How to Add Photos to Your Hidden Album on iPhone: A Complete Guide

Keeping your photos private on your iPhone is easier than you might think. Apple’s Photos app offers a built-in feature called the “Hidden” album, allowing you to move sensitive or personal photos and videos away from your main photo library. This ensures they don’t appear when you’re casually browsing your memories, showing photos to friends, or if someone else accesses your device.

The beauty of the Hidden album is its seamless integration across your Apple ecosystem. If you use iCloud Photos, hiding a photo on your iPhone will also hide it on your iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro. And for added security, especially from iOS 16 onwards, your Hidden album is locked by default, requiring Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode to access. This article will guide you through the simple steps on how to add photos to your hidden album on iPhone, ensuring your private moments stay private.

Step-by-Step Guide to Hiding Photos on Your iPhone

Adding photos to your Hidden album on iPhone is a straightforward process that takes just a few taps. Here’s how to do it:

1. Open the Photos App: Locate and tap the Photos app icon on your iPhone’s home screen.

2. Select the Photo or Video: Navigate to your Library or any album and find the photo or video you wish to hide. Tap on the photo to view it.

3. Access the Hide Option: Tap and hold down on the photo or video thumbnail. A quick actions menu will pop up.

4. Tap “Hide”: From the menu options, select “Hide”.

5. Confirm Hiding: A confirmation prompt will appear at the bottom of your screen asking if you want to hide the photo or video. Tap “Hide” again to confirm.

   Dropdown menu highlighting the Hide feature for a photo.

   This image shows the step to hide a photo on an iPhone. After tapping and holding a photo, a dropdown menu appears, highlighting the “Hide” option, ready for the user to tap and move the photo to the hidden album.

Once confirmed, the selected photo or video will disappear from your main photo library and be moved to the Hidden album.

How to Unhide Photos on Your iPhone

If you decide to make a hidden photo visible again, the process to unhide it is equally simple:

1. Open Photos App and Navigate to Albums: Open the Photos app. At the bottom of the screen, tap “Albums”.

2. Find the “Hidden” Album: Scroll down the Albums list until you find the “Utilities” section. Within Utilities, tap on “Hidden”.

3. Unlock the Hidden Album: You’ll likely be prompted to use Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode to unlock and access the Hidden album, depending on your security settings. Tap “View Album” and authenticate.

4. Select Photo to Unhide: Once inside the Hidden album, find the photo or video you want to unhide and tap to select it.

5. Unhide the Photo: Tap and hold on the photo or video thumbnail. In the quick actions menu, tap “Unhide”.

The photo or video will now be removed from the Hidden album and will reappear in your main Photos Library in chronological order, making it visible again in your regular photo browsing.

Locating Your Hidden Album on iPhone

After you’ve hidden photos, you might wonder where they’ve gone. The Hidden album is located within the Utilities section of your Albums in the Photos app:

1. Open Photos and Go to Albums: Open the Photos app and tap “Albums” at the bottom.

2. Scroll to Utilities: Scroll down the Albums list until you see the “Utilities” section.

3. Access the Hidden Album: You will find the “Hidden” album listed under Utilities. Tap on it to view your hidden photos and videos.

   Hidden album highlighted under Utilities.

   This image displays the Albums view in the iPhone Photos app, with the “Hidden” album clearly highlighted within the “Utilities” section. This visual aid helps users quickly locate their hidden photos.

By default, the Hidden album is visible in the Utilities section. However, for an extra layer of privacy, you can choose to hide the Hidden album itself, making it completely invisible unless you know where to look in settings.

Making Your Hidden Album Truly Hidden on iPhone

For enhanced privacy, you can actually hide the Hidden album from the Utilities section altogether. This means it won’t be visible unless you specifically choose to show it in settings. Here’s how to make the Hidden Album completely hidden:

1. Open Settings App: Go to the Settings app on your iPhone home screen.

2. Scroll Down to “Photos”: Scroll down the list of settings options and tap on “Photos”.

3. Toggle Off “Show Hidden Album”: In the Photos settings, scroll down to the “Hidden Album” option. Toggle the switch to the left (turn it off). When the switch is grey, the Hidden album will be hidden from the Utilities section in the Photos app.

With “Show Hidden Album” turned off, the Hidden album will no longer appear in the Utilities section of your Albums in the Photos app. To access it again, you’ll need to return to Settings > Photos and toggle “Show Hidden Album” back on.

Hidden Albums on Other Apple Devices

The Hidden album feature isn’t exclusive to iPhones. You can also use it on your iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro. The process is very similar across devices, ensuring a consistent experience for managing your private photos within the Apple ecosystem.

On Mac:

1. Hide Photos: Open Photos on your Mac, control-click a photo, and choose “Hide Photo.”

2. Unhide Photos: In the menu bar, go to View > Show Hidden Photo Album, then find and unhide photos in the Hidden album.

3. Find Hidden Album: Go to View > Show Hidden Photo Album to make the Hidden album visible in the sidebar.

   Hidden album highlighted in MacOS Photos app.

   This image shows the MacOS Photos app interface with the “Hidden Photo Album” option highlighted in the View menu. This guides Mac users to find the setting to view their hidden photos.

On Apple Vision Pro:

1. Hide Photos: In the Photos app on Vision Pro, long-press a photo and tap “Hide.”
2. Unhide Photos: In Photos, go to Collections in the sidebar, scroll to Utilities, and find the Hidden album to unhide photos.
3. Find Hidden Album: Access the Hidden album in the Utilities section of the Collections tab in the Photos app sidebar.

Conclusion

Utilizing the Hidden album on your iPhone is a simple yet effective way to manage your photo privacy. Whether you want to keep certain photos away from prying eyes or simply declutter your main photo library, understanding how to add photos to your hidden album on iPhone gives you greater control over your visual content. Explore this feature and enjoy a more private and organized photo experience across all your Apple devices.