---
title: How to make a secret folder on iPhone in 2026
canonical: https://mavaul.com/guides/secret-folder-iphone/
description: iPhone has no password-protected folder in Photos or Files. Here are the four ways people make one, and the only one that keeps photos encrypted with their own passcode.
format: text/markdown
generator: scripts/generate-llms.js
---
# How to make a secret folder on iPhone

_By [Diogo Ferreira](/about/), founder & engineer_

iPhone doesn't have a password-protected folder, in Photos or in Files. People get close in four ways: the Hidden album, a locked note, a hidden app, or a vault app with folders. Only the last gives you folders behind their own passcode, with the photos encrypted.

## The four ways
- The Hidden album. One folder, locked with Face ID or your phone passcode, still in Photos and iCloud.
- A locked note. Fine for a screenshot or two. Awkward for many photos and no good for video.
- A hidden app. On iOS 18 and later, apps you downloaded can be hidden in a Hidden folder at the bottom of the App Library.
- A vault app with folders. Mavaul lets you make as many folders as you like inside an encrypted vault.

## Make secret folders in Mavaul
1. Import photos into Mavaul and let it delete the originals. Empty Recently Deleted.
2. Make folders for them: trips, documents, anything.
3. Everything is encrypted with AES-256 and opens only with Mavaul's passcode or your Face ID.
4. To hide the app too, turn on decoy mode, so it opens as a working calculator, or hide it in the App Library.

## Questions
### Can I lock a folder in the Files app?
No. Files has no per-folder password.

### Is the Hidden album a secret folder?
It's a locked folder inside Photos, opened by your phone passcode or Face ID, and it syncs with iCloud Photos.

### Can I hide the vault app itself?
Yes. Hide it in the App Library, or turn on Mavaul's decoy mode so it looks like a calculator.

## Sources
- [Apple Support: Hide photos with the Hidden album](https://support.apple.com/en-us/104987)
- [Apple Support: Lock or hide an app on iPhone](https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/lock-or-hide-an-app-iph00f208d05/ios)

## Read next
- [Can you make a private album on iPhone?](/guides/private-album-iphone/)
- [How to hide apps on iPhone](/guides/hide-apps-iphone/)
- [How to hide photos on iPhone](/guides/how-to-hide-photos-iphone/)

## Try Mavaul
[Download Mavaul on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/pt/app/mavaul-photo-video-vault/id6759567727?l=en-GB)