How to Make a Private Album on an iPhone

Easily hide certain photos on iOS

Written by Jack Lloyd

Last Updated: September 19, 2022 Tested

This wikiHow teaches you how to hide your iPhone's photos from Collections and Memories in the Photos app. It will also teach you how to download and set up Photo Vault, which is an app that hides photos that you select with a passcode.

Part 1

Part 1 of 2:

Hiding Photos from Collections and Memories

1
Open your iPhone's Photos. This icon is the multicolored pinwheel on a white background.
2
Tap Albums. It's in the bottom right corner of the screen.
- If Photos opens to a photo, tap the back button in the top left corner of the screen twice.
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3
Tap an album. This album should contain the photos you wish to hide.
4
Tap Select. It's in the top right corner of the screen.
5
Tap each photo you wish to make private. You should see a white checkmark on a blue background appear in the bottom right corner of your selected photos.
6
Tap the Share button. It's the box with an upward-pointing arrow in the bottom left corner of the screen.
7
Tap Hide. You'll see Hide on the right side of the bottom row of options here.
8
Tap Hide X Photos when prompted. The "X" will be the number of photos you selected. Tapping this button will hide your selected photos from the "Moments", "Years", and "Collections" sets of photos.^{[1]
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- You can view any photos you categorize as "hidden" by tapping the Hidden album on the Albums page.

Part 2

Part 2 of 2:

Using Photo Vault

1
Open the Photo Vault app. It's the image of a key locking a folder.
- You'll need to download Photo Vault if you haven't already done so.
2
Tap Start.
3
Tap Set Passcode. Doing so will bring up a keypad.
4
Type in a four-digit passcode twice. This process is to ensure that you type the passcode correctly.
- You can also add a recovery email address here when prompted.
5
Tap Next.
6
Tap I Agree.
7
Tap First Album. It's below the iTunes Album here.
8
Tap +. It's in the bottom right corner of the screen.
9
Tap Photo Library. This option is in the middle of the screen.
10
Tap OK. Doing so gives Photo Vault access to your camera roll.
11
Tap an album. If you don't know which album to choose, you can select All Photos from the top of the screen.
12
Tap each photo you want to hide. Doing so will place a white checkmark in the photos' thumbnails.
13
Tap Done. This option is in the top right corner of the screen. After tapping Done, your selected photos will begin importing to Photo Vault.
14
Tap Delete or Cancel. Tapping Delete will delete your selected photos from your camera roll, while Cancel will keep them there in addition to your Photo Vault.
15
Close Photo Vault. The next time you open it, you'll need to type in your passcode to access the photos in it.
- Photo Vault will even password-lock itself if you double-tap the Home button.

Community Q&A

Question

Can I forward a video I received from someone else?

Community Answer

Press and hold the video and a list of options should come up. Tap "Forward." Type in the person's name in the space provided, and press "Send."