--- title: "How to See Hidden Photos on Mac (and Lock Photos on a MacBook)" description: "See hidden photos on Mac: in Photos, choose View > Show Hidden Photo Album and unlock with Touch ID or your password. Plus how to hide and lock MacBook photos." url: https://www.vaultforyou.app/blog/hidden-photos-mac lang: en published: 2026-10-29 updated: 2026-10-29 author: "VaultForYou Editorial Team" publisher: VaultForYou --- # How to see hidden photos on Mac, and how to hide or lock them > On a Mac, the Hidden album is switched off and locked by default, but anyone who can log in to your Mac and unlock it can see every photo you hid on your iPhone. Published 2026-10-29 - Updated 2026-10-29 - By VaultForYou Editorial Team ## Quick answer Open Photos on your Mac and choose View > Show Hidden Photo Album. Click Hidden under Utilities in the sidebar, click View Album, and unlock with Touch ID or your login password. Photos you hid on your iPhone appear there only if iCloud Photos is on for both devices with the same Apple Account. - **Show it:** Photos -> View -> Show Hidden Photo Album, then Utilities -> Hidden. - **Unlock it:** Touch ID or your Mac login password, not your iPhone passcode. - **Hide a photo:** Select it and choose Image -> Hide Photo, or press Command-L. - **Real lock on a Mac:** An encrypted disk image from Disk Utility has its own password. Open **Photos** on your Mac and choose **View -> Show Hidden Photo Album**. Then click **Hidden** under **Utilities** in the sidebar, click **View Album**, and unlock with Touch ID or your login password. On a Mac, the Hidden album is switched off and locked by default, which is why it seems to be missing. Photos you hid on your iPhone show up here only if iCloud Photos is on for both devices with the same Apple Account. Hiding keeps a photo out of view; it doesn't encrypt it or move it out of your library. Below: how to view, hide and unhide photos on a Mac, why the Hidden album sometimes won't appear, who else can open it, and how to put photos on a MacBook behind a real password. We checked these steps against Apple's Photos for Mac guide for macOS 27 in October 2026. ## How to see hidden photos on Mac 1. Open the **Photos** app and click **Library** in the sidebar. 2. In the menu bar, choose **View -> Show Hidden Photo Album**. 3. Click **Hidden** below **Utilities** in the sidebar. If you don't see it, hold the pointer over **Utilities** and click the arrow that appears. 4. Click **View Album**, then unlock with **Touch ID** or your **login password**. To put a photo back, select it, Control-click and choose **Unhide Photo**, or choose **Image -> Unhide Photo**, or press **Command-L**. It returns to your library and albums, and with iCloud Photos on, it's unhidden on your iPhone and iPad too. When you're done, choose **View -> Hide Hidden Photo Album** to take the album out of the sidebar again. ## If the problem is your iPhone's hidden photos showing up on your Mac This is the most common reason people go looking: you hid photos on your iPhone, and they're sitting in the Hidden album on a Mac the family shares. With iCloud Photos, the Hidden album follows your Apple Account to every device. VaultForYou is an iPhone app, and it handles this from the iPhone side. Photos you move into a vault leave the Photos library, so they're no longer in iCloud Photos and stop syncing to your other devices. A vault opens only with a pattern you draw, files are encrypted on your iPhone with the keys in the iOS Keychain, and no account is needed. After importing, delete the originals in Photos and empty Recently Deleted. > **Keep private iPhone photos off your Mac.** They leave iCloud Photos and open only with your pattern. [Download on the App Store](https://apps.apple.com/app/vaultforyou/id0000000000) ## Why can't I find hidden photos on my Mac? - **The album is turned off.** On a Mac it's hidden from view by default. Choose **View -> Show Hidden Photo Album**. - **Utilities is collapsed.** Hold the pointer over **Utilities** in the sidebar and click the arrow. - **iCloud Photos is off on the Mac.** Choose **Photos -> Settings**, click **iCloud**, and check **iCloud Photos**. Without it, photos hidden on your iPhone never reach the Mac. - **A different Apple Account.** Your hidden photos belong to the library of the account that hid them. Check the account in System Settings. - **The wrong library is open.** Only the library set as the **System Photo Library** works with iCloud Photos. You'll find **Use as System Photo Library** in Photos -> Settings -> General. - **The photo was deleted, not hidden.** Look in **Utilities -> Recently Deleted**, where items stay for 30 days. ## How to hide photos on a Mac 1. In **Photos**, click **Library** and select the photos or videos. 2. Choose **Image -> Hide Photo** (it shows the number of items), or Control-click and choose **Hide Photo**, or press **Command-L**. 