[2024 Guide] How to Lock Photos on iPhone with Face ID

Want to use Face ID to lock photos?

With the advanced camera of iPhone, we can always take great photos. Apple ProRaw can even help us shoot professional-level photos without an expensive DSLR. Usually, all your photos are saved in a folder called Recents and everyone who has access to your phone can see the album. However, everyone must have photos that they don't want others to see. So you want to know how to lock photos on iPhone with Face ID, right?

Can you put Face ID lock on photos?

If you're wondering how to lock Photos app with Face ID, the answer will disappoint you. There is no way to lock the Photos app but the good news is that you can use Face ID to lock hidden photos.

Since iOS 16, the Hidden album and Recently Deleted album are automatically protected by Face ID or Touch ID. You can take advantage of this feature to lock photos on iPhone: first move photos to Hidden album and then turn on Use Face ID to lock the album. The hidden photos will disappear from the Recents album and can only be found in the Hidden album. Since the Hidden album is locked by Face ID, no one else can see the photos in the album except you.

How to lock photos on iPhone with Face ID

Let’s start to see how to lock photos on iPhone with Face ID. Please make sure that you have installed iOS 16 or newer iOS version on iPhone, otherwise, you can’t use Face ID to lock photos on iPhone.

Step 1. Put photos into Hidden album

• Go to Photos app and choose the photos you want to lock with Face ID.
• Tap the three-dots icon in the top-right corner or the lower-right corner.
• Choose Hide option > Tap Hide Photos to confirm.

In this way, these photos will be moved to the Hidden album and will disappear from the Recents album.

Step 2. Put Face ID lock on hidden photos

Usually, the Hidden album is automatically locked and you do not need to turn on any switch. If the album is not locked, see how to put Face ID lock on hidden photos.

• Make sure you have enable Face ID.
• Go to Settings app > Tap Photos.
• Turn on Use Face ID.

If you do not want the Hidden album appears in the Photos app, you can turn off Show Hidden Album option.

In this way, there will be a lock icon next to Hidden album. If someone tries to view this album, it will ask for Face ID.

Bonus: how to backup important photos on iPhone

Now you know how to lock photos on iPhone with Face ID. iOS 16 photos lock feature can help you lock Hidden album so you can move photos to that album to achieve the goal. However, some people who know your password may still see these hidden photos.

If you want to make sure no one can access these photos, you may choose to delete them from iPhone. Before deleting, you can move the photos to somewhere else as backup. If you just want to hide a small number of photos, you can choose to move them to iCloud Drive.

Just go to Photos app > choose the photos you want to backup > tap the Share button > choose Save to Files and select iCloud Drive as the destination.

iCloud only offers 5 GB of free storage space. If you want to backup a large number of photos, you can choose to transfer photos from iPhone to computer, USB flash drive or external hard drive. To quickly complete the transfer, you can use FoneTool, one easy-to-use iOS data transfer tool for Windows users.

FoneTool is able to transfer full resolution photos from iPhone to PC. You can click the download button to get FoneTool and start the transfer.

1. Launch FoneTool > Plug in iPhone.

2. Choose Phone Transfer > Go to iPhone to PC and click Start Transfer.

3. Click the plus icon > Choose Photos > Select the photos you want to transfer. You can even choose to transfer photo albums from iPhone to PC.

4. Click Start Transfer > Select a storage path and click Transfer to confirm.

Now you can delete photos from iPhone. In this way, you don't have to worry about people seeing some private photos. If necessary, you can use the PC to iPhone feature of FoneTool to transfer photos back to iPhone.

Final words

That’s all about how to lock photos on iPhone with Face ID. As long as you have installed iOS 16 or newer iOS version, then you can move photos to Hidden album and turn on Use Face ID to lock the album. In this way, only you can see the photos in the album. In addition, you can even choose to hide the Hidden album.