How to hide videos on iPhone
On iPhone, videos hide the same way photos do. The Hidden album takes a video off your Library, Memories and widgets. It doesn't give it its own passcode, and it still syncs to iCloud. If the video matters, move it into a vault that encrypts it on the phone, then delete the copy in Photos and in Recently Deleted.
Hide a video in the Hidden album
- Open the video in Photos.
- Tap the More button (•••), then Hide.
- To find it again, open Collections, scroll to Utilities and tap Hidden. Face ID, Touch ID or your phone's passcode opens it.
To hide several at once, tap Select in the library, pick the videos, tap More and choose Hide.
This keeps the video out of your scroll. Anyone who knows your phone passcode can still open the Hidden album, and so can every iPhone, iPad and Mac signed in to your Apple Account. Who can see hidden photos goes through the list.
Lock the whole Photos app
On iOS 18 and later, touch and hold the Photos icon and choose Require Face ID. Now nothing in Photos opens without Face ID. It's all or nothing, though: you'll unlock it every time you want to show someone a picture of the dog, and the video still lives in iCloud. Lock the Photos app, or use a vault? compares the two.
Notes is for screenshots, not videos
A locked note works for a screenshot or two. For videos it gets clumsy fast: no grid, no scrubbing through a long clip, and you still have to delete the original from Photos.
Move it into a vault
A vault is a separate app with its own passcode. The video is no longer in Photos at all, so it isn't in search, Memories, the Hidden album or iCloud Photos.
In Mavaul, tap the plus button and pick videos from your library. Each one is encrypted with AES-256 on the iPhone before it's saved, thumbnails included. When the import finishes, Mavaul offers to delete the originals from Photos. There's no account and no Mavaul cloud. The free plan holds 30 photos and videos together.
Videos play inside the vault, and folders have a Videos tab, so a long clip doesn't get lost among photos. To watch on a bigger screen, Wi-Fi Share opens the vault in a browser on a TV or laptop on the same Wi-Fi. Nothing goes out over the internet.
Clean up the copies
A hidden or imported video often has a second life somewhere else. After you move one, check these.
Recently Deleted keeps deleted videos for about 30 days. Open Collections, Utilities, Recently Deleted, and delete it there too.
Messages keeps videos you sent or received. Open the conversation, tap the name at the top, and delete it from the photos list.
Shared albums keep their own copy. Remove it from the album, or the people in it still have it.
Move photos into a vault without leaving copies has the full checklist.
Questions
Do hidden videos still sync to iCloud?
Yes, with iCloud Photos on. Hiding changes where a video shows up, not where it's stored.
Can I hide the Hidden album too?
Yes. Turn off Show Hidden Album in Settings, Apps, Photos. The videos still sync; the album just leaves the sidebar.
Does a vault slow down long videos?
When you open a video, Mavaul decrypts it on the phone into a temporary copy that plays like any other video, and locking the vault clears it. Big files take a little longer to open and to import, because each one is encrypted as it comes in.