3. Click **Hide** to confirm. The photos disappear from your library and albums but aren't deleted. With iCloud Photos on, they're hidden on all your devices, not just the Mac. ## What the Hidden album on a Mac does and doesn't do **It does:** - Remove photos from your library, albums and other places Photos shows them. - Keep the Hidden album locked with Touch ID or your login password, as long as the lock setting is on. - Keep the album itself out of the sidebar until you choose to show it. **It doesn't:** - Encrypt the photos separately. They stay in your Photos library, in the same place as everything else. - Use a separate password. Anyone who knows your Mac login password can open it. - Stop iCloud Photos syncing. Hidden photos are on your iPhone, iPad and iCloud.com too. ### Check the lock setting Choose **Photos -> Settings**, click **General**, and look under **Privacy** for **Use Touch ID or password**. When it's selected, Recently Deleted and Hidden need Touch ID or your password to open. Apple notes that this lock arrived in macOS Ventura; older versions don't have it. ## Who can see hidden photos on a Mac? | Who | Can they see your hidden photos? | Why | |---|---|---| | Someone browsing your Photos library or albums | **No** | Hidden items don't appear outside the Hidden album. | | Someone using your logged-in Mac who doesn't know your password | **No**, if the lock is on | The album asks for Touch ID or your login password. | | Someone who knows your Mac login password | **Yes** | The login password unlocks the Hidden album. | | Anyone at your Mac, if you turned off **Use Touch ID or password** | **Yes** | The album opens without a check. | | Someone on your iPhone or iPad (same Apple Account, iCloud Photos on) | **Yes**, with that device's passcode or Face ID | Hidden photos sync and stay hidden, and viewable, everywhere. | | Someone signed in to your Apple Account at iCloud.com | **Yes**, with iCloud Photos on | iCloud.com has a Hidden album in the Photos sidebar. | ## How to lock photos on a MacBook Photos for Mac has no per-photo or per-album password. If the Hidden album's lock isn't enough, these are the options, from simplest to strongest. ### 1. Keep the Hidden album locked Hide the photos and leave **Use Touch ID or password** on. It's quick, but it only stops people who don't know your login password. ### 2. Put the photos in an encrypted disk image Disk Utility can make an encrypted disk image: a single file that mounts like a drive and opens only with a password you choose. 1. In Photos, select the photos and drag them to a folder in the Finder, or choose **File -> Export**. 2. Open **Disk Utility** and choose **File -> New Image -> Blank Image**. 3. Name it, set a size and choose **APFS** as the format. 4. Choose an option from the **Encryption** pop-up menu, then enter and re-enter a password. 5. Leave **Single partition - GUID Partition Map**, choose a **read/write** image format, and click **Save**. 6. Copy the exported photos into the mounted image, then **eject** it. 7. Delete the originals from Photos and from **Recently Deleted**, and empty the Trash for the exported copies. Two warnings from Apple: if you forget the password, you can't open the disk image, and while it's mounted, anyone with access to your Mac can open the files on it. Eject it when you're done. ### 3. Turn on FileVault FileVault encrypts your Mac's startup disk; Apple points to it, in **Privacy & Security** settings, for protecting the contents of the system disk as a whole. It protects what's stored on the disk, but it adds no lock inside your account: anyone who can log in to it sees Photos as usual. ## When is the Hidden album enough on a Mac? It's enough on a Mac that only you use, with a login password only you know, when you just want photos out of the library view. It isn't enough when someone else knows your login, when a family member uses your account, or when the real issue is iCloud Photos copying your iPhone's private photos onto a shared Mac. For that, turn off **Sync this Mac** in System Settings (see [how to stop iCloud Photos syncing](/blog/stop-icloud-photos-syncing)), or keep those photos out of iCloud Photos entirely. Our guide to [hidden photos and iCloud](/blog/hidden-photos-icloud) explains what iCloud keeps. ## Frequently asked questions ### How do I see hidden photos on my Mac? Open Photos and choose View > Show Hidden Photo Album from the menu bar. In the sidebar, click Hidden under Utilities. If you don't see it, hold the pointer over Utilities and click the arrow that appears. Click View Album, then unlock with Touch ID or your login password. Your hidden photos and videos appear in the album. ### Can you see hidden photos on Mac that you hid on iPhone? Yes, if both devices use iCloud Photos with the same Apple Account. Apple says photos you hide on one device are hidden on your other devices too, so they land in the Mac's Hidden album. If iCloud Photos is off on the Mac, or the Mac is signed in to a different Apple