Guides

How to hide videos on iPhone

To hide a video on iPhone, open it in Photos, tap the More button, and choose Hide. The video moves to the Hidden album, which opens with Face ID or your iPhone passcode. If the person you are hiding it from knows your passcode, keep the video in an app with its own passcode instead, such as Blank.

1. The Hidden album in Photos

1. Open the video in Photos.
2. Tap the More button (three dots), then tap Hide.
3. To see the video again, open the Hidden album in the Utilities section of Photos.

Since iOS 16, the Hidden album opens only with Face ID, Touch ID, or your iPhone passcode. You can also take the album out of view: open Settings, then Apps, then Photos, and turn off Show Hidden Album. On iOS 17 the path is Settings, then Photos.

It stops someone who scrolls through your camera roll. It does not stop anyone who knows your iPhone passcode. With iCloud Photos on, hidden videos also sync to every device signed in to your Apple Account, where they sit in the same Hidden album.

2. A locked note

In Notes, add the video to a note, tap the More button, and choose Lock. A note can lock with your iPhone passcode or with a separate Notes password. Adding a video from Photos makes a copy, so delete the original from Photos and then from Recently Deleted.

A separate Notes password keeps out someone who knows your iPhone passcode. But the first line of a locked note stays visible in the list of notes, and Notes is a slow place to watch videos.

3. A vault app with its own passcode

A vault app keeps videos inside the app, away from Photos. Blank is a private browser with a vault built in:

• Blank has its own passcode, separate from your iPhone passcode, plus Face ID.
• Videos you save from a site go straight to the vault and never touch Photos, so there is nothing to clean up.
• You can import the videos you already have from Photos, and Blank offers to delete the originals.
• The vault is encrypted and left out of iCloud and device backups.

Blank is free, and so are the vault and video downloads. Read more about Blank's video vault.

Which way to use

Use the Hidden album if you only want videos out of your camera roll. Use a locked note with a separate password for a few short clips. Use a vault app like Blank if someone else knows your iPhone passcode or uses your phone, or if you save videos from websites.

Empty Recently Deleted

When you delete a video from Photos, iOS keeps it in Recently Deleted for 30 days. Open Albums, then Recently Deleted, tap Select, and delete the videos you moved. The album opens with Face ID or your iPhone passcode.

Questions

Can someone see my Hidden album?

Anyone who can unlock your iPhone with its passcode can open the Hidden album. With iCloud Photos on, the album also appears on your other Apple devices.

How do I hide videos so they never show up in Recently Deleted?

Save them straight into a vault app instead of Photos. Videos you download in Blank go only to its vault, so they never reach Photos or Recently Deleted.

How do I hide videos from someone who knows my iPhone passcode?

Keep them in an app with a passcode of its own, such as Blank. Its passcode is separate from your iPhone passcode.