How to Add a Photo to Hidden on Your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro

Keeping your personal photos private is more important than ever. Whether it’s pictures you’d rather not have readily visible or sensitive content, Apple’s ecosystem provides a built-in feature to help you manage your photo privacy across your devices. Photos app allows you to control the visibility of your photos and videos, offering a dedicated “Hidden” album to keep your selected media out of sight from your main library, other albums, and even the Photos widget.

This guide will walk you through the simple steps on How To Add A Photo To Hidden on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple Vision Pro. We’ll also cover how to unhide them and manage the visibility of the Hidden album itself, ensuring your private photos stay private. With enhanced security features like default locking in newer iOS, iPadOS, and macOS versions, your Hidden album is even more secure, requiring authentication to access. Let’s dive into how to take control of your photo privacy.

How to Add a Photo to Hidden on iPhone or iPad

The process to hide photos on your iPhone and iPad is straightforward and can be done in just a few taps. Here’s how:

1. Open Photos App: Launch the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad to get started.

2. Select Your Photo: Navigate through your library and tap and hold on the specific photo or video that you intend to hide. This action will bring up a quick actions menu.

3. Choose Hide: From the options presented in the menu, tap on “Hide”.

4. Confirm Hide: A confirmation prompt will appear at the bottom of your screen asking, “Hide Photo?”. Tap “Hide” to confirm your choice. The selected photo or video will now be moved to the Hidden album.

   Dropdown menu showing the Hide option for a selected photo on an iPhone.

How to Unhide Photos on iPhone or iPad

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

1. Open Photos and Navigate to Albums: Open the Photos app. On an iPad, you might need to tap the sidebar icon located in the upper-left corner to display your albums.
2. Find the Hidden Album: Scroll down the albums list until you find “Hidden” under the “Utilities” section. Tap on “Hidden”.
3. Unlock Hidden Album: Tap “View Album”. You’ll be prompted to use Face ID or Touch ID to unlock and access the Hidden album, adding an extra layer of security.
4. Select Photo to Unhide: Once inside the Hidden album, tap and hold the photo or video you wish to unhide. This will bring up the quick actions menu again.
5. Choose Unhide: From the menu options, tap “Unhide”. The photo or video will be instantly moved back to your main Library and will reappear in albums it was previously in.

How to Find the Hidden Album on iPhone or iPad

By default, the Hidden album is visible within the Utilities section of your Albums in the Photos app. Here’s how to locate it:

1. Open Photos App: Launch the Photos app on your iPhone or iPad.

2. Go to Albums: Tap on the “Albums” tab at the bottom of the screen. On iPad, ensure the sidebar is visible.

3. Scroll to Utilities: Scroll down the list of albums until you reach the “Utilities” section.

4. Locate Hidden Album: You will find the “Hidden” album listed here.

   Hidden album option highlighted under the Utilities section in the Albums view on an iPhone.

How to Turn Off the Hidden Album on iPhone or iPad

For enhanced privacy, you can even hide the Hidden album itself, making it completely invisible in your Photos app. Here’s how to turn off its visibility:

1. Open Settings App: Go to the Settings app on your iPhone or iPad home screen.
2. Navigate to Photos Settings: Scroll down and tap on “Photos”.
3. Toggle off Show Hidden Album: Under the “Albums” section, find the “Show Hidden Album” toggle and turn it off (switch to the left/gray position).

When “Show Hidden Album” is turned off, the Hidden album will not appear in the Utilities section of your Albums in the Photos app, making your hidden photos even more discreet. To access them again, you’ll need to re-enable this setting.

How to Add a Photo to Hidden on Your Mac

Managing hidden photos on your Mac is just as seamless as on your mobile devices. Here’s how to hide photos on macOS:

1. Open Photos App: Launch the Photos application on your Mac.
2. Select Photo to Hide: Locate the photo or video you wish to hide. Control-click (or right-click) on the selected item. Alternatively, you can select the photo and then navigate to “Image” in the menu bar and choose “Hide Photo,” or simply press Command-L.
3. Confirm Hide: In the context menu that appears, select “Hide Photo”. Confirm your decision when prompted. The photo will be moved to the Hidden album.

How to Unhide Photos on Mac

To unhide photos on your Mac, follow these steps:

1. Show Hidden Photo Album: In the menu bar at the top of your screen, click on “View” and select “Show Hidden Photo Album”. This will make the Hidden album visible in the sidebar.
2. Access Hidden Album: In the sidebar of the Photos app, under “Photos,” you will now see “Hidden”. Select “Hidden”.
3. Unlock if Locked: Click “View Album”. You may be prompted to use Touch ID or enter your login password to unlock the Hidden album for security.
4. Select Photo to Unhide: Once in the Hidden album, control-click (or right-click) the photo or video you want to unhide. You can also select the photo and go to “Image” in the menu bar and choose “Unhide Photo”, or press Command-L.
5. Choose Unhide Photo: From the context menu, choose “Unhide Photo”. The photo will return to its original location in your library.

How to Find the Hidden Album on Mac

The Hidden album on Mac is hidden by default. To find and view it, you need to enable its visibility:

1. Open Photos App: Open the Photos application on your Mac.

2. Show Hidden Photo Album: In the menu bar, click on “View”.

3. Select Show Hidden Photo Album: Choose “Show Hidden Photo Album” from the dropdown menu.

   Hidden album highlighted in the sidebar of the Photos app on macOS.

Once enabled, the Hidden album will appear in the sidebar under the “Photos” section.

How to Add a Photo to Hidden on Apple Vision Pro

Apple Vision Pro also allows you to hide photos, ensuring privacy across your immersive experiences. Here’s how:

1. Open Photos App: Open the Photos app on your Apple Vision Pro.
2. Select and Hide Photo: Select and hold the photo or video you wish to hide. A menu will appear. Tap “Hide”.
3. Confirm Hide: Confirm that you want to hide the selected photo or video. It will be moved to the Hidden album.

How to Unhide Photos on Vision Pro

To unhide photos on your Apple Vision Pro:

1. Open Photos and Go to Collections: Open the Photos app and tap “Collections” in the sidebar.
2. Find Hidden Album: Scroll down in the sidebar to the “Utilities” section and tap “Hidden”.
3. Select and Unhide Photo: Tap and hold the photo or video you want to unhide. In the menu that appears, tap “Unhide”. The photo will be restored to its original location.

How to Find the Hidden Album on Apple Vision Pro

To access the Hidden album on Apple Vision Pro:

1. Open Photos App: Open the Photos app on your Vision Pro.
2. Go to Collections: Tap the “Collections” tab in the sidebar.
3. Locate Hidden Album: Scroll down in the sidebar and look for the “Hidden” album under the “Utilities” section.

How to Turn Off the Hidden Album on Apple Vision Pro

Similar to iPhone and iPad, you can also turn off the visibility of the Hidden Album on Apple Vision Pro:

1. Open Settings: Go to Settings on your Apple Vision Pro.
2. Navigate to Photos Settings: Tap “Apps”, then tap “Photos”.
3. Turn off Show Hidden Album: Scroll down and turn off the “Show Hidden Album” option.

By following these steps, you can effectively manage your photo privacy across all your Apple devices. Whether you’re using an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Vision Pro, the Hidden album feature provides a secure and easy way to keep your personal photos private and out of sight.