Account, your iPhone's hidden photos won't be there. ### Where are hidden photos on a MacBook? In the Photos app's Hidden album, under Utilities in the sidebar. On a Mac, the album is hidden from view by default, so it won't appear until you choose View > Show Hidden Photo Album. The photos themselves stay inside your Photos library; hiding never moves them to a separate folder in the Finder. ### Why can't I find hidden photos on my MacBook? Usually because the Hidden album is still turned off: choose View > Show Hidden Photo Album in Photos. If the album is empty, check that iCloud Photos is on in Photos > Settings > iCloud, that you're signed in to the same Apple Account as your iPhone, and that you're looking at your System Photo Library, the one that syncs with iCloud Photos. ### What password unlocks the Hidden album on Mac? Your Mac login password, or Touch ID if your Mac has it. It isn't your iPhone passcode or a separate Photos password. You can turn the lock off in Photos > Settings > General by deselecting Use Touch ID or password under Privacy, but then anyone using your logged-in Mac can open Hidden and Recently Deleted without a check. ### How do I hide photos on Mac? In Photos, select the photos, then choose Image > Hide Photo from the menu bar, or Control-click and choose Hide Photo, or press Command-L. Confirm, and they move to the Hidden album. With iCloud Photos on, they're hidden on your iPhone and iPad too. To unhide, open the Hidden album, select the photos and choose Unhide. ### How do I lock photos on a MacBook? Keep the Hidden album lock on in Photos > Settings > General, which protects hidden photos with Touch ID or your login password. For a lock with its own password, export the photos and put them in an encrypted disk image made in Disk Utility, then delete the originals from Photos. Turning on FileVault protects your whole startup disk. ### Can someone else see hidden photos on my Mac? Anyone who knows your Mac login password, or whose fingerprint is enrolled for Touch ID, can unlock the Hidden album. So can anyone using your Mac if you turned off the Photos lock. They also stay visible on your other devices and on iCloud.com with iCloud Photos on. Hiding keeps photos out of view; it doesn't encrypt them separately. ## Bottom line To see hidden photos on a Mac, choose **View -> Show Hidden Photo Album** in Photos and unlock **Utilities -> Hidden** with Touch ID or your login password. The album is a curtain, not a safe: it opens with your login password and syncs with every device on your Apple Account. For a real lock on a MacBook, use an encrypted disk image. For iPhone photos that shouldn't reach the Mac at all, take them out of iCloud Photos. Keep reading: - [How to hide photos on iPhone](/blog/hide-photos-on-iphone) - [How to hide and lock photos on iPad](/blog/hide-photos-ipad) - [How to lock photos on iPhone](/blog/lock-photos-on-iphone) ## Sources - [Apple Support: Hide photos on your iPhone, iPad, Mac, or Apple Vision Pro with the Hidden album](https://support.apple.com/en-us/104987) - [Apple Support: Hide photos and videos from view on Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/photos/hide-photos-and-videos-from-view-phtf86b69c24/mac) - [Apple Support: Photos settings on Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/photos/photos-settings-pht5156cc968/mac) - [Apple Support: If you're missing photos or videos in the Photos app](https://support.apple.com/en-us/118558) - [Apple Support: Create a disk image using Disk Utility on Mac](https://support.apple.com/guide/disk-utility/create-a-disk-image-dskutl11888/mac) ## Keep reading - [How to Hide Photos on iPhone: Hidden Album Guide (2026)](https://www.vaultforyou.app/blog/hide-photos-on-iphone): Hide photos on iPhone in seconds, find your hidden photos in the Hidden album, and see who can still open them, what syncs to iCloud and when a vault is better. - [Turn Off iCloud Photos Syncing Without Deleting (2026)](https://www.vaultforyou.app/blog/stop-icloud-photos-syncing): Turn off iCloud Photos syncing on your iPhone, iPad or Mac without losing pictures: which device to switch off, which option to pick and what stays in iCloud. - [Do Hidden Photos Sync to iCloud? Who Can See Them There](https://www.vaultforyou.app/blog/hidden-photos-icloud): Yes. With iCloud Photos on, hidden photos sync to iCloud and stay hidden on your devices and iCloud.com. See who can open them, and how backups handle them. - [How to Lock Photos on iPad (and Hide Them on a Shared iPad)](https://www.vaultforyou.app/blog/hide-photos-ipad): Hide photos on iPad in the locked Hidden album, lock the Photos app with Face ID, and keep your iPhone's private photos off a family iPad. What each method stops. --- Our guides are written and fact-checked by the VaultForYou team against Apple's own documentation. We make VaultForYou, a private vault app for iPhone. Download on the App Store: https://apps.apple.com/app/vaultforyou/id0000000000