How to hide photos on a Samsung phone: Secure Folder and other options
On a Samsung Galaxy phone, the built-in way to hide photos is Secure Folder: select them in Samsung's Gallery and choose Move to Secure Folder. Google Photos Locked Folder is a second option if your photos live in Google Photos, and a photo vault app such as Vaultopaz gives you separate encrypted vaults without an account.
Steps at a glance
- Open Settings, then Security and privacy, then More security settings, then Secure Folder, and choose a lock.
- In Samsung’s Gallery, select the photos, tap More options, then Move to Secure Folder.
- To see them again, open Secure Folder and use its own Gallery.
If your photos are in Google Photos instead, use Locked Folder, option 2 below.
Option 1: Samsung Secure Folder
Secure Folder is a private area on the Galaxy phone or tablet itself, for photos, videos, files and apps. Samsung says everything stored in it is encrypted by Samsung Knox. It opens only on that device, with a PIN, password or pattern you choose at setup. On supported devices you can add a fingerprint as an extra way to unlock it.
- Open Settings, then Security and privacy, then More security settings, then Secure Folder.
- Sign in to or create a Samsung account if asked, and wait for setup to finish.
- Choose a lock type. A Secure Folder shortcut appears on the Home and Apps screens.
- To move photos in, select them in Samsung’s Gallery or My Files, tap More options, then Move to Secure Folder.
- Or open Secure Folder, tap More options, then Add files, pick the photos and tap Done. Choose copy to keep the original, or move to remove it.
- To view them, open Secure Folder and use its own Gallery.
Want a hidden folder without an icon on the Apps screen? Turn off Add Secure Folder to Apps screen, or use the Secure Folder toggle in Quick Settings. Samsung’s US page also describes renaming the folder and changing its icon.
If Secure Folder is missing from the Security and privacy menu, your device does not support it. Samsung notes that some older models may no longer do so.
Option 2: Google Photos Locked Folder
If you keep your photos in Google Photos, Locked Folder works on a Samsung phone too, on Android 6 or newer. Items in it no longer show in the Photos grid, search, albums or memories. It opens with the phone’s screen lock.
- Open Google Photos and tap Collections, then Locked, then Set up Locked Folder.
- Unlock with your screen lock when asked.
- Select a photo, tap Add to, then Move to Locked Folder, then Move.
Where the built-in options fall short
- No new Secure Folder backups. Samsung’s US help page says backing up Secure Folder data is no longer supported. For a new phone, Samsung points to its Smart Switch tool.
- A forgotten lock can mean starting over. If Reset with Samsung account was not turned on at setup, Samsung says access cannot be recovered; you can only remove the folder and make a new one. Clearing the Secure Folder app’s data and cache deletes everything inside.
- The quick move works in Samsung apps only. Move to Secure Folder is offered in Samsung’s own apps such as Gallery and My Files. Files that exist only in a cloud account cannot be moved in.
- Locked Folder shares your screen lock. Anyone who knows it can open Locked Folder, and items without backup are lost if you uninstall Google Photos, clear its app data, factory reset the phone, or lose or damage it.
Using a vault app
A vault app keeps encrypted copies of your photos behind its own lock, apart from Samsung’s Gallery and your screen lock. Here is how Vaultopaz does it:
- A pattern per vault. You draw a pattern on a 5 by 5 grid to create a vault, and every pattern opens its own vault. The unlock screen never lists vaults. See one pattern, one vault.
- Pattern only. Vaultopaz unlocks by pattern, on purpose, and asks for no Samsung account or any other account.
- Import or shoot. Photos come in through the Android system file picker as encrypted copies. Vaultopaz does not delete the originals, so you remove them from Samsung’s Gallery yourself once they are in the vault. A photo taken with the camera inside the vault never reaches the gallery.
- Encrypted on the phone. Files are encrypted with AES-256-GCM, with keys wrapped by the hardware keystore. See encryption on the device.
- Your own way back in. Nine recovery words, shown once at setup, reopen the vault on the same phone through Use recovery phrase. See recovery phrase.
- A backup you control. In the open vault, tap the menu and choose Encrypted backup. On a new phone, tap Import encrypted backup, enter the same password or words, then draw a new pattern and write down the nine new words. See encrypted backup. A backup holds the vault that is open when you export, so make one for each vault.
- Auto-lock. The vault locks immediately or after 30 seconds, 2 or 5 minutes, and content screens refuse screenshots and screen recording. See auto-lock and screenshot block.
Vaultopaz keeps files, not apps. Its viewer opens photos, videos, text files and notes; PDFs and other documents are stored and can be exported, but they do not open inside the vault.
Which option fits you
| Your situation | Good fit |
|---|---|
| Your Galaxy phone supports Secure Folder and you want it ready without installing anything | Samsung Secure Folder |
| You want to open the private folder with a fingerprint or keep apps in it | Samsung Secure Folder |
| Your photos are in Google Photos and nobody else knows your screen lock | Google Photos Locked Folder |
| You want separate vaults with their own patterns and no account | A vault app such as Vaultopaz |
| You want an encrypted backup file that also opens on your next phone | A vault app such as Vaultopaz |
Compare in detail
Read how Vaultopaz compares with Samsung Secure Folder and with Google Photos Locked Folder. Not on a Samsung? See how to hide photos on Android.
Good to know: the limits
- The app has not had an independent security review yet.
- Unlock is by pattern only, on purpose. A pattern is knowledge you can keep to yourself, and a quick fingerprint or face unlock would give away that a vault exists.
- Losing both the pattern and the recovery phrase means the files are gone. There is no account and no reset.
- The recovery phrase works only on the same phone. Moving to another device needs an encrypted backup file.
- The phone must have a hardware-backed keystore (TEE or StrongBox). Without it the app refuses to create a vault.
- The viewer opens images, videos, text files and notes. Videos play with the phone's own decoder straight from the encrypted file, so a format the phone cannot decode shows a message instead; PDFs and other documents are stored and exportable but not shown inside the vault.
Frequently asked questions
Can you hide photos on a Samsung phone without an extra app?
Yes, on Galaxy phones and tablets that support Secure Folder. Set it up under Settings, Security and privacy, More security settings, then select photos in Samsung's Gallery and choose Move to Secure Folder.
Can I back up Samsung Secure Folder?
Samsung's US help page says backing up Secure Folder data is no longer supported. Older backups can still be restored through the Samsung account, and for a new phone Samsung points to its Smart Switch tool.
What if I forget my Secure Folder lock?
If Reset with Samsung account was turned on at setup, tap Forgot, sign in with that account and set a new lock. If it was off, Samsung says access cannot be recovered and the folder can only be removed and made again.
Does Vaultopaz need a Samsung account?
No. Vaultopaz has no account of any kind. It needs Android 10 or newer and a phone with a hardware-backed keystore; without one it refuses to create a vault.