How to Password-Protect Photos and Folders on iPhone

1. What iOS offers instead

The question "how do I password protect photos on iPhone" has an answer people do not expect. iOS does not do that, if you mean a password you set on an album or a folder. It offers three things that each cover part of the same need.

The third column is the one to read. If you want a barrier that someone with your passcode cannot get past, only the last two rows give you one. And only the last row covers video.

2. Lock the Photos or Files app

On iOS 18 and later, you can lock almost any app. Apple's exceptions are Calculator, Camera, Clock, Contacts, Find My, Maps, Shortcuts and Settings. Photos and Files are not on that list.

1. Touch and hold the app icon on the Home Screen.
2. Tap Require Face ID (or Touch ID, or Passcode).
3. Tap again to confirm, and unlock with Face ID or your passcode.

Apple states that a locked app "requires Face ID, Touch ID, or your passcode to open", and that what is inside it will not appear in notification previews, search or Siri suggestions. For Files, that covers every folder at once. It is the closest iOS comes to a folder lock. It opens with your passcode. The full picture is in how to lock the Photos app.

3. The Hidden album

Select photos or videos, tap the More button, tap Hide. They move to the Hidden album, in the Utilities section of the Albums tab. Since iOS 16 it is locked with Face ID by default, and you can hide the album itself in Settings. This is the right answer for a photo that should not appear while someone scrolls. It is not a password. The lock opens with your phone passcode, and the photos keep syncing to iCloud. Everything it covers is in the Hidden album guide.

4. Locked notes: the one separate password

Notes can lock a single note with a password that is not your phone passcode, and a note can hold an image. It is the only built-in option with that property. That is why it is worth knowing about, even though it is awkward.

To set the password, once:

1. Open Settings, tap Apps, then Notes.
2. Tap Password, and choose an account if you have more than one.
3. Set a Notes password rather than choosing Use Device Passcode. The separate password is the point.

Then, for each note: add the image, tap the More button, tap Lock.

The practical downsides: this is a notes app being used as storage. There is no album view, moving images in and out is manual, and it does not work well past a handful. For video it is not an option at all. How to hide videos on iPhone covers what is.

5. When you need an app

If the person you are protecting photos from might know your passcode, or might get a copy of the phone's storage, then a separate password is necessary but not enough on its own. The password also has to be the thing standing between the file and anyone reading it. That means the app has to encrypt the file with a key made from that password. An app that only puts a password screen in front of ordinary files has added a password without adding a lock on the data.

Obscura Photo Vault is built the first way. Photos, videos and their database are encrypted with AES-256-GCM, using a key made from your password through 600,000 rounds of PBKDF2. There is no account and no server. We make it, so read any recommendation here as coming from an interested party. What we can say without asking for trust is that you can answer this question from any developer's listing. The four kinds of app that hide photos shows how.

The cost is the same for every app of this kind. A separate password that nobody else holds is a password nobody else can reset. Read what happens if you forget your vault password before moving anything you cannot afford to lose. And keep the steps for every built-in option from how to hide photos on iPhone alongside it.

6. Common questions

Can you put a password on an album in iPhone Photos?

No. Photos has no password for an album. What it has is the Hidden album, locked since iOS 16 with Face ID, Touch ID or your phone passcode. On iOS 18 and later you can also lock the whole Photos app the same way. Neither uses a password separate from your passcode.

Can you password-protect a folder in the Files app?

Not a single folder. On iOS 18 and later you can lock the Files app itself with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. That covers every folder in it at once. For a separate password on specific files, you need an app that encrypts them.

How do you password-protect photos on iPhone without an app?

Put the image in a note and lock the note with a Notes password. You set that in Settings, then Apps, then Notes, then Password. This is the only built-in option that uses a password separate from your phone passcode. Apple states it cannot lock notes containing video. And it is a notes app being used as storage, so it does not work well past a few images.

What is the most secure way to password-protect photos on iPhone?

An app that encrypts the files with a key made from a password that is not your phone passcode. Every built-in option opens with the passcode. The trade for a separate password over encrypted files is this: if the app has no reset, a forgotten password is permanent.