Keep reading, as this article will answer those questions. Plus, we’ll reveal even more tricks that make it as easy to delete many photos from your iPhone as it is to delete one.

How to delete photos from your iPhone

If you’re trying to clean up your photo library on your iPhone, it’s going to take you a long time to go through and delete individual pictures one at a time. Here are some tips for cleaning up the photo library on your iPhone.

How to delete all photos from your iPhone at once

Although there’s no native way to delete all of your photos at one time, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. While our very own app, Gemini Photos, is primarily used to find duplicate pictures, it has a hidden feature that will help you out.

Here’s how to delete all photos from your iPhone or iPad using Gemini Photos:

1. Download Gemini Photos from the App Store.
2. Open the app and tap the Menu button in the top right.
3. Tap Delete Photo Library at the very bottom.
4. Tap Delete to confirm.
5. In the Photos app, scroll down to Recently Deleted.
6. Tap Select > Delete All.

How to delete duplicates and other redundant pictures from iPhone

Maybe you’re just looking for a way to quickly clean up your photos by deleting the duplicates and similar-looking pictures on your phone. If so, you can download Gemini Photos from the App Store and follow these steps:

1. Open Gemini Photos and let it scan.
2. Tap Duplicates.
3. Go through each grouping to select the pics you want to delete.
4. When you’re done, tap the Delete Duplicates button at the bottom.
5. Tap Your Library to go through other categories like Similar, Blurred, Notes, etc.

How to mass-remove thousands of photos from your iPhone

While deleting photos in bulk isn’t impossible, it may take some time — especially if you want to be selective about which pictures you remove. But you can follow these steps to help speed up your batch-deleting:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Tap Library > All Photos.
3. Tap the ellipses > Zoom Out.
4. Tap Select.
5. Instead of tapping each picture, touch the first picture and drag your finger to the top of the screen. This will select all of the photos along the way.
6. After you’re done selecting all the pictures, tap the trash can icon in the bottom-right corner.

If there are specific pictures you want to deselect, just tap those photos to uncheck them.

How to delete photos from your iPhone but not from iCloud

Before you start deleting your pictures en masse, it’s important to keep in mind that in some cases, anything you delete from your iPhone will also be deleted from iCloud. So, if you want to free up space on your phone without losing those pics forever, follow these steps:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap Photos.
3. Turn iCloud Photos off.

Once iCloud Photos is turned off, deleting a picture will only remove it from your iPhone.

How to permanently delete pictures from your iPhone

A common misconception is that when you delete photos, they’re gone from your iPhone forever. However, that’s not true — at least, not for 30 days. Anytime you delete a picture, it remains on your phone in the Recently Deleted album for a 30-day period. So, to permanently delete pictures from your iPhone, follow these steps:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Tap Albums > Recently Deleted > Select All.
3. At the bottom, tap Delete All.

Why can’t I delete photos on my iPhone?

In some cases, you may try to delete photos, only to discover that your iPhone won’t let you. Here are three of the common reasons why this can happen.

1. You synced the photos from your computer

If you add pictures to your iPhone by connecting it to your computer, you can’t delete them on your iPhone. Instead, you have to choose to not sync that particular photo the next time you sync your devices.

2. The pictures are in a Shared Album

One of the downsides to Shared Albums is that if you’re not the creator of an album, you can only delete the pictures you add to it. If you try to delete a photo you didn’t add, the trash can icon is grayed out.

3. Photo Stream is turned on

Perhaps you deleted a picture on your iPhone, but it’s still showing up in your Photos app. That could be because you have Photo Stream turned on. Even after you delete a picture from your Camera Roll, you’ll still need to go into your Photo Stream and remove it from there, too.

How to delete photos from iCloud

If you’re signed in to iCloud when you add or remove a photo on your iPhone, Apple will automatically add or remove it on iCloud, too. But you might find yourself in a situation where you want to delete a picture only from iCloud or simply locate a picture that’s still on iCloud but no longer on your phone. Here are a couple of tricks for managing your photos on iCloud.

Where to find deleted photos on iCloud

If you deleted a photo from iCloud but have since changed your mind about it, you may still be able to recover the photo from the Recently Deleted album. To find deleted photos on iCloud:

1. Open Safari and go to iCloud.com.
2. Log in with your iCloud account.
3. Tap Photos > Albums > Recently Deleted.
4. Find the photo you accidentally removed.
5. Tap Recover.

How to permanently delete photos from iCloud

Like the Photos app on your iPhone, when you delete a picture from iCloud, it doesn’t immediately disappear. Rather, it survives in your Recently Deleted album for up to 30 days. You can, however, follow these steps to permanently delete a photo without the wait:

1. In Safari, go to iCloud.com.
2. Log in with your iCloud account.
3. Tap Photos > Albums > Recently Deleted.
4. At the top, tap Select > Select All > Delete.

How to delete pictures from iCloud but not from your iPhone

Deleting pictures from iCloud without removing them from your phone requires two steps: turning off iCloud Photos and deleting the images. Follow these instructions to turn off iCloud Photos:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Scroll down and tap Photos.
3. Toggle iCloud Photos off.

