Where are hidden photos on iPhone? Finding the Hidden album
If the Hidden album seems to have vanished, it has usually just been switched off.
In short
On iPhone, open Photos, tap Collections, scroll to Utilities and tap Hidden, then View Album and unlock with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. If there is no Hidden album, go to Settings › Apps › Photos (Settings › Photos before iOS 18) and turn on Show Hidden Album. On a Mac, choose View › Show Hidden Photo Album in Photos.
Key takeaways
- The Hidden album is under Utilities in Collections.
- If it is missing, turn on Show Hidden Album in Settings.
- On a Mac, the Hidden album is off by default.
Open the Hidden album on iPhone
- Open the Photos app and tap Collections.
- Scroll down to Utilities and tap Hidden.
- Tap View Album, then unlock with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
Unhide a photo
- Open the Hidden album and unlock it.
- Open the photo, or touch and hold its thumbnail.
- Tap the More button if needed, then tap Unhide. The photo returns to your library.
If there is no Hidden album
The album can be removed from view. When Show Hidden Album is off, hidden photos are not visible anywhere in Photos — which can look as if they were deleted.
- Open Settings › Apps › Photos (Settings › Photos before iOS 18).
- Turn on Show Hidden Album.
- Go back to Photos › Collections › Utilities.
In the same screen, Use Face ID (or Use Touch ID, or Use Passcode) controls whether the Hidden and Recently Deleted albums are locked.
On iPad, Mac and iCloud.com
- iPad: the same steps as iPhone. You may need to open the sidebar first.
- Mac: in Photos, choose View › Show Hidden Photo Album, then select Hidden under Utilities in the sidebar and unlock it with Touch ID or your login password. Apple says the Hidden album is off by default on Mac.
- iCloud.com: open Photos, select Hidden in the sidebar, then Show Hidden Photos.
With iCloud Photos, a photo hidden on one device is hidden on all of them, so it can be found — and unhidden — from any of them.
Still can’t find it?
- Recently Deleted, under Utilities, keeps deleted photos for 30 days. Some items may appear in a Recovered collection instead.
- If you use an iCloud Shared Photo Library, switch the library view to Both Libraries from your account button in Collections.
- Make sure iCloud Photos is on and every device is signed in to the same Apple Account.
A place that isn’t in Photos
Files kept in a vault such as Latent do not show up in any of these places. They are not in the photo library, and opening them needs the vault’s own pattern or password.