Most people have photos and videos on their phones they’d rather not share publicly. Maybe it’s a photo of your social security card, a surprise gift for your partner, or some cringey selfies you can’t bring yourself to delete. If you have a Samsung Galaxy phone, you don’t need to install the “photo vault” app from the Play Store to hide personal data. Samsung offers more than one way to keep private photos and videos away from prying eyes, which most users don’t know.
The best way to do this is via Secure Folder, a sandboxed part of the Samsung device that requires its own PIN or fingerprint. You can move your sensitive stuff in there, and it will disappear from the regular gallery. For lower stakes, you can also hide full albums within the Gallery app settings. It won’t stop a dedicated snooper, but it will keep things out of sight in case you have to show someone a photo of your dog. Here’s how to hide photos and videos on your Samsung Galaxy.
Method 1: Use Secure Folder to Lock Photos and Videos
Secure Folder is Samsung’s Knox-powered vault that creates a completely separate, encrypted space on your phone. Anything you move there—photos, videos, apps, files—gets locked behind biometric authentication or a PIN.
After that, the hidden content won’t show in the regular Gallery app, Google Photos, or any other media apps. It’s available on all Samsung phones with One UI 3.0 or above. If you need tight privacy, this is the best method, but you first need to activate Secure Folder. Here’s how:
- Open the notification shade and tap the gear icon to open Settings.
- Next, tap Security and privacy > More security settings > Secure Folder.
- Follow the prompts to sign in with your Samsung Account and select a lock type (PIN, Pattern, or Fingerprint). Set the lock you’ll remember, but others can’t guess easily. Secure Folder will now appear in the app drawer with a folder icon and a small lock badge.
Move Photos and Videos to Secure Folder
- Tap the flower icon on the Homescreen to open the Gallery and go to the album that contains photos or videos you want to hide.
- Tap and hold on a photo or video thumbnail until it’s selected (you’ll see a checkmark). Choose additional items to select multiple files at once.
- Tap the three-dot menu icon in the top right corner to open the “More” menu.
- Select “Move to Secure Folder” from the dropdown and authenticate with your selected lock method.
The files will be removed from the regular Gallery and will now be exclusive to the Secure Folder, which means you can only access them in this private space.
Move Files From Inside Secure Folder
- Open Secure Folder from the app drawer and authenticate.
- Tap “Gallery” inside Secure Folder.
- Hit the three-dot menu and select “Add photos or videos.”
- Browse your phone’s regular storage, select the preferred items, and tap “Done” or “Move.”
This method gives you a clear view of what’s already hidden against what is still visible on your main device.
To move files back out of Secure Folder, open Secure Folder, next tap Gallery inside, select your files, tap the three-dot menu, and choose Move out of Secure Folder.
How to Hide the Secure Folder
You can make Secure Folder invisible on the home screen and app drawer. Even if someone unlocks your phone, they won’t see any evidence that it exists.
- Open Secure Folder and authenticate.
- Tap the three-dot menu inside the folder.
- Go to Settings, and toggle on “Add Secure Folder to Apps screen” to turn it OFF.
To access when it’s hidden, tap Settings > Security and privacy > Secure Folder. Or add it back to your app drawer using the same option.
Another way is to go to Settings → Biometrics and Security → Secure Folder → toggle off Show Secure Folder. To make it visible again, return to that settings path or dial *#1234# in the phone app if you’ve forgotten where it is. You can also re-enable it through Settings → Biometrics and Security.
[internal_posts_grid ids=”35392, 6240, 18017″]Method 2: Hide Albums in the Gallery
Sometimes you don’t need a vault; you just want to clean up your Gallery so certain folders don’t show when you show a friend something on your smartphone. Samsung’s Gallery app has a feature called Hide albums that lets you hide full albums of photos and videos from the app’s main screen. This method is quick but lacks password protection. Follow these steps:
- Open the Gallery app and tap the Albums tab.
- Tap the three dots in the top-right corner and select Hide albums.
- Toggle the switch next to the albums you want to tuck away.
Note: Default albums like “Camera” and “Screenshots” usually can’t be hidden this way.
The album and everything in it will disappear from view. To unhide it, go to the three-dot menu in the Gallery app and tap Show hidden albums or Unhide album.
Method 3: Use the Album Lock Feature
For Androids with new versions of One UI (like One UI 6.1 or 7), Samsung has introduced a better way to lock specific albums without moving them to the Secure Folder.
- Open Gallery and go to the Albums tab.
- Long-press an album you’ve created, then tap More and see the Lock album option.
- Once locked, the album will require your biometrics or PIN to open, even though it’s still right there in the Gallery.
Method 4: Lock Photos With the Private Mode (Older Samsung Models)
Old Samsung mobiles with One UI 1 or earlier had a feature called Private Mode in the Settings under Biometrics and Security. It worked like the hidden albums, but with an extra protection layer of a lock. If your smartphone has One UI 2 or later, Secure Folder replaced the mode and is much more secure. In case you still have a classic model with Private Mode support, enable it in Settings, set a PIN or password, then activate it when you want to move content — select files in Gallery, tap More, and choose Move to Private.
Method 5: Use Third-Party Vault Apps
Apps like Keepsafe, Calculator+, and similar “photo vault” applications are available on the Play Store. They import photos into their encrypted in-app storage and optionally delete the originals from the gallery.
Though these apps require you to trust a third-party service with your private content, some of them force subscriptions or show ads. Being a Samsung user, Secure Folder does the same job natively, with Knox-grade security, and costs nothing. To be honest, it’s hard to see why you’d use a third-party service when built-in privacy is there.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do hidden photos in Samsung Gallery still back up to Google Photos?
Yes, hiding an album in Samsung Gallery only hides it within the Gallery app. Google Photos can still see and back up the files unless you exclude them. Only content moved to the Secure Folder is not available in the Google Photos backup.
Will factory resetting my phone delete Secure Folder data?
Yes, A factory reset wipes out everything, including Secure Folder. So, back up the private content whenever you are about to reset the phone.
Can someone access Secure Folder if they know my phone PIN?
No, Secure Folder uses a separate lock that you set up independently. Even if someone knows your main phone unlock, they can’t access Secure Folder without its specific lock password.
Does hiding photos remove them from recent or suggested sections in the Gallery?
If you hide photos via the Gallery app, they won’t appear in your main timeline, but how they behave in suggestions depends on the One UI version. However, moving them to Secure Folder guarantees removal from all gallery views.
