How to hide photos on iPhone

Some photos aren’t meant for everyone’s eyes. Here’s how you can hide photos on your iPhone to ensure no one else sees them.

iPhones are secured with Face ID, which unlocks the device when it recognizes your face, or by entering the passcode. However, if someone picks up your unlocked phone, they can easily access your data, including photos you’d rather keep private.

You can easily stop that from happening by hiding photos on your iPhone. The Photos app that’s already on your iPhone has a feature to hide photos. You can also use third-party apps for the job.

We’ll guide you on how to hide photos on your Apple iPhone, giving you peace of mind that your private pictures will only be visible to you.

How to hide photos on iPhone from Photos app

The default Photos app on iPhones lets you protect your sensitive media files in a Hidden Album without downloading third-party ones. We show you how to hide photos on iPhones running iOS 17. The process is largely the same on iOS 16.

1. Open the Photos app on your iPhone.
2. Tap the Select button at the top and choose the photos you want to hide.
3. Hit the three-dots icon in the lower-right corner and select Hide. That’s it, your photos are now hidden.

How to view hidden photos on iPhone

The photos you hide are saved in the Hidden Album. You can find the Hidden Album on the Albums page and under the Utilities section. To view photos in this album, you’ll need to unlock your phone using Face ID or passcode.

1. Open the Photos app and go to the Albums menu.
2. Scroll down to the Utilities menu and open Hidden album to check sensitive media files.
3. Scroll down and tap the Hidden folder listed under Utilities. Enter your Face ID to see the hidden photos.

You can also unhide the hidden photos from this album by tapping the Overflow button located in the bottom-left corner and selecting Unhide option on the pop-up menu.