Can you make a secret photo album on iPhone?

“Secret folder” and “private album” are big searches. Our keyword study found that both are also Android search terms. iPhone has no feature with either name. It has three ways to get the same result, and each one keeps a different thing private. We checked Apple’s steps and settings against its iOS 27 guide on 2026-10-02. They are the same in iOS 18 and later.

What do you need the album to do?

Readers usually want one of four things. The right tool depends on which one.

1. Out of the camera roll. The photos do not show when someone scrolls Photos.
2. Behind a lock. The album asks for Face ID or a code before it opens.
3. Behind a password your household does not know. Your iPhone passcode does not open it.
4. Several albums, each with its own code. One code for one group, another for another.

The Hidden album covers needs 1 and 2. A locked note covers needs 2 and 3. A photo vault app is the only way to cover need 4.

Option 1: use the Hidden album as your secret album

The Hidden album is the closest thing to a secret album that Photos has. Open a photo, tap the More button, then tap Hide. To move many, tap Select first. Hidden photos leave your Library and your other albums. They show only in Hidden, below Utilities in Collections.

Apple locks the album with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode by default. To take the album out of view as well, go to Settings, Apps, Photos and turn off Show Hidden Album. The full steps are in our guide to hiding photos.

What you give up:

• One album only. You cannot sort hidden photos into groups or add a second Hidden album.
• Your passcode opens it. There is no separate password. A person who knows your passcode can open it.
• It is the same library. With iCloud Photos on, the album is on every device on your Apple Account, including a Mac and iCloud.com.

The Hidden album guide covers what the album is, where it goes, and why it can vanish from view.

Option 2: a secret album with its own password in Notes

The Notes app can hold photos, and it can lock a note with a custom password. A locked note works as a small secret album.

Set a custom password first in Settings, Apps, Notes, Password, Use Custom Password. Then make a note, tap the Attachments button, and add photos from your library. Tap the Note Actions button, then tap Lock. Our guide to password protecting photos has every step and the checks to run before you delete the originals.

What you give up:

• No video. Apple does not let you lock a note with a video, audio, PDF or other file attachment.
• One password per account. All locked notes in the same account share one custom password. You cannot give two notes two passwords.
• The title shows. The note title stays visible in the list. Name it something plain.
• No way back. If you forget the custom password and Face ID fails, Apple cannot help.

Shared albums are not secret albums

Some readers try a shared album with nobody else in it. That does not make it private. Apple’s iCloud security page says the Shared Albums feature in Photos does not support Advanced Data Protection. Apple uploads the keys for shared content to its data centers, so this content is not end-to-end encrypted.

The iCloud Shared Photo Library is different again. Apple says anyone in a Shared Library can add, edit or delete its photos. Keep private photos out of both.

Option 3: albums inside a photo vault app

A photo vault app stores photos in its own space, behind its own code. Most vault apps let you make albums, and some let you lock one album with a second code. Here is how three of the apps we studied handle album locks.

App	Album lock	Plan	Source
Private Photo Vault	“Password Protected Photo Albums”	Listed among features on its App Store page	App Store listing, checked 2026-10-02
Keepsafe	Album Lock with a letters-and-numbers password	Premium, per the app’s text resources	Our teardown of version 13.32.0
LockMyPix	Folder Lock with a second password	Premium, per the app’s text resources	Our teardown of the app’s text resources

Album features cause trouble in reviews. We read 836 App Store reviews of vault apps. 71 asked for better folders, sorting or order, or said an update took them away. 7 asked for folders inside folders. If you plan to keep many albums, check that the app supports nested albums and keeps your order after updates. The best photo vault apps guide scores 8 apps on this and more.

Which option fits you?

Need	Hidden album	Locked note	Vault app
Out of the camera roll	Yes	Yes, after you delete the originals	Yes, after you delete the originals
Locked	Yes	Yes	Yes
Password your household does not know	No	Yes	Yes
Video	Yes	No	Yes, in most apps
Several albums with different codes	No	No	In some apps
Free	Yes	Yes	Depends on the app

A short rule of thumb follows from the table. For one private group of photos, start with the Hidden album. For a password your household does not know, use a locked note. If you also keep video or need more than one code, look at a vault app.

Two of the three options make a copy. The original stays in Photos until you delete it, then it stays in Recently Deleted for 30 days. Before you call any album secret, check that the original is gone. Our Recently Deleted guide shows how.

Before you move photos into any secret album

Moving photos is where most losses start. In our review study, at least 7 users who lost photos in a vault app had already deleted the originals. Use this checklist with any of the three options.

• Count first. Note how many photos and videos you plan to move.
• Copy, then check. After the move, open the album and count again. Open a few items at full size, and play each video.
• Then delete the originals. Delete them from Photos only after the count matches.
• Empty Recently Deleted. Deleted photos stay there for 30 days, and it opens with the same passcode as the Hidden album.
• Look for other copies. Photos you sent in Messages or saved in Files have their own copies. Delete those where you need to.
• Keep a backup you can restore. A secret album with no backup is one lost phone away from gone.

What York Vault does

York Vault is on the App Store for iPhone and iPad and on Google Play for Android. Plus adds a Mac app, and Pro adds a web app. It:

• Makes as many albums as you need, inside each other if you like, on every plan.
• Puts a separate code on any album. A locked album shows a blurred cover and no item count. Its items stay out of search until you open it. See album codes.
• Opens a second, separate library with a cover code, for the times someone asks you to open the app. See cover and erase codes.
• Stores video, Live Photos, files and notes in the same albums as photos.
• Shares an album with people you choose who also use York Vault, end-to-end encrypted, with Pro.

Viewing, export and restore of your own items stay free on every plan. We do not hold any of your codes.