Lock photos with Face ID on iPhone

Lock the Hidden collection

The Hidden collection is locked by default on current iPhone software. In Photos, select one or more items, open the More menu, choose Hide, and confirm. When you later open Hidden under Utilities, authenticate with the method available on your device, such as Face ID, Touch ID, or the device passcode.

If the collection opens without authentication, check Settings under Apps, then Photos. Apple provides a setting to enable or disable authentication for the Hidden and Recently Deleted collections. Menu wording and placement can shift between releases, so look for the Photos settings rather than relying on an old screenshot.

Lock the whole Photos app

On iPhone software that supports app locking, you can require Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode before opening a supported app. Touch and hold Photos on the Home Screen and choose the Require Face ID or equivalent action. Hiding an app is a separate choice: it removes the icon from the Home Screen and moves it into the Hidden folder in App Library.

Locking the Photos app protects the app entrance, not just one album. It can be useful when you do not want someone opening the library at all. Apple notes that app locking is device-specific and that some system locations may behave differently. Read the current Apple instructions for your iOS version before relying on the feature in a particular situation.

Choose between album lock and app lock

Choose the Hidden collection when you want ordinary photos easy to browse while a selected group requires authentication. Choose an app lock when the goal is to put an authentication prompt in front of Photos as a whole. You can use both, but neither turns the image into a separately encrypted file that is removed from your Apple library.

App locking and album hiding rely on authentication for the iPhone. If someone knows your device passcode or can authenticate with your enrolled biometrics, that may be enough to reach the protected area. If your concern is an unlocked device being handed to another person, consider whether you can keep the phone locked or show only a specific screen instead of handing over the full library.

Understand iCloud and other copies

The Hidden collection remains part of Photos. If iCloud Photos is enabled, Apple syncs the library and hidden status to other signed-in devices. An app lock does not change that sync behavior. If you want a photo to live outside the Photos library, that is a separate import-and-storage workflow and should be evaluated independently.

Before deleting a source photo after importing it elsewhere, verify the imported copy and learn how backup and recovery work. With iCloud Photos active, deletion in Photos can propagate across devices using the library. Recently Deleted provides a recovery window, not a permanent backup. Keep a second copy of irreplaceable files before a cleanup.

When a separate vault is worth considering

A separate vault may make sense if you need an independent unlock and encrypted storage rather than a filtered view inside Photos. Before importing sensitive files, check which encryption runs on the device, what information is included in the backup, whether the app can recover a forgotten unlock method, and what happens if you uninstall the app.

Test any import or cleanup process using a copy that you can afford to lose. Confirm the vault copy is readable, verify recovery instructions, and only then decide what to remove from Photos. If a feature description promises hidden or decoy access, look for a clear explanation of its limits; an interface label alone is not a security model.

Frequently asked questions