Regardless of the reason, there are times when you may want to “hide” a photo on your iPhone. If you make intimate photos of your partner, you may not want those showing up as you scroll through images to show your buddy pictures of your new motorcycle.

Maybe you made photos of a product that you are designing and you want to keep those images hidden until the product is patented?

Or maybe you make photos of your children and you don’t want those shared in public out of concern for your children’s safety?

It doesn’t matter why you want to “hide” a photo from your iPhone. It only matters that you can. Here’s how to hide a photo from the main camera roll in Apple Photos.

How to hide a photo

On an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch

First, navigate over to the Photos tab in the bottom left corner. Select the photo that you want to hide.

Then press the Share icon (square with an arrow pointing up) in the bottom left corner. Scroll down to the Hide option (it looks like an eye with a line across it). Confirm your choice by selecting Hide Photo in red.

On a Mac

On a Mac computer the process is similar. Select Photos in the top left menu bar to view all photos. Find and select the photo that you want to hide.

Once selected, go to Image > Hide 1 Photo from the toolbar. Confirm by selecting the Hide button.

You can also just right-click the image and select Hide 1 Photo or use the shortcut key Command + L.

Where do hidden photos go?

Now you may think to yourself, “If I hide a photo, where does it go?” If you hide a photo, it puts it in the Hidden Photos folder, which is within the Albums section of Apple Photos. That folder is only accessible in the Albums section when made accessible.

Now here’s a little more information on how to find all your hidden photos.

On an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch

Go to the Albums tab and scroll all the way down to the Other Albums section. Tap the Hidden album to view all hidden images and videos.

On a Mac

On a Mac computer the process is similar. In the top toolbar, go to View > Show Hidden Photo Album. This places the Hidden album in the left sidebar with other albums.

Free, but powerful

Apple Photos is a much more powerful program than most people realize. Some take it for granted because it comes free with every Apple device. But don’t let that FREE fool you. There are a lot of features under the hood that you may want to utilize including this one — hide your photos.