How to make a secret photo album on iPhone that stays private

If you want a secret photo album on iPhone, you'll quickly find that the Photos app doesn't have a "lock this album" button. Albums you create are just ways of grouping pictures, and anyone who opens Photos can see them. This guide explains why normal albums aren't private, how to use the one locked album iPhone does have, how the locked-notes workaround works and where it falls short, and how to set up private albums in an encrypted vault.

Why normal albums aren't secret

An album in Photos is a view of your library, not a separate place. That has a few consequences:

• Every album is visible. Albums you create show up in the Collections tab for anyone holding your unlocked phone. You can't lock or hide a single album.
• The photos are still in your library. Putting a photo in an album doesn't remove it from your main library, Memories or featured photos.
• Albums sync. With iCloud Photos on, your albums and their contents appear on your iPad and Mac too.
• A hidden name doesn't help much. Calling an album "Receipts" makes it less obvious, but anyone who taps it sees what's inside.

So making a secret album is really about moving photos somewhere that is locked, not about the album itself.

The built-in secret photo album on iPhone: Hidden

The Hidden album is the only album in Photos with a lock. Since iOS 16 it opens only with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.

Move photos into it

1. In Photos, open your library or an album and tap Select.
2. Tap the photos and videos you want to keep private.
3. Tap the More button (⋯), then tap Hide.

Open it

1. In Photos, tap Collections (iOS 26 and later; on iOS 18, swipe up).
2. Under Utilities, tap Hidden, then View Album, and unlock.

Make it harder to spot

1. Open Settings → Apps → Photos.
2. Check that Use Face ID (or Use Touch ID or Use Passcode) is on, so the album stays locked.
3. Turn off Show Hidden Album to remove it from the Photos app entirely until you turn it back on.

For the full set of options and what they do, see our guide on hiding photos on iPhone.

The Hidden album works as a secret album for everyday privacy, but it's a single album with no folders, and it opens with the same unlock as the rest of your phone.

The Notes workaround: photos in a locked note

Apple's Notes app can lock individual notes, and a note can contain photos. Some people use one locked note per "album".

Set a Notes password

1. Open Settings → Apps → Notes → Password.
2. Choose Use Custom Password for a password that's different from your iPhone passcode, or Use Device Passcode if you'd rather not remember another one.

Make a locked "album"

1. Create a note in your iCloud account or On My iPhone, and give it a neutral first line.
2. Tap the camera or attachment button and add photos from your library.
3. Tap the Note Actions button, then Lock.
4. Go back to Photos and delete the originals, then empty Recently Deleted. Adding a photo to a note makes a copy; the original stays in your library.

Where it falls short

• No videos. Apple doesn't allow locking a note that contains video, audio, PDF or file attachments.
• The title shows. A locked note's title stays visible in your notes list.
• It isn't an album. There's no grid view, sorting or folders inside a note, and many photos make a note slow to scroll.
• A forgotten custom password can't be recovered. Apple says it can't help you get back into notes locked with a custom password you've forgotten.
• With Use Device Passcode, there's no second secret. Anyone who knows your iPhone passcode can open it.

Locking photos on iPhone compares locked notes with the other password options in more detail.

The stronger way: a vault with private folders

If you want several private albums, videos as well as photos, and a code that isn't your iPhone passcode, an encrypted vault app is the closest thing to a real secret photo album. Photos leave your library, so they stop appearing in Photos, Memories and iCloud Photos, 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 and needs no account. Each vault opens with its own pattern or passcode (there's no Face ID or Touch ID unlock by design), and the unlock screen never lists your vaults. Inside a vault you can organise photos, videos and documents into folders and search by name. Thumbnails, file names and folder names are encrypted too, so even the album names aren't readable on disk. Our security page explains the encryption and its limits.

To set up a private album in VaultCave:

1. Create a vault, pick a pattern or passcode, and write down the 12-word recovery phrase. You'll be asked to type back 3 words before the vault opens. The phrase is the only way back in if you forget your pattern.
2. Create a folder for each "album" you want.
3. Tap + and choose Photos, then select the photos and videos for that folder.
4. Choose whether to delete the originals from Photos once the encrypted copies are verified.
5. Empty Recently Deleted in Photos afterwards.

The free version gives you one vault with up to 100 items, which is plenty for a few folders. Pro adds unlimited items and multiple hidden vaults, each with its own pattern or passcode, if you want completely separate collections rather than folders in one vault.

Comparing ways to make a secret album

	Hidden album	Locked note	Encrypted vault (e.g. VaultCave)
Separate password from your iPhone	No	Yes, with a custom Notes password	Yes, its own pattern or passcode
More than one "album"	No, one album	One note per album	Folders, plus multiple vaults with Pro
Videos	Yes	No	Yes
Photos leave your library	No	Only if you delete the originals	Yes, once originals are deleted
Visible name	"Hidden" under Utilities, unless turned off	Note title stays visible	Folder names only inside the open vault
Forgotten password	Recovered through your iPhone or Apple Account	Custom password can't be recovered	Only the recovery phrase

Mistakes to avoid

• Relying on an album's name. A bland name doesn't lock anything.
• Leaving the originals behind. Copying photos into a note or vault doesn't remove them from Photos. Delete them and empty Recently Deleted.
• Using a revealing first line in a locked note. It becomes the visible title.
• Turning off the Hidden album lock. Without Use Face ID on, anyone with your unlocked phone can open it.
• Not writing down a vault's recovery phrase. If you forget the code and lose the phrase, the photos are gone for good.

The short version

• iPhone can't lock a normal album; every album you create is visible.
• The Hidden album is the only locked album in Photos, and it opens with your iPhone's unlock.
• A locked note can hold photos behind a separate password, but not videos, and its title stays visible.
• For several private albums behind their own code, use an encrypted vault with folders.
• Whatever you choose, delete the originals and empty Recently Deleted.