How to Find Hidden Photos on iPhone? Follow These Easy Steps

Key Takeaways

If your iPhone does not have the “unhide” option in the “more” section, tap on the “share” arrow, go to the bottom, and select “unhide.”
iPhone 11, 12, and 13 have the same unhide album features.
The new iOS 16 allows users to lock hidden photos with a Touch or Face ID.
The distinct preferences and settings of your device determine the location of your hidden albums.

Hiding photos on an iPhone is more effortless than unhiding them. Once you hide photos in an iOS device, they shift to the hidden album, and you can’t see them in the photos widget or library on the home screen.

Go to the Photos app and tap on “Albums”

On the album, scroll to the bottom under “Utilities” and tap “Hidden”

In some iOS, the “hidden” part is found in “Other Albums,” while some are in the “Utilities” part

Select the photos you want to unhide

Tap the “More” button, then tap “Unhide”

If your phone does not have the “Unhide” option in the “More” section, tap on the “Share” arrow, then scroll bottom and tap on unhide

Table Of Contents

1 How to Find Hidden Photos on iPhone iOS 14, 15 & 16
2 How to Find Hidden Photos on iPhone Settings
3 How to Find Hidden Photos on iPhone 11, 12, & 13
4 How to Lock Hidden Photos on iPhone
5 Why Can’t I See My Hidden Photos on My iPhone?
6 How Do I See Hidden Photos?
7 How Do You Find Hidden Albums?
8 How do I Find Hidden Pictures in My Gallery?
9 Conclusion

How to Find Hidden Photos on iPhone iOS 14, 15 & 16

If you want to find the hidden photos on your iPhone iOS 14, 15 & 16, follow the following steps. It also applies to iPad.

On your iPhone home screen, select “Photos”

Tap on the “Albums” icon

Scroll to the bottom under “Utilities”

Tap on “Hidden Album”

If the “Hidden Album” feature on your iPhone is missing:

Go to Settings

Scroll downwards and tap on the “Photos” section

Go down and enable the “Hidden Album” toggle. The Hidden Album will appear under utilities

How to Find Hidden Photos on iPhone Settings

On your iPhone settings, select “Photos”

On the “Photos” section, scroll down to “Hidden Album”

Tap the “Hidden Album” toggle switch to lit green

Go to utilities, and the “Hidden Album” will reappear there; then unhide the photos to appear in your photos album

How to Find Hidden Photos on iPhone 11, 12, & 13

Go to the photos app from your iPhone 11, 12, and 13 home screen and tap “Albums”

Scroll down to the utilities section and tap “Hidden Albums”

Tap the photo you want to unhide

Then, tap the “Share” icon and tap on “Unhide”

If you cannot find the hidden albums in the utilities:

Go to Settings and click on “Photos”

Toggle “On” to enable the “Hidden Album” icon

It will appear on your photos app. Then follow the above steps to unhide your photos

How to Lock Hidden Photos on iPhone

The new iOS 16 allows users to lock hidden photos with a Touch or Face ID. Although the hidden folder is still noticeable in the photos app section, others will not access them without the user unlock ID.

The following setting will lock the hidden albums on your iPhone, so you need to use a passcode or Face/Touch ID to unlock them.

Step 1: On your iPhone iOS 16, open the Settings app

Step 2: Tap on “photos”

Step 3: Ensure that the “Show hidden Album ” switch is “On”

Step 4: Flip the “Use face/Touch ID” switch to “On”

Step 5: Put authentication by using your face or touch

If the biometric authentication fails when unlocking, you can use your iPhone passcode. To ensure you have locked your hidden album, check if there is a padlock symbol alongside each album.

Why Can’t I See My Hidden Photos on My iPhone?

Hidden photos and videos go to the Hidden album, but you can unhide them. However, for iOS 14 going up, there is a feature to hide the Hidden album, meaning it won’t be visible in the Photos app. For the photos to appear, switch on the “Hidden Album” icon.

However, if you still can’t find them, you might delete them unintentionally. You can also lose your photos if your iPhone gets damaged. You can restore missing photos from either iCloud in case you backed them up or by using iTunes.

How Do I See Hidden Photos?

You can see your hidden photos on your iPhone without unhiding them. To view the hidden album on your iPhone:

Go to the “Photos” app

Select “View”

Scroll down to “Show Hidden Photo Album”

Tap on “Hidden Album” to open it

From there, you can view your photos

How Do You Find Hidden Albums?

The distinct preferences and settings of your device determine the location of your hidden albums. But in most devices, in the main menu, go to the photos app, under “Albums’ ‘ or “hidden photo album,” using your device’s search function and view or unhide your photos.

On any iPhone or iPad, if the hidden album is on, it is visible by default option. But if you turn it off, you won’t see any hidden albums on the photos app. If you want to retrieve your Hidden album to appear in ‌the Photos‌ gallery again, follow the following steps:

Go to Settings and select the “Photos” app

Select the “Albums” icon

Scroll down, and under utilities, tap on the switch next to “Hidden album” to turn green

When using an iPad, tap the “sidebar” icon in the upper left corner to view your albums

How do I Find Hidden Pictures in My Gallery?

You might have hidden the photo album if you are missing your photos. Follow these steps to Unhide your photo albums from your Gallery app:

Go to the gallery app

Tap on the “albums” icon

Tap on the “More” icon

Scroll down and select the “ Hidden albums” icon

Flip on/off the albums you would like to unhide and find your pictures

Conclusion

The “Hide photo album” feature on iPhones 11, 12, & 13 is not entirely safe to keep your photos hidden. However, for iPhone 14 & 15, you can install the passcode/touch/facial ID lock system to limit access to your hidden albums. In addition, the new iPhone 16 iOS has implemented the touch/face lock feature.

All in all, using the iPhone “Hide Photo” feature is helpful to avoid someone looking through and accessing your photos that you may not want to share. The above steps will help you navigate your iPhone and retrieve your hidden photos.