How to Lock Your Photos With a Password on iPhone and Mac

Steps use macOS 14 and later names. Menu wording can differ slightly between versions.

Ways to lock photos

Lock hidden photos on a Mac

1. Select the photos

   Open Photos, click Library in the sidebar and select the pictures or videos.

2. Hide them

   Choose Image > Hide Photo and click Hide.

3. Check the lock setting

   Choose Photos > Settings, open the General tab and find Use Touch ID or password under Privacy. Apple says it makes the Recently Deleted and Hidden albums require a password or Touch ID. Keep it on.

4. Test the lock

   Choose View > Show Hidden Photo Album and click Hidden under Utilities. Click View Album. Photos asks for Touch ID or your login password.

5. Put the album out of view

   Choose View > Hide Hidden Photo Album. Apple says the album is locked and hidden by default and you can hide it again at any time.

Lock hidden photos on an iPhone

1. Open Photos, tap and hold a photo or video, tap Hide and confirm.
2. To open the album, tap Collections, scroll to Utilities and tap Hidden. Tap View Album and unlock with Face ID or Touch ID.
3. To remove the album from the Collections screen, open Settings > Apps > Photos and turn off Show Hidden Album.

More on adding, finding and unhiding photos is in the Hidden album guide.

Lock photos inside a note on a Mac

Open Notes, click the More button next to the search field and choose Lock Note. Apple says you can lock notes with your Mac login password or with a custom password that you set in Notes > Settings. If you forget a custom password, Apple cannot help you get the notes back. Only images, tables, drawings, scanned documents, maps and web attachments are allowed in a locked note. This suits a few pictures. It does not suit a large library.

Lock an app on iPhone

Apple lets you lock many apps. Touch and hold the app icon, tap the Require Face ID, Touch ID or Passcode option, then tap it again and authenticate. Apple lists apps that cannot be locked, including Calculator, Camera and Settings. Lock and hide settings apply only to that device and do not sync with iCloud. Check that your app is allowed before you rely on it.

What the lock does not protect

• Anyone who knows your Mac login password or iPhone passcode can open the Hidden album.
• The photos stay in your Photos library. With iCloud Photos on, Apple says items you hide on one device are hidden on your others.
• Apple says that even with Advanced Data Protection on, it still stores the keys for some Photos metadata, such as whether an item is hidden. See iCloud Advanced Data Protection.
• Apple does not describe the Hidden album as a separate encrypted store. For that, use an encrypted container.

Lock the device too

A locked album matters less if the device itself is open. On a Mac, press ⌃⌘Q to lock the screen when you step away. In System Settings > Lock Screen, ask for the password immediately after the screen saver or display sleep begins. Unlocking the Hidden album is a separate step from unlocking your Mac, so a Mac that stays logged in and awake leaves the rest of your library open.

Photo lock apps: how to judge one

A photo locker app puts a PIN or pattern in front of your pictures. That alone is not encryption. Before you install one, check:

1. The app's own site says how it protects files and names the method.
2. You can recover access without handing a reset to someone else.
3. It says what it sends off your device, including analytics and backups.
4. It does not rely on a disguise icon as its only protection.

The photo vault checklist goes deeper, and what is a vault app explains the category. This site does not rank apps.

A separate lock on a Mac with Hidden Folder