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How to hide photos on iPhone

Updated November 8, 2026

The iPhone has its own place for private photos: the Hidden album in the Photos app. It keeps photos out of your library and it's locked, but your iPhone passcode opens it. Here is how to use it, and what to do when that isn't enough.

Hide a photo with the Hidden album

1. Open the Photos app and open the photo or video.
2. Tap the More button, then tap Hide.

To hide several at once, tap Select in your library, choose the photos, tap More, then Hide. They leave your library and go into the Hidden album.

To find them again, open Collections, scroll to the bottom, tap Hidden and then View Album. To put a photo back, open it, tap More, then Unhide.

Who can still open the Hidden album

Since iOS 16, the Hidden and Recently Deleted albums are locked by default. They open with Face ID or Touch ID, and also with your iPhone passcode. Anyone who knows your passcode, or has watched you type it, can see your hidden photos.

If you use iCloud Photos, your hidden photos are hidden on your iPad and Mac too, and they are stored in iCloud. Apple encrypts them but holds the keys, unless you turn on Advanced Data Protection for iCloud.

The lock is in Settings › Apps › Photos › Use Face ID. Leave it on.

Take the Hidden album out of view

By default the Hidden album shows up in Photos, so anyone looking through your phone can see that it exists. To remove it, go to Settings › Apps › Photos and turn off Show Hidden Album. Your photos stay hidden. To see them again, turn the setting back on.

Keep private photos encrypted with Demaratos

Demaratos keeps photos outside your photo library, encrypted, and opens only with its own passphrase. Your iPhone passcode doesn't open it. If you turn on Face ID in Demaratos, it accepts your face and nothing else: there is no fallback to the passcode.

1. In Photos, select the photos, tap Share and choose Demaratos.
2. Demaratos encrypts them. The originals are still in Photos, and Demaratos reminds you to delete them.
3. Delete the originals in Photos.
4. Open Recently Deleted and delete them there as well, or they stay on the phone for another 30 days.

If iCloud Photos is on, deleting a photo also removes it from iCloud and from your other devices.

Hide the app as well

Since iOS 18 you can hide apps downloaded from the App Store. Touch and hold the Demaratos icon, tap Require Face ID, then Hide and Require Face ID, and confirm with Hide App. Demaratos moves to the Hidden folder at the bottom of the App Library. That folder opens with Face ID, Touch ID or the passcode, but Demaratos itself still asks for its passphrase.