How to Hide Photos on iPhone

Apple says hidden photos move to the Hidden collection and can’t be viewed anywhere else. With iCloud Photos, a photo you hide is hidden on all your devices.

Hide photos and videos in the Photos app

1. 1

   Step 1: One photo

   In Photos, open the photo or video, tap the More button, then Hide.

2. 2

   Step 2: Several at once

   In your library or a collection, tap Select, tap the photos and videos, then tap the More button and Hide.

Where hidden photos go and how to see them

1. 1

   Step 1: Open the collection

   In Photos, tap Collections, then the Hidden collection under Utilities.

2. 2

   Step 2: Unlock

   Tap View Album and unlock with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.

3. 3

   Step 3: Unhide (optional)

   To put a photo back in your library, open it, tap the More button, then Unhide.

Keep the Hidden album locked or take it out of view

• Locked by default: Apple says the Hidden and Recently Deleted collections are locked by default. To change that, go to Settings › Apps › Photos and turn off Use Face ID, Use Touch ID or Use Passcode; leaving it on keeps the album locked.
• Out of view: in Settings › Apps › Photos, turn off Show Hidden Album to remove the Hidden collection from the Photos app. Turn it back on when you need it.

CleanX

A separate, encrypted vault with CleanX

CleanX’s vault has its own 4-digit passcode, separate from your iPhone’s. Photos, videos, files and notes are encrypted with AES-256 as they’re added, and you choose whether to remove the originals from your library (off by default). You can set a decoy passcode that opens an empty vault, and the vault locks when the app goes to the background and, unless you turn the setting off, when you turn your iPhone face down.

• Separate passcode and AES-256 encryption
• Decoy passcode and lock when face down
• Adding photos, videos and files needs CleanX Pro

Before you move photos into a vault

• The vault stays on this iPhone. Its contents aren’t synced and can’t be opened from a backup on another iPhone: if you move to a new iPhone or delete CleanX, you lose access to the vault.
• The vault passcode can’t be recovered. CleanX says files in the vault can’t be opened without it, and the passcode works only on the device where you set it and is never backed up.
• Keep a copy of anything irreplaceable somewhere else before removing originals from your library.
• If you delete originals, they stay in Recently Deleted for 30 days; delete them there too if you don’t want a copy left: see Recently Deleted on iPhone.