How do I hide photos on iPhone with a different password?

The Photos app has no password of its own: the Hidden album opens only with Face ID, Touch ID or your iPhone passcode. The closest Apple option is a locked note, which has offered a password separate from your passcode since iOS 16: set it in Settings > Apps > Notes > Password > Use Custom Password, then add the image to a note and lock it.

Short answer

A locked note is as close as Apple comes to a separate password for an image. It takes photos but not videos, the note's title stays visible, and if you forget the password, Apple can't get the note back. Locking the Photos app won't help, because that lock still accepts your passcode. A third-party vault app can add its own passcode, so check what it promises first.

Set a Notes password that isn't your passcode

Open Settings, tap Apps, then Notes.
Tap Password.
Choose Use Custom Password and set it.

Don't pick Use Device Passcode, because your iPhone's passcode would then open the note. Keep the password somewhere safe, because Apple can't recover it.

Move the photo into a locked note

Open Notes and start a new note. Type a plain first line, because that line becomes the title.
Tap Attachments and pick the photo from your library.
Tap Note Actions, then Lock.
Reopen the note with your password to make sure the photo is there.
In Photos, check whether the original is still there, and delete it if it is.

Apple doesn't say whether adding a photo to a note removes it from Photos, so look in your Library yourself. A deleted original stays in Recently Deleted for 30 days unless you delete it from there too. After that, the note may be your only copy of that photo, so the password matters.

Photos you take from inside a note also go to Photos if Save to Photos is on in Settings > Apps > Notes.

What Apple says protects a locked note

Apple's Platform Security guide (August 2026) says a locked note's key is derived from your password, and that the note and its attachments are encrypted with AES-GCM. Images are on its list of supported attachments. Apple also says locked notes in an iCloud account are end-to-end encrypted. The same guide never mentions the Hidden album.

Where a locked note stops

No video. Video, audio and PDF attachments stop a note from being locked on iOS 26 and iOS 27.
The title shows. The first line stays visible in the notes list while the note is locked.
A forgotten password is final. Apple can't help, and resetting the password doesn't bring back notes locked with the old one.
One password opens them all. Opening one locked note opens every locked note in that account for several minutes.

Locking the Photos app doesn't add a new password

iPhone can lock an app with Face ID, but Apple's pages don't say whether Photos is one of them.

Press and hold the Photos icon.
If you see Require Face ID (or Touch ID or Passcode), tap it.
Tap Require Face ID again to confirm.

Your passcode still opens it if Face ID fails, so this adds no separate password. The exception is Stolen Device Protection, which removes the passcode option for a locked app away from familiar places. Apple doesn't say what the lock does to the Photos widget or to photo pickers in other apps.

What to check before trusting a third-party vault app

Vault apps on the App Store offer a passcode of their own. Before you move anything into one, look for plain answers to these:

Its passcode. Is it separate from your iPhone's, and what happens if you forget it?
Its encryption. Does it state in writing what it encrypts and how?
Deleting the app. What happens to your photos if it gets deleted?
A new iPhone. Do the photos come across?

If someone else controls your phone or knows your code, Apple's Personal Safety guide is a better place to start.

What LuminaClean does here

LuminaClean is a photo cleaner, and it doesn't hide photos or put a password on them. It helps with what stays in your Library after you move a private photo elsewhere: the duplicate copies and near-identical shots from the same moment. It groups duplicates and similar photos on your iPhone, with no account and no upload, and you swipe to keep or delete. Nothing goes without your swipe, and every delete lands in Recently Deleted first. You get 65 free deletes to start, then 30 more every day.

Less to keep private.
LuminaClean finds duplicates, blurry shots and screenshots on your iPhone, and deletes only what you swipe away. Free to start, no account.

Get LuminaClean free

Anything you delete goes to Recently Deleted first, so you have 30 days to change your mind.

On a computer? LuminaClean is an iPhone app. Scan this with your iPhone camera to open it in the App Store.

Text me the link

Related guides

Frequently asked questions

Can I put a separate passcode on the Hidden album on iPhone?

No. Apple describes only Face ID, Touch ID and your iPhone passcode for the Hidden album, and it lists no setting that adds a password of its own.

Is a locked note safer than the Hidden album?

Apple documents more for it. Its Platform Security guide describes encryption with a key derived from your password for locked notes, and it never mentions the Hidden album.

What happens if I forget my Notes password?

Apple can't help you get it back. Resetting the password doesn't restore notes locked with the old one, so a photo stored only there is gone.

Can I lock a video in the Notes app on iPhone?

No. Apple lists video among the attachments that stop a note from being locked, on both iOS 26 and iOS 27.

Get LuminaClean free

Sources

Steps checked against Apple Support on November 3, 2026. Menu names can change with iOS updates.