How to hide photos on iPhone: the Hidden album and its limits

Most of us have a few photos we'd rather not have popping up in a slideshow or on someone else's screen. Your iPhone has a built-in way to hide them. Here's how it works, what it protects against and where it stops.

How to hide a photo

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Touch and hold the photo or video you want to hide.
3. Tap Hide, then confirm.

The item moves to the Hidden album. It no longer appears in your Library, in other albums or in the Photos widget.

How the Hidden album is locked

On iPhone and iPad, Face ID or Touch ID unlocks the Hidden album. Apple says that from iOS 16 and iPadOS 16.1 it's locked by default, so opening it needs authentication. If Face ID or Touch ID isn't available, your passcode does the job.

To see what's in it, open Photos, go to Collections, and tap Hidden under Utilities.

How to unhide a photo

Open the Hidden album and unlock it, then touch and hold the photo or video and tap Unhide. It goes back to your main library.

How to hide the album itself

By default the Hidden album shows in your list of albums. You can switch that off:

1. Open Settings, then Apps, then Photos.
2. Turn off Show Hidden Album.

With it off, hidden items aren't visible in the Photos app. You can turn it back on later when you need to find something.

What about iCloud?

If you use iCloud Photos, items hidden on one device are hidden on your other devices too, so the setting travels with your library.

Where the Hidden album stops

The Hidden album is good for keeping things out of sight. It's worth knowing what it isn't.

• It's part of your photo library. Hidden photos still live in Photos, with the rest of your library, rather than in a separate store.
• It's protected by your phone's lock. Anyone who knows your passcode, or who can use your face or fingerprint, can open it.
• It's a single album. There's no separate lock for different sets of photos, and no way to have a decoy.
• It only covers photos and videos. Documents and other files aren't included.
• It doesn't have a recovery plan of its own. It relies on your phone's passcode and your iCloud account.

For many people that's plenty. Casual snoops are stopped, and it takes seconds.

When a vault app is a better fit

A private vault app does something different. It keeps your photos, videos and files in its own store, behind its own lock, and encrypts what's inside it. That suits you if you want:

• a separate pattern or PIN that isn't your phone passcode
• several vaults, each with its own lock
• encryption of everything stored, including file names
• a recovery phrase that you control
• an option to erase after too many wrong guesses
• a decoy that opens a harmless vault under pressure

VaultMaster is built for that, with a drawn pattern, a nine-word recovery phrase, hidden vaults, wrong-guess protection and duress mode. If you're comparing apps, our checklist of what to look for in a private photo vault app shows what matters.

A sensible approach

Use the Hidden album for anything you want out of the everyday library. If you need stronger separation, add a vault. Either way, keep a backup of anything you can't replace, and think about who might have your passcode.