We make Photo Vault, a vault app, and this guide starts with what you can do without one. For many people the built-in options are enough, and we say where they are not.

Short answer: use the Hidden album for photos you do not want to show up when someone scrolls your library, a locked note for a handful of especially private photos, and Guided Access when you hand your phone to someone. None of these takes a photo out of your library or out of iCloud; that is the one thing they cannot do.

Step by step

  1. Hide the photo in the Hidden album. Open Photos, touch and hold the photo or video, tap Hide and confirm. Apple's page describes the steps.
  2. Check that the Hidden album is locked. On iOS 16 and later the Hidden album is locked by default and asks you to authenticate to open it. To remove it from the Albums list as well, go to Settings, Apps, Photos and turn off Show Hidden Album; the hidden photos then do not appear in the Photos app while it is off.
  3. Put a few very private photos in a locked note. In Notes, open a note, tap More and choose Lock Note. Set the password in Settings, Notes, Password, and turn on Face ID or Touch ID there too: Apple says it cannot help you recover a locked note if you forget the password and have no biometrics set. A locked note cannot contain tags, PDFs, audio, video, or Keynote, Pages or Numbers documents, so it works for a few photos, not for videos. Photos are not on Apple's list, but try with one before you move the rest.
  4. Lock or hide apps you downloaded (iOS 18 and later). Touch and hold an app on the Home Screen and tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID, or Passcode); choose Hide and Require Face ID to move it into a locked Hidden folder in the App Library. Apple notes that apps that come with the iPhone cannot be hidden, so this does not hide the Photos app itself; it helps for a photo app you downloaded.
  5. Use Guided Access when you hand over your phone. Settings, Accessibility, Guided Access, turn it on and set a passcode. Open the photo you want to show, triple-click the side button and tap Start: the iPhone stays in that one app until you end the session. Apple's guide covers the details.
  6. Keep in mind what stays visible. A hidden photo is still in your library. With iCloud Photos on, Apple says the photos you hide on one device are hidden on your other devices too, which means they are synced. Anyone who can authenticate on your iPhone can open the Hidden album.

When a vault app is worth it

The built-in options all keep the photo in the Photos library, and with iCloud Photos on, in iCloud. A vault app is worth it when you want the photos to live somewhere else: outside the library, not synced, behind a lock of their own.

That is what Photo Vault does. It keeps photos and videos in its own space on the iPhone, behind Face ID, Touch ID or a passcode, with an optional password per album, a disguised home screen icon (Calculator, Notes or Weather) and a face-down lock. There is no account, no server of ours and no cloud sync, and the vault is excluded from iCloud backups. The step-by-step, including deleting the originals and emptying Recently Deleted, is in how to hide photos on iPhone without the Hidden album.

What it does not do: it does not back up on its own, so you export a backup file yourself (without one, the photos are lost with the phone), it has no decoy PIN, it is iPhone only, and it relies on iOS Data Protection rather than its own per-file encryption. It is free to download and try; a subscription, with a free trial, unlocks unlimited items, and what you saved stays accessible if it ends.

Other vault apps, compared honestly, including where they beat ours: the best photo vault apps for iPhone.

Questions people ask

Can I hide photos on an iPhone without an app?

Yes. Hide them in the Photos app (touch and hold the photo, tap Hide) and they go to the Hidden album, which is locked by default on iOS 16 and later. You can also put a few in a locked note in Notes.

Is the Hidden album on iPhone safe?

It is locked and asks for authentication, so it keeps hidden photos out of casual browsing. But the photos stay in your library, and with iCloud Photos on, Apple says what you hide on one device is hidden on your other devices too, so they are synced.

Can I hide the Photos app itself on iPhone?

No. Apple says apps that come installed on the iPhone cannot be hidden. From iOS 18 you can lock or hide apps you downloaded.

Can I lock a photo in the Notes app?

Yes, by locking the note that contains it. Locking needs a password you set in Settings, Notes, Password, and Apple cannot recover it if you forget it and have no Face ID or Touch ID set. Notes with video, audio or PDFs cannot be locked.

How do I stop someone going through my photos when I lend them my phone?

Use Guided Access: turn it on in Settings, Accessibility, open the photo you want to show, triple-click the side button and start a session. The iPhone stays in that app until you end it.

When is a photo vault app better than these options?

When you want the photos out of the Photos library and not synced. A vault app keeps them in its own space behind its own lock; Photo Vault, which we make, does that with no account and no server of ours.