There are a few ways to hide pictures on your iPhone and lock the hidden photos, whether you want to hide a picture of a loved one’s birthday gift or you don’t want to see certain old photos. You can hide photos in the Photos app, move them to password-protected notes in the Notes app, or hide photos in text messages. But let’s start with the steps you should follow when you need to lock hidden photos on your iPhone.
Hidden photos on your iPhone are removed from your camera roll. These photos, however, remain on your phone, albeit in the Hidden album. Anyone with access to your phone can still view these hidden photos by opening the Hidden Album unless you lock it down. This security feature requires iOS 16 or later, and your device must support Face ID or Touch ID if you want to use these methods to lock the hidden folder.
Here’s how to protect your iPhone’s hidden photos:
- Open Settings and then select Photos.
- Turn on the feature by tapping the Use Face ID or Touch ID toggle.
- You can also turn it off by tapping the Show Hidden Album toggle.
If you don’t want to advertise the fact that you have hidden photos on your phone, select this option.
By opening the Photos app, you can double-check that your hidden album is locked down. The album will remain on the list if you do not remove it, but you must use Touch ID or Face ID to view the photos.
After several failed Touch ID or Face ID attempts, you will be prompted to enter your passcode to unlock the album. Anyone with your passcode can view your hidden photos using that method if you have shared it with them.
Here’s how to make sure your hidden album is secure:
- Tap Albums in the Photos app.
- Under Utilities, look for lock icons next to Hidden and Recently Deleted.
- Tap Hidden to view your hidden photos.
- Tap View Album, then unlock the folder with Touch ID or Face ID.
How To Hide Photos on iPhone in the Photos App
Select photos on your iPhone can be added to a hidden album in the Photos app.
Before iOS 14, this album was labelled “Hidden Album” alongside all your other albums in Photos, which was not a very discreet solution. However, you can now go into your Settings app and disable the Photos app’s ability to show your hidden album.
To begin, decide which photos to hide:
- Navigate to the Photos app and open the image you want to hide or select multiple photos to hide.
Tap the “Share” icon in the bottom-left corner, which looks like a box with an arrow sticking out of it. - Scroll down to the bottom taskbar and click the “Hide” button next to an icon of a crossed-out eye.
- To confirm, tap “Hide Photo” (or Photos) in the pop-up.
The photos have been moved from your main album to a new album called “Hidden.” To access them, open the Photos app and navigate to the “Albums” tab. Then, in the “Utilities” section, scroll all the way down until you see “Hidden” listed.
After you’ve moved photos to the hidden album, you can remove them from the Photos app by hiding the album. Here’s how it’s done:
- Launch the Settings app.
- Scroll down until you see “Photos” listed, then select it.
- Scroll down to the Photos page and swipe the “Hidden Album” switch to the left, turning it from green to grey.
- The hidden album will no longer be visible in the Photos app’s “Utilities” section. Return to Settings and toggle the “Hidden Album” toggle back on to reveal the album.
How to Lock Photos on Your iPhone in the Notes App
If you’d rather keep your photos hidden outside of the Photos app, you can accomplish this with the Notes app. Here’s how it’s done:
- Tap the “Share” icon after opening the image to be secured.
- Scroll to the right on the list of apps until you see the Notes app icon, then tap it. A Notes draft with the image will appear; select a Notes folder to save it and tap “Save” in the upper-right corner.
- Open the Notes app, then the note containing the image.
- In the top-right corner of the note, tap the three-dot icon.
- In the pop-up menu, choose “Lock.”
- Then, enter a password, confirm it, and create a hint if you forget it. Tap the “Done” button in the upper-right corner. If you’ve previously locked a note, Notes will ask you to enter the password you’ve once used to lock notes.
- In the top-right corner of your note, a lock will now appear. To lock the note, tap the lock icon, and the note will disappear with the message “This note is locked.” When you want to view the note, tap “View Note” and enter your password. When you’re finished viewing the note, tap the lock icon again to seal the lock.
Finally, ensure that you delete the original image from the Photos app so that it only exists in the Notes app.
How To Hide Photos in Texts on Your iPhone
If you don’t want someone finding an image in the Photos app and thinking they might look in Notes, text the photo or note to yourself and then delete it from your photos.
Unless someone snoops through your texts, your image will be accessible but difficult to find for others.
Why Is It Necessary to Lock Photos on an iPhone?
Apple has made it possible to hide photos on your iPhone for an extended period, removing them from the camera roll and placing them in the Hidden album. That’s fine if you don’t want a photo in your camera roll, but it doesn’t prevent anyone from seeing it. If you give someone your phone to look at some photos you’ve taken, there’s nothing stopping them from switching to your Hidden album and viewing photos you didn’t want anyone to see.
The Photos app has a setting that allows you to hide the Hidden album, preventing it from appearing in your album list. That is useful because it prevents you from advertising that you have hidden photos but does not prevent anyone from seeing those photos. Someone who knows what they’re doing can easily find and view your Hidden album, even if it doesn’t appear alongside your other albums.
In addition, the Hidden Album fails to protect your hidden images in other ways. When you select images with the image picker in other apps, for example, it will allow you to pull images from the Hidden folder.
The ability to lock your Hidden album, introduced with iOS 16, protects your hidden photos. When you enable this feature, your Hidden album is locked behind either Face ID or Touch ID. If someone attempts to access the Hidden album without your permission, they will be met with a blank folder. In the same way, this feature secures your recently deleted images.
Besides locking down your hidden images in the default Photos app, this option protects your hidden images elsewhere. Hidden images will not appear in the image picker in other apps, nor will they be accessible in any third-party apps.
How do I delete an iPhone photo album?
Go to Albums > See all > Edit in the Photos app, then tap the red circle on the album to delete it. Only the album is deleted, not the photos. The photos are still in the album All Photos.
How do I move a photo to an album on my iPhone?
To add a photo or video to an album, open it in the Photos app and select Add to Album from the three-dot menu. Select an existing album or click New Album.
Enable iPhone Shared Albums to create albums that you can share with others. When you (or anyone else in the shared album) takes a photo, you can add it to the shared album, and everyone is notified.
- How To Hide Like Count on Instagram: Quick Guide & Tips
- How To Hide Like Count on Facebook: Best Easy Guide
- How to Hide Offensive Words and Phrases in Threads
- 11 BEST PHOTO EDITING SOFTWARE FOR 2023 ( MAC)
- How to Turn Off iCloud Music Library: Simple Steps in 2023
