Nothing is deleted.

**Hide one photo or video**

1. Open the **Photos** app and tap the photo or video.
2. Tap the **More** button (⋯).
3. Tap **Hide**, then confirm.

You can also touch and hold a thumbnail and tap **Hide** from the menu that appears.

**Hide several at once**

1. In Photos, open your library or an album.
2. Tap **Select**, then tap each photo and video you want to hide.
3. Tap the **More** button (⋯), then tap **Hide**.

Apple says hidden photos don't appear anywhere else in Photos, including your library, other albums and the Photos widget on your Home Screen. If you use iCloud Photos, anything you hide on your iPhone is hidden on your iPad and Mac too.

## Find, unhide and lock the Hidden album

**Open the Hidden album**

1. In Photos, tap **Collections** (iOS 26 and later). On iOS 18, swipe up instead.
2. Scroll down to **Utilities** and tap **Hidden**.
3. Tap **View Album** and unlock with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.

**Unhide a photo**

1. Open the Hidden album as above.
2. Tap the photo, tap the **More** button (⋯), then tap **Unhide**.

**Keep the Hidden album locked**

Since iOS 16, the Hidden and Recently Deleted albums are locked by default. To check that the lock is still on:

1. Open **Settings → Apps → Photos**.
2. Make sure **Use Face ID** (or **Use Touch ID** or **Use Passcode**, depending on your iPhone) is turned on.

If that switch is off, anyone holding your unlocked phone can open the Hidden album without being asked for anything.

**Remove the Hidden album from view**

1. Open **Settings → Apps → Photos**.
2. Turn off **Show Hidden Album**.

The album disappears from Utilities, and the photos inside it can't be seen anywhere in the Photos app until you turn the switch back on. On iOS 18, Apple's guide puts this switch inside Photos instead: tap your account in the top-right corner and turn off **Hidden Album**.

## What hiding doesn't hide

Hiding a photo keeps it out of the library, but your iPhone still knows about it. A few things are worth checking:

- **Memories and featured photos** are generated from your library. If a sensitive photo was in a memory before you hid it, or you'd rather certain people or dates stop appearing, see [how to hide photos from Memories, widgets and search](/guides/hide-photos-from-memories-iphone).
- **Copies elsewhere.** A photo you received in Messages, WhatsApp or email still sits in that conversation. Hiding the copy in Photos doesn't touch the original message.
- **Shared albums and a Shared Library.** If a photo is already in a shared album or an iCloud Shared Photo Library, other people can still see it there.
- **Apps with full photo access.** An app you've allowed to access your whole photo library can read your hidden photos too. Check **Settings → Privacy & Security → Photos** and switch apps to limited access where you can.

## Where the Hidden album stops

The Hidden album is about visibility, not separation. It protects you from someone scrolling past a picture, not from someone who is actively looking.

- **It opens with your phone's unlock.** There's no second password. Anyone who knows your iPhone passcode, or can get your face in front of the screen, can open it.
- **Everyone knows where it is.** It's in the same place on every iPhone, and the Show Hidden Album switch takes a couple of taps to turn back on.
- **It's still your normal library.** Hidden photos sync through iCloud Photos and are protected by your Apple Account like the rest of your pictures, not by a separate key.
- **Photos only.** You can't put PDFs or other documents in it.

We go deeper into this difference in [the Hidden album vs an encrypted vault](/blog/iphone-hidden-album-vs-encrypted-vault). If what you really want is a password on your photos, [locking photos on iPhone](/guides/lock-photos-iphone) covers locked notes and app locking too.

## The stronger way: move photos into an encrypted vault

An encrypted vault app keeps photos in its own encrypted storage, behind a code that isn't your iPhone passcode. Someone who knows your passcode still can't open it, the photos are no longer in your photo library, and other apps with photo access can't see them.

VaultCave is one example. It runs on iPhone and iPad with iOS 17 or later, needs no account, and opens each vault with its own pattern (drawn on a 5×5 grid) or passcode. It has no Face ID or Touch ID unlock by design. Files are encrypted with AES-256-GCM using a key derived from your pattern or passcode and bound to a secret in your iPhone's Secure Enclave. Our [security page](/security) explains how that works and what it doesn't protect against.

