Guides

How to Keep Private Videos Hidden on Your iPhone (Not Just Photos)

Mehmet Ali Kısacık · Developer of Secure Folder · July 23, 2026 · 4 min read

Updated October 3, 2026

If you want to know how to hide videos on iPhone, you can use Apple’s Hidden album or move the video into a separate vault with its own PIN. The first keeps the clip inside Photos but out of the normal library view; the second can move it out of Photos behind a separate vault lock.

Hide private photos in a PIN-protected vault.

Secure Folder is free to download on the App Store, and your photos and videos stay on your iPhone.

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iPhone app folder titled Videos showing eight video thumbnails with play icons: a dog on a grassy shore, ocean waves, a mountain lake, vegetables cooking, autumn leaves, a waterfall, a campfire and rain on a window.
Imported videos in a folder inside the app.
In this article

Hide a video with Apple’s Hidden album

  1. 1.

    Find the video in Photos

    Open Photos and locate the video you want to hide.

  2. 2.

    Hide the video

    Touch and hold the video, choose Hide, then confirm.1

  3. 3.

    Open the Hidden album when you need it

    Open the Hidden album in Photos and authenticate to view the videos inside. Apple locks this collection by default with Face ID, Touch ID, or the iPhone passcode.1,2

  4. 4.

    Unhide the video when you want it visible again

    Open the Hidden album, unlock it, select the video, and use Photos’ unhide control to return it to your normal library view.1

You can also turn off Show Hidden Album so the album itself is not visible in Photos. The videos stay in Hidden; turning the setting back on only makes the album visible in Photos again.1

The same built-in approach works for still images. If that is what you are hiding, follow the photo-specific steps instead.

What the Hidden album changes

Three details matter when you choose the built-in option

  • Visibility: A hidden video stops appearing in the Library, other albums, and the Photos widget, but it still lives inside Photos in the Hidden album.
  • Unlocking: The Hidden album is locked by default and uses the iPhone’s Face ID, Touch ID, or passcode. It does not create a separate vault PIN.
  • iCloud Photos: If iCloud Photos is on, a video hidden on one device is hidden on your other devices too, and iCloud Photos keeps your photos and videos stored in iCloud and up to date across devices.1,2,3,4

If another person knows your iPhone passcode, the Hidden album uses that same device-authentication boundary rather than a separate vault PIN. For a fuller look at that distinction, compare the Hidden album with a separate vault. If your concern is videos resurfacing in widgets or suggestions, handle Up Next and Siri Suggestions separately.4

Move a private video into a separate vault

If you want a lock that is separate from the iPhone passcode, Secure Folder: Privacy Vault gives the vault its own 6-digit PIN. Videos can be imported into the vault’s gallery so they no longer need to stay in your everyday Photos library.

  1. 1.

    Set the vault PIN

    At first launch, set a 6-digit PIN for the vault. It is separate from the iPhone passcode.

  2. 2.

    Import the video

    Choose the private video from Photos and import it. After the import, Secure Folder offers to remove the original from Photos or keep it there.

  3. 3.

    Choose whether to remove the original

    If you choose to remove originals after import, that choice becomes the Auto-Delete Originals setting and can be changed later in Settings. You can also use Delete Originals (Free Up Space) later, and iOS confirms each deletion.

  4. 4.

    Clear Recently Deleted if you want it gone now

    After deleting the original from Photos, remove it from Recently Deleted too if you do not want that copy to remain there.2

Watch the video without moving it back to Photos

Once a video is in Secure Folder, you can play it full screen in the app’s own player, with sound even when the iPhone is on silent. You do not have to restore the video to Photos just to watch it.

If you want the clip back in Photos later, Restore to Photos brings it back on purpose. For more detail on this workflow, see how the video vault works.

Record new private videos straight into the vault

Secure Camera in Secure Folder records photos and videos directly into a vault folder instead of the Photos app. For a new private clip, that avoids the import-and-delete cycle because there is no Photos original to remove.

Use this route when you already know a video should stay out of Photos from the moment you record it. For a clip that is already in Photos, choose between the Hidden album and a separate vault based on which lock and storage workflow fits your privacy need.

Sources

  1. 1.Apple, “Hide photos on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Vision Pro with the Hidden album,” support.apple.com
  2. 2.Apple, “Delete or hide photos and videos on iPhone,” support.apple.com
  3. 3.Apple, “Set up and use iCloud Photos,” support.apple.com
  4. 4.Apple, “Hide photos and videos in Photos on iPhone,” support.apple.com

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