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Hidden photos still show in Camera Roll

When I hide photos in my Camera Roll, they appear in the "Hidden" folder, but they still appear in the Camera Roll. Isn't the purpose of this feature to not show the photos in Camera Roll? As far as I can tell I'm using this feature correctly, and I have researched it just to make sure I am, but maybe I'm being dumb. Is anyone else having this problem? I'm running iOS 9.3 on an iPhone 6 Plus. Do I need to downgrade my iOS version?

Posted on Jan 24, 2016 9:00 AM

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Posted on Aug 15, 2016 1:57 PM

Isn't it rather stupid that "hidden photos" still appear in the "all photos" folder? What part of "hidden" is not being understood here??? Is there a way to hide the "all photos" folder entirely, from someone randomly picking up my phone and looking at the photos?

23 replies

Feb 25, 2017 12:13 PM in response to detractosmith

If you want to completely hide photos on your iPhone and keep them out of the Camera Roll or any album you a 3rd party app like InVault. It creates a password protected "album" for the photos that require a 4 digit password or Touch ID. It's great for keeping pictures of your drivers license, social security card, credit cards, etc.


There are quite a few such apps at the App Store.

User uploaded file

Jan 25, 2017 9:55 AM in response to .Walter

Apple has not even tried to implement hiding. It is an intentionally missing feature.


What is called "Hide" in Photos is similar to the "Reject" in Aperture, removing a photo from the view, so only higher rated photos remained visible. There has not even been a Hide command in Aperture. And in iPhoto the Hide command did also not really hide the photos. Anybody could click "Show Hidden Photos" and reveal them or browse the Hidden Photos album.

The Help in iPhoto (http://help.apple.com/iphoto/index.html#pht6d60a948) says something similar to the Help in Photos. Hiding is meant to get photos out of the way, if we are not sure, if we want to delete them outright:

You can hide selected photos in an Event or album, or in a Faces or Places group, and show them only when you want to see them.

Hiding a photo can be useful if you don’t want to use it, but you’re not sure you want to delete it.

Nothing about keeping them secret and away from prying eyes.

In none of Apple's photo application is a method available to keep photos secret, not even in the professional application Aperture. This feature has been requested since Aperture and iPhoto came out, and it is still sorely missed in Photos.

Jan 25, 2017 1:03 AM in response to Walter_from_MD

As I tried to explain - Apple is using the word "Hide" differently from what many users are expecting.


You can temporarily remove photos from Moments by using the Hide command to make it easier to work with Moments and collections. It is necessary to have this tool, because otherwise we can only remove photos from Moments by deleting them from the library. There are no tools in Photos at all to protect photos from accidentally showing them and to keep them secret.


If you need to keep photos secret and locked away, so they will not accidentally turn up in search or a memory, or as places marker on a map, put them into a different Photos Library, in a different user account with a strong password.

Jan 25, 2017 5:31 AM in response to léonie

Youur explination (while literally correct) is just a deflection.

To "Hide" is a known industry standard definition. If Apple is going to use a term with standard meaning (& Appeture & iPhoto supported this) then the consumers have a rightful expection that the function meets the industry standard meaning.

This is not a feature request. This is a bug

This needs to be exposed so that others are aware of it.

Apple feature requests are hidden and not transparent.

Jan 24, 2016 10:00 AM in response to detractosmith

When you hide a photo, it will be hidden from the library in Moments, Collections, Years, but be visible in any album. The Camera Roll is an album.


See this user guide page: http://help.apple.com/iphone/9/#/iphf14943e



Hide photos or videos you want to keep but not show. While viewing thumbnails, tap Select, then select the photos or videos you want to hide. Tap User uploaded file, then tap Hide. The photos or videos are moved to the Hidden album.

Note: Photos or videos are hidden from Moments, Collections, and Years, but are still visible in Albums.

Aug 15, 2016 6:13 PM in response to skellyf

What part of "hidden" is not being understood here??? I

Apple picked amisleading term for the "hiding" feature, as it has been implemented. It is not meant to keep photos secret. Hidden photos will show everywhere - in all alums you add them to and all predefined albums, They are only hidden in "Photos" view with the moments and collections.

It is meant to make the moments smaller by hiding a few photos, without having to delete the photos, because otherwise we do not have any control about the photos in a moment.

User uploaded file

If you want to be sure, that certain photos do not appear on the maps, in a slideshow, or similar, move photos you do not want anyone else to see to a different Photos Library.

Sep 27, 2016 10:37 PM in response to skellyf

Definitely hard to believe that such a straightforward and obvious feature has not been implemented yet. A simple "make private" or "hide" button that you can pull up by clicking on the picture, ideally without having to hover over all the different social media icons that give you a panic attack as you imagine accidentally sharing your picture instead. My interim solution is to delete the picture, which then shows up in the recently deleted album, which had no cover. It stays there for 30 days, land you can always recover it and delete again.

Oct 10, 2016 3:46 PM in response to kz_johanna

You can use a 3rd party app on your iPhone to make photos completely hidden from all albums on the phone. I use InVault. When adding a photo to IV it is removed from the Camera Roll. One must sign in to InVault (it accepts the fingerprint method) in order to see them. I have pictures of all my credit cards, drivers license, etc. in InVault in case my wallet is stolen but not my iPhone. You can get it and others like it at the App Store.

User uploaded file

Oct 10, 2016 11:09 PM in response to NamAnMeng

WHat about on the Photos on Mac. how do we get the same result as in iPhoto which hides pictures in all places with just a switch ?

Photos does not have a similar hiding feature. The "Hide" command in photos only hides the photos from the Moments and Collections, but they will still show in all albums, in the memories, and on the maps. If you want to keep photos secret and to be sure that the photos will not turn up accidentally in a search, keep all potentially critical photos in a separate Photos Library. And keep this library in a separate user account, so a password will be needed to access them. I have all private photos on a separate Mac.



In Photos 2.0 you can hide persons. If a person has been hidden, all photos containing this person will be removed from the Memories.

Hidden photos still show in Camera Roll

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