How do I keep private photos out of Memories and On This Day?

On iOS 26 and 27, turn off Show Featured Content under Photos > Collections > your account, which Apple says stops generated memories and featured photos, including in the widget. To protect one photo, hide it, but Apple's list of places a hidden photo leaves names your Library, other albums and the Photos widget, and doesn't name Memories.

Short answer

Hide the photo, then check the memories Photos has already made. If you want none of this, one switch turns off generated memories and featured photos. If you want to keep most of them, you can feature a day, place or person less, delete a memory, or take one photo out. On This Day isn't a name on the Apple pages we checked, so treat it as part of featured content.

Hide the photo first

Open the photo in Photos.
Tap More, then Hide.

Apple says a hidden photo leaves your Library, your other albums and the Photos widget. It doesn't name Memories or featured photos, and it doesn't say what happens to a memory that already has the photo in it. So after hiding, go through any memory you're worried about with the steps below. Our guide to hiding photos covers several at once.

Turn off all generated memories

Open Photos and tap Collections.
Tap your account at the top right.
Turn off Show Featured Content.

If it isn't there, go to Settings > Apps > Photos (then Featured Content on iOS 27).

Apple says this stops generated memories and featured photos, including in the widget. It's one switch, so the memories you like go too. The same screen has a separate Show Holiday Events switch.

Remove one memory, or one photo from it

See less of a day, place or person. In Collections, press and hold the memory, tap Feature Less, and choose which one.
Delete the memory. Press and hold it, then tap Delete Memory on iOS 27 or Delete on iOS 26.
Take one photo out. In Collections, play the memory, tap the screen, tap Browse, deselect the photo and tap Done.

Feature a person less often

Open a photo of that person and tap More.
Tap Don't Feature a Person (Apple's safety guide calls it Don't Feature This Person).
Choose Feature This Person Less or Never Feature This Person, then tap Confirm.

If you change your mind, go to Collections, tap your account, and use Reset People & Pets Suggestions or Reset Suggested Memories. Both are also in Settings > Apps > Photos, under Featured Content on iOS 27.

Where On This Day fits

None of the Apple pages we checked uses the name On This Day. What Apple documents is featured content: generated memories and featured photos, which can also show in the Photos widget. So if an old photo keeps turning up in the Photos app or its widget, Show Featured Content is the setting to try. Apple doesn't describe a separate privacy setting for the widget, only the general route of pressing and holding it and tapping Edit Widget.

Where Apple's controls stop

Hiding covers the item you pick. A duplicate or a similar shot stays in your Library and isn't hidden.
Photo Shuffle and wallpaper suggestions. Apple doesn't say how they treat hidden photos. Its Photo Shuffle page only covers changing the selection and how often it changes.
A Shared Library. Apple says shared content enters everyone's memories, featured photos and widget. Keep private photos in your personal library.

What LuminaClean does here

LuminaClean is a photo cleaner, and it doesn't hide photos. It has its own Memories tab with On This Day and My Memories, and Apple's switches above are for the Photos app. Made for You, in that tab, can be hidden or turned off in the app's Settings. For clutter, it groups duplicates and similar photos on your iPhone, with no account and no upload. 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.

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Related guides

Frequently asked questions

Do hidden photos show up in Memories on iPhone?

Apple doesn't say. It names your Library, other albums and the Photos widget as places a hidden photo leaves, and Memories isn't on that list, so check any memory you're worried about and take the photo out by hand.

How do I stop my iPhone from making Memories?

Open Photos, tap Collections, tap your account at the top right and turn off Show Featured Content. Apple says this stops generated memories and featured photos, including in the widget.

How do I stop one person from appearing in Memories?

Open a photo of them, tap More, tap Don't Feature a Person, choose Feature This Person Less or Never Feature This Person, and tap Confirm.

Can I remove one photo from a memory without deleting the whole memory?

Yes. In Collections, play the memory, tap the screen, tap Browse, deselect the photo and tap Done.

Is there an On This Day setting in the iPhone Photos app?

None of the Apple pages we checked uses that name. The setting Apple documents is Show Featured Content, which covers generated memories and featured photos, including in the widget.

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Sources

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