How to Hide Photos on iPhone: Hidden Album vs Secret Vault
What Apple's Hidden album protects, what it does not, and the trade-offs of a private vault on the phone
Short answer: select the photos in the Photos app, tap the More button and choose Hide. They disappear from the library and the albums and move to the Hidden album, which on iOS 16 and later opens only with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. For most people that is enough. The Hidden album is still part of your photo library, though: it syncs through iCloud Photos to every device signed in with your Apple Account and opens for anyone who knows the iPhone's passcode.
This guide explains how to use the Hidden album properly, what it does and does not protect against, Apple's other options such as locked notes and locked apps, and when a separate encrypted vault such as the one in DiskMop for iPhone is the better choice, including the one trade-off you must understand before you use it.
Key Takeaways
- To hide a photo, select it in Photos, tap More (the three dots) and choose Hide; it moves to Albums > Utilities > Hidden.
- On iOS 16 and later the Hidden album is locked with Face ID, Touch ID or the passcode by default; the setting is in Settings > Apps > Photos.
- Turning off Show Hidden Album in the same settings removes the album from Utilities altogether, so nobody sees that it exists.
- Hidden photos stay in your library and in iCloud Photos, sync to your other devices and are visible to anyone who knows your passcode.
- A separate vault stores encrypted copies outside the photo library; in DiskMop the key never leaves the device and the vault opens only with Face ID or the passcode.
- DiskMop's vault is deliberately excluded from iCloud backups: if you delete the app, the vault is deleted too, so save anything you want to keep back to Photos first.
Get DiskMop for iPhone on the App Store
DiskMop automatically scans, identifies, and safely cleans hidden caches, app leftovers, and system junk.
Ways to keep photos private on an iPhone
| Option | How it is locked | Where the photos live | In iCloud |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hidden album (Photos) | Face ID, Touch ID or passcode (iOS 16+) | Photo library, out of the main views | Yes, with iCloud Photos |
| Locked note (Notes) | Notes password or device passcode | Inside the note | Yes, if the note is in iCloud |
| Require Face ID on the Photos app (iOS 18) | Face ID or passcode to open the app | Photo library, unchanged | Yes, with iCloud Photos |
| DiskMop vault | Face ID, Touch ID or passcode; key stored only on this device | Encrypted files inside the app | No, excluded from iCloud backup on purpose |
The Built-In Way: Apple's Hidden Album
Every iPhone can hide photos without any extra app. In Photos, tap Select, choose one or more photos or videos, tap the More button and choose Hide. Hidden items disappear from the library, from albums and from the Photos widget, and are collected in Albums > Utilities > Hidden. To bring one back, open the Hidden album, select it and choose Unhide.
Since iOS 16 the Hidden album and Recently Deleted are locked by default. Opening them requires Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode, and the switch for that is in Settings > Apps > Photos. On the same screen, Show Hidden Album controls whether the album appears under Utilities at all; turn it off and there is no visible sign that anything is hidden.
For keeping a surprise gift or a scan of your passport away from someone scrolling through your photos, this is quick, free and good enough. It is worth knowing exactly what it protects against, though, before you rely on it for something more sensitive.
What the Hidden Album Does Not Protect
Hidden is a view setting, not a separate storage place. The photos remain in your library, so with iCloud Photos turned on they sync to your iPad, your Mac and iCloud.com, where the Hidden album has its own lock but the same contents. Anyone who knows your iPhone passcode can also open the Hidden album, because the passcode is always an accepted alternative to Face ID.
Apple offers two more options. Notes can lock individual notes with a password or the device passcode, and photos added to a locked note are protected with it, although adding them there leaves the originals in your library until you delete them. On iOS 18 you can also touch and hold an app icon and choose Require Face ID; locking the Photos app protects the whole library from casual access, but it changes nothing about where the photos are stored.
If what you want is a set of photos that is not in the library, not in iCloud and not on your other devices, you need a different kind of tool: a vault that keeps its own encrypted copies inside an app.
A Separate Encrypted Vault in DiskMop
DiskMop for iPhone includes a vault under Extras > Vault. Photos and videos you add are copied into the app and encrypted with AES-GCM using a 256-bit key that is stored in the iPhone's keychain, protected by Face ID, Touch ID or the device passcode, and marked as available on this device only, so it is not carried over to backups or other devices. Even the index of what the vault contains is encrypted, so a locked vault does not reveal how many items it holds.
The vault locks itself as soon as the app goes to the background or you leave the vault screen, and its contents are blurred in the app switcher. There is no separate PIN to forget: the device passcode is the fallback. A photo stored only in iCloud is downloaded when you add it, and if you edited a photo, the edited version is what goes into the vault.
Adding a photo does not remove it from your library. DiskMop asks afterwards whether you want to remove the originals; if you do, they go through the usual review and the iOS confirmation and wait 30 days in Recently Deleted. Save to Photos puts an item back into the library with its original data, date and location, while deleting from the vault is permanent and cannot be undone.
The One Trade-Off You Must Understand
The vault folder is excluded from iCloud backups on purpose. That is what keeps its contents off Apple's servers, and it has a consequence the app states openly: if you delete DiskMop, everything in the vault is gone, and the vault does not move to a new iPhone either, because its key exists only on the device that created it. There is no account and no server copy to restore from.
Treat the vault as private storage, not as a backup. Keep a copy elsewhere of anything irreplaceable, and before you switch phones, open the vault and save the items you want to keep back to Photos. A device passcode is required; without one, the vault cannot be protected and will not open.
The vault is free to use. Removing the originals from your library after adding them counts as an ordinary photo deletion in DiskMop, which is free for up to ten photos a day and unlimited with DiskMop Pro. If you are hiding photos because the library has grown out of control, cleaning up iPhone photos by swiping may solve the bigger problem.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do hidden photos go on iPhone?
They move to Albums > Utilities > Hidden in the Photos app. They are no longer shown in the library, albums or the Photos widget, but they are still part of your photo library.
Are hidden photos still in iCloud?
Yes. With iCloud Photos on, hidden photos sync to iCloud and your other devices like any other photo; only the way they are displayed changes.
Can someone open my Hidden album without Face ID?
Anyone who knows your iPhone passcode can, because the passcode is always accepted as an alternative. The same is true for any app that unlocks with Face ID, including DiskMop's vault.
What happens to the DiskMop vault if I delete the app?
Its contents are deleted with the app. The vault is excluded from iCloud backups on purpose, so save anything you want to keep back to Photos before deleting the app or switching phones.
Does adding a photo to the vault delete it from Photos?
No. The original stays in your library until you choose to remove it. If you do, you review the photos first, iOS asks for confirmation, and they wait 30 days in Recently Deleted.
Verdict
For everyday privacy, the Hidden album is the right tool: it is built in, free, locked with Face ID since iOS 16, and can be made invisible with Show Hidden Album. Just remember that it is a view, not a separate place, and that it travels with your library through iCloud.
When photos should not be in the library or in iCloud at all, a vault is the better fit. DiskMop for iPhone keeps them encrypted on the device with a key that never leaves it, locks automatically and leaves your library untouched unless you choose otherwise. Save copies before deleting the app, because the vault is deliberately not backed up.
Get DiskMop for iPhone on the App Store
DiskMop automatically scans, identifies, and safely cleans hidden caches, app leftovers, and system junk.