To move photos into VaultCave:

1. Create a vault and choose a pattern or passcode for it.
2. Write down the 12-word recovery phrase it generates. You'll be asked to type back 3 of the words before the vault is ready. This phrase is the only way to restore the vault if you forget your pattern; VaultCave can't reset it.
3. Choose whether to keep the encrypted iCloud backup on. It's offered at setup and on by default.
4. In the vault, tap **+** and choose **Photos**, then pick the photos to import.
5. Choose whether to delete the originals from Photos. VaultCave only deletes them after the encrypted copy is verified.
6. Open your Recently Deleted album in Photos and delete the originals there too, or they stay on your phone for 30 days.

Photos are kept at full quality by default. The free version holds one vault with up to 100 items; Pro adds unlimited items and multiple hidden vaults.

## Comparing the ways to hide photos on iPhone

| | Hidden album | Encrypted vault app (e.g. VaultCave) |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | Free, built in | Depends on the app; VaultCave has a free tier |
| Opens with | Face ID, Touch ID or iPhone passcode | Its own pattern or passcode |
| Someone who knows your passcode | Can open it | Can't open it without the vault's code |
| Stays in your photo library | Yes | No |
| Visible to apps with full photo access | Yes | No |
| Syncs with iCloud Photos | Yes, as hidden | No; VaultCave offers its own encrypted iCloud backup |
| Other file types | No | Yes |
| If you forget the code | Recover through your iPhone passcode or Apple Account | Only the vault's recovery phrase |

## Mistakes to avoid

- **Turning off the album lock.** If Use Face ID is off in Photos settings, the Hidden album opens for anyone holding your unlocked phone.
- **Forgetting Recently Deleted.** Deleting a photo from your library after moving it to a vault leaves a copy in Recently Deleted for 30 days.
- **Forgetting the other copies.** The photo may still be in a chat, an email, a shared album or a cloud service.
- **Treating hidden as private.** If someone knows your passcode, the Hidden album isn't a secret.
- **Losing your recovery phrase.** With a properly encrypted vault, nobody can reset your code for you. Keep the phrase written down somewhere safe and offline.

## The short version

- Open a photo, tap the More button (⋯), then **Hide** to move it to the Hidden album.
- Keep **Use Face ID** on and turn off **Show Hidden Album** in **Settings → Apps → Photos**.
- Hidden photos still open with your phone's passcode and still sync with iCloud Photos.
- For photos that must stay private even from someone who knows your passcode, use an encrypted vault with its own code.
- After moving photos to a vault, clear them from Recently Deleted.

## FAQ

### Does hiding a photo on iPhone delete it?

No. Hiding only moves the photo out of your library view and into the Hidden album. It stays on your iPhone and in iCloud Photos, and you can unhide it at any time from the Hidden album with the More button (⋯) and Unhide.

### Can someone find my hidden photos?

Anyone who can unlock your iPhone can open the Hidden album, because it uses the same Face ID, Touch ID or passcode. If Show Hidden Album is turned off, they would first have to turn it back on in Settings, which takes seconds. The Hidden album keeps photos out of sight, not out of reach.

### Are hidden photos hidden on my iPad and Mac too?

Yes, if you use iCloud Photos. Apple says photos you hide on one device are hidden on your other devices that use the same Apple Account. They're still part of the same library, so they also still count toward your iCloud storage.

### Can I hide photos on iPhone without an app?

Yes. The Hidden album is built into the Photos app and needs nothing extra. You can also put photos in a locked note in the Notes app. A separate vault app is only needed if you want encryption with a code that's different from your iPhone passcode.

### Why can't I see the Hidden album anymore?

The Show Hidden Album switch is probably off. Go to Settings → Apps → Photos and turn on Show Hidden Album, then look under Utilities in the Collections tab of Photos. Your hidden photos weren't deleted; the album was only removed from view.