The Hidden album on iPhone, explained

Hide a photo or video

Open Photos, touch and hold the photo or video, tap Hide, and confirm. To hide several, tap Select, choose them, tap the More button and choose Hide.

The item disappears from your main Library and moves to the Hidden album. It is not deleted, edited or moved anywhere else. Apple notes that if you use iCloud Photos, photos you hide on one device are hidden on your other devices too.

Find and open the Hidden album

In Photos, scroll down to Utilities and tap Hidden. Apple says the album is locked by default on iOS 16 and later and needs authentication to open. Tap View Album and unlock with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.

If the album seems empty after unlocking, give it a moment on a large library, and check that you are viewing the right library if you use a Shared Library.

Recently Deleted sits in the same Utilities section and is locked the same way. That lock covers both albums, so anyone who knows your passcode can open them. Treat hiding as tidying, not as a vault.

Make the album itself disappear

If you would rather the album not appear at all, go to Settings > Apps > Photos and turn off Show Hidden Album. On older iOS versions the Photos settings sit directly in Settings.

Apple notes that with this setting off, photos you have hidden are not visible anywhere in the Photos app. They are still on the phone and in iCloud. Turn the setting back on whenever you want to see them again. The same Photos settings also include the Face ID lock for these albums, if you prefer to switch that off.

Unhide photos

1. Open the Hidden album and unlock it.
2. Touch and hold the photo or video and tap Unhide. For several, tap Select, choose them, tap the More button and choose Unhide.

The items return to the Library in their original date order, so they may appear far back in your timeline rather than at the bottom. Search by date or place if you need to find them again.

Unhiding on one device unhides on your other devices too when iCloud Photos is on, for the same reason hiding does.

Things people get wrong

• Hiding does not save space. Hidden photos take up exactly as much storage as before. If the goal is space, delete or move them instead. See backing up photos.
• Missing photos are often hidden. If you cannot find a photo, check this album before assuming it is gone. Our guide on recovering deleted photos covers the other places to look.
• Third-party vault apps are a different thing. They store copies inside their own app. Keep in mind that photos you move there are not in your Photos library or its backups, so check how the app backs them up.

A tidy library makes hidden items easier to manage too; our guide to organizing photos has ideas.