How to hide photos on iPhone: Hidden album, lock and limits
Hide photos on iPhone in a few taps, find them again, lock or remove the Hidden album, and know when a separate encrypted vault is the better choice.
The short answer
Open Photos, touch and hold the photo, tap Hide and confirm. The photo moves to the Hidden album and no longer appears elsewhere in Photos. On recent iOS versions, Apple locks the Hidden album by default: opening it requires Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. That stops casual scrolling, but anyone who knows your iPhone passcode can still open it. If a photo needs a secret of its own, use an encrypted vault instead of, or in addition to, hiding.
Hide one photo or several at once
For a single item, open Photos, touch and hold the photo or video, tap Hide, then confirm. For several, tap Select, choose the items, tap the More button (three dots), then Hide. The same steps work for videos. Hiding does not delete anything and does not change the file: it only changes where the item is shown inside Photos.
Find hidden photos and unhide them
In Photos, open Collections (Albums on older versions), scroll to Utilities and tap Hidden. Tap View Album and unlock with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. To make an item visible again, touch and hold it, then tap Unhide. If you cannot see the Hidden entry at all, the album has been removed from view: go to Settings, then Apps, then Photos, and turn Show Hidden Album back on.
Lock or remove the Hidden album from view
Two settings work independently, both in Settings, Apps, Photos. Show Hidden Album controls whether the album appears under Utilities. Use Face ID (or Use Touch ID, or Use Passcode on devices without biometrics) controls whether the Hidden and Recently Deleted albums ask for authentication. Keep the lock on. Removing the album from view adds discretion, but it is a display setting, not extra encryption.
What happens with iCloud Photos
If you use iCloud Photos, Apple states that photos you hide on one device are also hidden on your other devices signed in to the same Apple Account. The photo is still part of your library: it is not removed from iCloud and still counts in your storage. Anyone who can sign in to that account or unlock one of those devices has the same access to the Hidden album as you.
The limits of hiding
The Hidden album depends on the device passcode, so a person who knows it — a partner, a child, someone who watched you type it — can open it. Hiding also leaves other copies untouched: the photo sent in a message, saved by a chat app, kept in a shared album or on another device. Hiding and encryption solve different problems; this comparison of hiding and encrypting explains the difference in detail.
When a separate encrypted vault makes sense
A vault such as Kofrix encrypts each imported photo with its own key and opens with a pattern that is separate from your iPhone passcode; how the encryption works covers the keys and the pattern. Save the nine-word recovery phrase during setup, following these tips for keeping it safe. Kofrix does not remove the originals from Photos for you: once you have checked the imported copies, delete them yourself and empty Recently Deleted. Read the checks to do before deleting originals first, and keep an independent copy of any irreplaceable photo.
Sources and method
Descriptions of Kofrix are based on its current implementation. Planned features are distinguished from shipped features. This guide is not an independent security audit.