How to lock photos on iPhone

There are three ways to lock photos on iPhone without installing anything, plus a Screen Time workaround you’ll often see suggested, and they lock very different things. You can lock the Hidden album, lock the whole Photos app, or lock photos inside a note. This guide covers how to lock photos on iPhone with each one on iOS 27, the current version, and the one weakness most of them share.

How to lock photos on iPhone: your options

Lock the Hidden album

This is the quickest way to lock pictures on iPhone. Hiding a photo moves it out of your library and into the Hidden album, and on iOS 16 and later that album is locked by default, along with Recently Deleted.

1. In Photos, touch and hold a photo, then tap Hide.
2. To check the lock is on, open Settings, tap Apps, tap Photos, then tap Albums.
3. Make sure Use Face ID (or Use Touch ID, or Use Passcode) is turned on. On iOS 18 this switch sits on the Photos page itself.

To open the album, tap Collections, scroll to Utilities, tap Hidden, then tap View Album. There’s a full walkthrough in how to hide photos on iPhone.

Good for: a handful of photos you don’t want turning up when you hand your phone to someone. Not good for: anything you’d hate a person with your passcode to see.

How to lock the Photos app on iPhone

Since iOS 18, you can make any app ask for Face ID before it opens, and Photos is one of the apps you can lock. This protects your whole library, not only hidden photos.

1. Go to your Home Screen and find the Photos app.
2. Touch and hold the icon until the quick actions menu opens.
3. Tap Require Face ID (or Require Touch ID, or Require Passcode).
4. Tap Require Face ID again to confirm, then authenticate.

From then on, Photos asks for Face ID every time you open it, and locks again after you quit it. Apple says information from a locked app also stays out of places like search, notification previews and Siri suggestions.

To undo it, touch and hold the icon again and tap Don’t Require Face ID.

Two limits are worth knowing. First, you can lock Photos but not hide it, because Apple only lets you hide apps you’ve downloaded. Second, the lock applies to that iPhone only; it doesn’t sync to your iPad or Mac.

Lock pictures inside a note

The Notes app is the one built-in way to password protect photos on iPhone with a password that’s different from your phone’s passcode.

First, choose how locked notes open:

1. Open Settings, tap Apps, then tap Notes.
2. Tap Password, and choose the account if you have more than one.
3. Choose Use Device Passcode, or Use Custom Password to set a separate one. You can also turn on Face ID.

Then lock a note with your photos in it:

1. In Notes, create a note and add your photos with the Attachments button.
2. Tap the Note Actions button, then tap Lock.

Apple’s rules stop you locking notes with video, audio, PDF or file attachments. Photos aren’t on that list, so this works for pictures but not videos. The note’s title stays visible in the list, so give it a dull one.

Two cautions. The original photos are still in your library, so delete them from Photos and then from Recently Deleted, where Apple keeps them for 30 days. And if you use a custom password and forget it, Apple says it can’t help you get those notes back.

What about Screen Time?

You’ll still see guides suggesting a Screen Time limit on Photos as a makeshift lock. In iOS 27, Screen Time is built around schedules and time allowances for categories of apps, with an optional four-digit Screen Time passcode to stop the settings being changed. It’s designed to limit how long you use apps, not to keep someone else out of your photos. Now that you can lock the Photos app directly, that’s the better choice.

The weakness most of these share

None of these options can show a different set of photos if someone pressures you to unlock. There’s one Hidden album and one Photos app, so opening them shows everything.

If what you really want is one album that stays private, read how to make a private photo album on iPhone next.