How to Hide a Picture on iPhone 13 (and Newer iPhones)

To hide a picture on an iPhone 13, open the Photos app, touch and hold the photo, tap Hide, and confirm. The picture leaves your Library and moves to the Hidden album, which you open from Collections > Utilities > Hidden with Face ID or your passcode.

These steps are written for iOS 26 and iOS 27. They are the same on the iPhone 13, every newer iPhone, and older iPhones running the same software. Apple’s own Hidden album instructions describe the same Hide, Hidden, and Unhide controls. On iOS 16 and later, the Hidden album is locked by default, so someone browsing your Photos app can’t open it without unlocking it first.

Hide a Single Photo or Video

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Find the picture you want to hide in your Library or in an album.
3. Touch and hold the photo’s thumbnail. A preview appears with a menu of actions under it.
4. Tap Hide. A confirmation appears at the bottom of the screen.

5. Tap Hide Photo (or Hide Video) to confirm. The thumbnail disappears from the Library.

You can also do this with the photo open. Tap the photo to view it full screen, tap the More button (three dots in a circle) at the top or bottom of the screen, tap Hide, and confirm.

Hide Several Photos at Once

1. Open Photos and go to the Library or the album that holds the pictures.
2. Tap Select in the upper-right corner.
3. Tap each photo or video you want to hide. A checkmark appears on each one, and the count shows at the top of the screen.
4. Tap the More button (three dots in a circle).
5. Tap Hide, then confirm. All of the selected items move to the Hidden album.

Selecting an album doesn’t hide the pictures inside it. You need to select the photos themselves. If you want a whole set gone from view, open the album, tap Select, tap Select All, and hide them from there.

Find the Hidden Album

1. Open Photos.
2. Tap Collections. On iOS 26 and later it’s a tab at the bottom of the screen.
3. Scroll down to the Utilities section.
4. Tap Hidden.

5. Tap View Album and look at the screen to unlock it with Face ID, or enter your passcode. Your hidden photos and videos appear.

On iOS 18, scroll down past your Library grid to reach Collections in step 2. The Recently Deleted album in the same Utilities section is locked the same way.

Unhide a Photo

1. Open the Hidden album and unlock it, as shown above.
2. Touch and hold the photo you want back.
3. Tap Unhide. The photo returns to your Library in its original spot, sorted by the date it was taken.

To unhide several items, tap Select inside the Hidden album, tap each item, tap the More button, and tap Unhide.

Show or Hide the Hidden Album Itself

If you don’t want the Hidden album to appear under Utilities at all, you can remove it from view.

1. Open Settings.
2. Tap Apps, then tap Photos.
3. Turn off Show Hidden Album. The switch turns gray.

On iOS 17 and earlier, Photos is listed directly in Settings. The photos stay hidden and stay on your iPhone. Only the album’s entry in Photos goes away. Turn Show Hidden Album back on whenever you need to get to them.

On the same Photos settings screen, the Use Face ID switch controls the lock on the Hidden and Recently Deleted albums. Leave it on if you want those albums to require Face ID or your passcode. On an iPhone with Touch ID, the switch is named Use Touch ID, and without either, it’s Use Passcode.

What Hiding Does and Doesn’t Do

Hiding a picture removes it from the places people normally browse: your Library, regular albums, and the Photos widget on the Home Screen. It doesn’t delete the picture, so it still uses the same amount of storage.

A few limits are worth knowing before you rely on it:

• iCloud Photos syncs the change. If you use iCloud Photos, a picture you hide on your iPhone 13 is also hidden on your iPad and Mac signed in to the same Apple Account. You’ll find it in the Hidden album on those devices. Not sure whether yours is on? Here is how to turn on iCloud Photos.
• Your passcode still opens it. Anyone who knows your iPhone passcode can unlock the Hidden album. If other people know your code, change it.
• Copies you already shared aren’t affected. Hiding doesn’t pull back a picture you sent in Messages, email, a Shared Album, or a social app.
• App permissions are separate. Hiding is a Photos app view, not a permission setting, so it doesn’t change what other apps are allowed to read. To see which apps have access to your library, try checking which apps can access your photos on iPhone.

If you want to keep the whole Photos app away from other people, iOS 18 and later can also lock the app with Face ID. The steps are in hiding or locking apps on iPhone.

To find a picture that is still in your Library, you can search for photos by keyword on iPhone.

Troubleshooting

I don’t see Hide in the menu

Make sure you’re in Apple’s Photos app and not a photo preview inside another app, such as Messages or Files. In Messages, save the photo to your library first, then hide it in Photos. If the touch-and-hold menu doesn’t show Hide, open the photo and use the More button instead.

I can’t find the Hidden album

Go to Settings > Apps > Photos and turn on Show Hidden Album. Then open Photos > Collections and scroll down to Utilities.

The Hidden album opens without Face ID

Check that Use Face ID is turned on in Settings > Apps > Photos. If it’s on and the album still opens right away, make sure your iPhone is on iOS 16 or later in Settings > General > About.

A hidden photo vanished from my iPad or Mac

That’s iCloud Photos syncing the hidden state. Open the Hidden album on that device and the picture will be there.

Frequently Asked Questions