Hidden album on iPhone: where it is and how to lock it

Where the Hidden album is

1. 1. Open the Photos app.
2. 2. Tap Collections.
3. 3. Scroll down to Utilities.
4. 4. Tap Utilities to see all its albums.
5. 5. Tap Hidden.
6. 6. Tap View Album.
7. 7. Use Face ID, Touch ID or your iPhone passcode.

No Collections button? Your iPhone runs an older iOS, with a different layout. If you see Albums, tap Albums. Then scroll down to Utilities. If you don’t see Albums either, scroll down the main Photos screen to Utilities. To hide a photo, follow our steps for hiding photos.

What opens the Hidden album

The Hidden album has no password of its own. The album’s lock is your iPhone’s Face ID, Touch ID or passcode.

• Anyone with your passcode. Face ID or Touch ID opens the Hidden album, and so does your iPhone passcode. So anyone who knows your passcode can open the album. The Photos app keeps no record of who opened the album.
• The same lock as Recently Deleted. One lock covers the Hidden album and Recently Deleted, where deleted photos wait for 30 days.
• Locked by default. The album’s lock has been on by default since iOS 16.
• On your iPad and Mac too. With iCloud Photos on, a photo you hide on your iPhone is also in the Hidden album on your iPad and Mac. On each device, the album opens with that device’s lock. On a Mac, the lock is Touch ID or your login password.

Check that the lock is on

The album’s lock has one switch, Use Face ID, and the switch is on by default. While the switch is on, the Hidden album and Recently Deleted ask for Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. While the switch is off, the two albums ask for nothing, not even your passcode.

1. 1. Open the Settings app.
2. 2. Tap Apps. If you don’t see Apps, go to the next step.
3. 3. Tap Photos.
4. 4. Tap Albums. If you don’t see Albums, go to the next step.
5. 5. Check that Use Face ID is on. On some iPhones, the switch says Use Touch ID or Use Passcode.

With Use Face ID off, anyone holding your unlocked iPhone can open the two albums.

If someone else knows your passcode

Your iPhone passcode opens the Hidden album. If you change your iPhone passcode, the old passcode stops working, for the album too.

1. 1. Open the Settings app.
2. 2. Tap Face ID & Passcode. On an iPhone with Touch ID, tap Touch ID & Passcode.
3. 3. Tap Change Passcode.

A new passcode changes the lock on your whole iPhone, not only on the album. A new passcode won’t help if family or friends need to unlock your iPhone, because you’d have to share the new passcode with them. Give private photos a lock of their own instead.

Give private photos a lock of their own

We make Underlock, a private vault for photos, videos, files and notes. You open your vault by drawing a pattern on a grid of dots. Your iPhone passcode, Face ID and Touch ID don’t open your vault.

Locked

Draw your pattern to open.

or

Use a passphrase

Forgot your pattern?

Underlock is coming soon to the App Store. Here’s how it will work.

• Your own pattern. You choose your pattern at setup: at least 6 dots on a 5 by 5 grid.
• 12 words to get back in. At setup, Underlock shows you 12 words to write on paper: your recovery phrase. If you forget your pattern, the 12 words open your vault. Keep the paper somewhere safe. If you forget your pattern and lose the paper, nobody can open your vault, not even us.
• Locks as you leave. By default, your vault locks as soon as you leave Underlock for another app.
• Out of the Photos app. Underlock copies the photos you choose into your vault. Then Underlock asks whether to remove the originals from the Photos app: you choose Remove or Keep.

See how Underlock’s setup works, step by step.

Questions people ask