Guides
What Happens to Your Hidden Photos When You Reset or Restore Your iPhone?
Mehmet Ali Kısacık · Developer of Secure Folder · August 2, 2026 · 3 min read
If you have photos tucked away in your iPhone's Hidden album or inside a private vault app, you may wonder whether they survive a factory reset or iCloud restore. The answer depends on where those photos live and how you back up your device. Here is what you need to know before wiping your iPhone.
The Hidden Album and iCloud Backup
Apple's built-in Hidden album is part of the Photos app. When you hide a photo, it moves to the Hidden album but remains in your iCloud Photos library if that feature is turned on. This means that when you restore your iPhone from an iCloud backup, hidden photos come back along with all your other pictures (Apple Support). The same applies if you use a direct iPhone-to-iPhone migration or an encrypted computer backup. However, if you do not back up at all, hidden photos will be lost after an erase.
After iOS 16, the Hidden album can be locked with Face ID or Touch ID, but it still lives inside the same Photos library that syncs with iCloud (Apple Support).
What Happens to Third-Party Vaults
Apps like Secure Folder: Incogni Vault store your private photos and videos entirely on your device. They do not upload content to the cloud and have no account or storage server. Because of this, vault data is not included in iCloud or iTunes backups. If you reset your iPhone without first exporting vault content, those files are gone for good. The developer cannot recover them, and there is no server-side PIN reset. The only way to preserve vault content is to manually export it before a reset.
How to Safeguard Your Hidden Photos Before a Reset
Before you erase your iPhone, take these steps to keep your hidden photos safe:
- Make sure iCloud Photos is on so that Apple's Hidden album content is backed up.
- For third-party vaults, export important files to the Photos app or a secure cloud service, then re-import after the restore.
- Write down your vault PIN separately — there is no password recovery.
Common questions
Do hidden photos in the Photos app transfer to a new iPhone?
Yes, as long as you use iCloud backup or a direct device-to-device transfer. The Hidden album is part of your Photos library (Apple Support).
Will third-party vault photos survive a factory reset?
No, unless you manually export them. Vaults like Secure Folder keep data on-device without any cloud sync, so a reset wipes everything.
Can I backup my Secure Folder vault to iCloud?
No. Secure Folder does not integrate with iCloud or any backup service. Vault content stays on the device only.
What if I forget my vault PIN after a restore?
The developer cannot reset your PIN. You will lose access to the vault content unless you have a separate backup of the files.
How do I export files from Secure Folder before a reset?
Open the vault, select the items you want to save, and use the export option to save them to the Files app or Photos. Then re-import after restoring your device.
Keep your photos yours.
Secure Folder is free on the App Store — everything stays on your iPhone.