How to hide photos on Android

First, decide who you're hiding them from

Hiding photos from a friend who scrolls through your gallery is a different job from keeping them safe from someone who knows your phone PIN. Most built-in options use your normal screen lock. That's fine for the first case. It does nothing for the second, because anyone who can unlock your phone can open them.

Keep that question in mind as you read the options below.

1. Locked Folder in Google Photos

Locked Folder lives inside the Google Photos app. Photos you move there disappear from your main photo grid, albums, Memories and search results. To open it, you use your phone's screen lock.

Since August 2023 you can choose to back Locked Folder up to your Google account, so it follows you to a new phone. If you leave backup off, the photos stay on that one phone.

Good for: casual privacy if you already use Google Photos.

Weak spot: anyone with your phone PIN or fingerprint can open it.

2. Secure Folder on Samsung phones

Samsung Galaxy phones have Secure Folder, a separate encrypted space backed by Samsung Knox. You can give it its own PIN, pattern or fingerprint, and you can hide its icon from the home screen. To move photos in, select them in the Gallery app and choose Move to Secure Folder.

It needs a Samsung account, and a forgotten Secure Folder lock can be reset with that account's password.

Good for: Galaxy owners who want a separate lock.

Weak spot: Samsung only, and Samsung says some older models no longer support it.

3. Private space on Android 15 and later

Phones running Android 15 or later can have a Private space. It's a separate area with its own apps, and it can hide itself from the app drawer. You can give it its own lock or reuse the phone's.

It's built for apps rather than photos, so to keep pictures there you install a gallery or files app inside it. Google's own notes say Private space has no backup and restore, and phone makers can switch it off, so not every Android 15 phone has it.

4. Archive in Google Photos

Archive moves photos out of your main grid, but it isn't locked. Anyone who opens Google Photos can tap Archive and see everything in it. Use it to declutter your camera roll, not for privacy.

5. A vault app

A vault app keeps photos inside its own encrypted storage behind its own lock. Quality varies a lot. Before you install one, open its Play Store listing and check the permissions and the Data safety section. A vault that wants internet access, your contacts or your location deserves a second look.

Dobr is the one we make. It encrypts every photo with AES-256 before saving it, opens with a pattern that's separate from your phone PIN, and has no internet permission at all, so it can't upload anything even by mistake. With Dobr Unlimited, each pattern you draw opens its own vault, so you can keep a boring decoy vault for anyone who makes you open the app.

Get rid of the originals

Moving photos into any hidden space only helps if the originals are gone. Check three places.

• Your gallery. Dobr offers to delete the originals right after you add them, and Android asks you to confirm.
• Google Photos backup. If backup was on, a copy may already be in your Google account. Delete it there too, then empty the bin.
• Messaging apps. WhatsApp and similar apps often keep their own copy of photos you've sent or received.

Which one should you use?

If you only need photos out of sight, Locked Folder is fine. If the person you're worried about knows your PIN, or you want a decoy, use something with its own lock.

Last checked 2026-11-01. Phone menus change between Android versions and brands, so labels on your phone may differ slightly.