Where to keep intimate photos on your iPhone

Your camera roll, iCloud and old chats all hold copies. How to move intimate pictures somewhere safer, clear the leftovers and limit what happens if they leak.

Take them out of your main library, since it syncs to every device on your account. Move them to the Hidden collection if your worry is casual scrolling, or to an encrypted vault with its own secret if someone may know your passcode. Then clear Recently Deleted and check chats, shared albums and backups.

This page is for adults. If you were under 18 in the picture, the safest step is to go straight to Take It Down, and please do not move or send the file.

Everyone deserves privacy with their own pictures. The hard part is that a phone copies things around without asking.

Where copies hide

Your main library, and any Favorites or albums
The Hidden and Recently Deleted collections
iCloud Photos on your other devices, and iCloud.com
Screenshots, under Media Types in Photos
Chats, and the Shared with You section in Photos
Computer backups and old phones

Pick a place that matches your worry

Someone scrolling. Hide them. Select, tap More, then Hide. You can also turn off Show Hidden Album under Settings, Apps, Photos, so the collection is out of view.

Someone who knows your passcode. A separate secret is the point. Backroom uses a pattern on a 5 by 5 grid, unrelated to your phone code, and a second pattern can open a different vault with ordinary photos in it.

A cloud account breach. Turn on Advanced Data Protection, or keep those pictures out of iCloud. Backroom has no cloud sync, though a device backup includes its encrypted files.

Move them and clear the trail

Import them into the new place, and open a couple to check they work.
Delete the originals. Backroom can ask Apple to delete them after an import, and you confirm in Apple’s prompt.
Open Recently Deleted and delete them there as well. Otherwise they stay for about 30 days.
Look through chat threads where you sent them.

Keep them from turning up by surprise

Photos makes memories and widgets from your library. Pictures in a vault cannot appear there. For the rest, turn off Show Featured Content if you are worried. See this scenario on widgets.

Before you send one

Leave out your face and identifying details, and take off location data. Anyone who receives a picture can keep it.

Frequently asked questions

Is the Hidden album enough?

For someone flicking through your camera roll, usually. It opens with your passcode, so anyone with that code gets in. Hidden items also sync through iCloud Photos.

Can Apple or iCloud see them?

Under standard data protection, iCloud Photos is encrypted with keys Apple holds. With Advanced Data Protection on, Photos is end-to-end encrypted.

Can I take intimate photos without saving them to my camera roll?

Yes, with an app that has its own camera. Backroom's camera saves photos straight into the vault. It takes still photos, so you would import videos from your library.

What if someone threatens to share them?

Go to our page on threats, or straight to StopNCII.org if you were an adult in the image, and to Take It Down if you were under 18. The fault lies with the person threatening you.