If you have the option set to Optimize iPhone Storage, it’s likely that not all of your pictures are currently downloaded to your iPhone. In any case, make sure you have the Download and Keep Originals option selected. That way, your entire photo library will remain on your phone even after you turn off iCloud Photos.

Next, follow these steps to remove a picture from iCloud.

1. In Safari, go to iCloud.com.
2. Log in with your iCloud account.
3. Tap Photos and select the picture you want to delete.
4. Tap the trash can icon.

Whether you’re trying to purge your photo library or just want to free up a little space, batch-deleting pictures is a great solution. Trying to remove photos one by one is going to take a lot longer than it’s worth. Hopefully, this article has provided you with some tips to help you feel confident when deleting pictures from your iPhone and iCloud.

The post How to delete photos from iPhone, iPad, and iCloud: Tricks you didn’t know appeared first on Backlight.

Duplicates and similar-looking photos can waste a lot of space in your photo library if you’re not careful. This article goes over how to locate and dispose of duplicate photos. Plus, we’ll share some other tips and tricks on how to keep your library clutter-free.

How to find and delete duplicate photos on iPhone

While manually searching for duplicate and similar photos is one way to clean up your library, it isn’t the only way. Below, we’ll share how to clean up your duplicates manually, how to purge similar photos in Google Photos and iCloud, and — the easiest option — how to delete duplicates using the app Gemini Photos.

How to remove duplicate iPhone photos using Gemini Photos

Gemini Photos not only scans your iPhone for duplicate photos but also identifies things like similar images, blurry photos, and even screenshots. Here’s how to use Gemini Photos to clean up your photo clutter:

1. Download Gemini Photos from the App Store.
2. Open the app and let it scan.
3. Tap on one of the categories, such as Duplicates.
4. Select a group of pictures to review, then decide which individual photos you want to delete.
5. After you’re done selecting, tap Delete Duplicates at the bottom of the screen.
6. Tap Delete to confirm. 

It’s important to remember that even after you delete your pictures with Gemini Photos, they’re still on your phone. To permanently delete them:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Tap Albums > Recently Deleted.
3. Tap Select > Delete All.

How to delete duplicate photos manually in Photos

Of course, you can always manually search for duplicates on your iPhone. This process is self-explanatory, but there are a couple of tricks you can use in the Photos app to help you find them:

• View by date: In the Photos app, tap Library > All Photos at the bottom to view your pictures in chronological order, which will help you spot the similar photos and duplicates as you scroll through.
• Sort by location: You can also sort your pictures by geographic location. At the bottom, tap Search and scroll down to Places.

To remove the duplicates when you find them:

1. Tap Select.
2. Choose the pictures you want to delete.
3. Tap the trash can icon in the bottom-right corner and select Delete Photo.

How to remove duplicate photos from iCloud

Maybe you have some duplicate pictures on iCloud. The good news is you can use Gemini Photos to help you clean those up, too. The same instructions apply, but you’ll need to ensure that you have iCloud Photos turned on, on your iPhone. Here’s how you turn on iCloud Photos:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Photos.
3. Toggle the slider to turn on iCloud Photos.

How to delete duplicates in Google Photos

If you’re using Google Photos, you can search through your photos manually, or you can use the Search feature to help you find specific groups of pictures. To search for duplicates in Google Photos, just follow these steps:

1. In Google Photos, tap Search.
2. In the Search bar at the top, type a keyword to identify the pics you’re looking for (e.g., zebra).
3. Tap and hold the pictures you want to delete.
4. After you’ve selected all the images, tap the trash can icon at the top.
5. Tap Move to Trash > Delete.

How to prevent duplicate photos on your iPhone

Now that you have all the duplicates and clutter removed from your photo library, you may be wondering how you can prevent more duplicates in the future. Here are some helpful tips to keep in mind.

Tip 1. Sync photos using only one method

There are a couple of ways to sync your photos across all your devices. For example, you can use iCloud Photos or connect your phone to your computer with a USB cable. Whatever your preferred method for syncing your iPhone, sync it that way — and only that way. Syncing from both your computer and your cloud accounts can mean you upload the same photos multiple times.

Tip 2. Turn off auto-downloads in third-party apps like WhatsApp

Some third-party apps like WhatsApp will automatically download pictures and videos to your phone. So if you manually save an image you’ve been sent, you will end up with multiple copies of it in the Photos app. To turn off auto-downloads, just follow these steps:

1. Open WhatsApp.
2. Tap Settings > Data and Storage Usage > Photos.
3. Choose Never.

Tip 3. Transfer all photos from your DSLR camera at the same time

Newer DSLR cameras allow you to transfer pictures to your phone over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. If you only import a couple of photos at a time, you leave room for a mistake the next time you transfer pictures. You might accidentally sync the same photos twice, creating copies of your pictures on your iPhone.

The cleanest way to transfer pictures from a DSLR camera is to import all of the photos to your iPhone and then wipe the card. This way, you can’t accidentally import the same images a second time.

Tip 4. Don’t use AirDrop with iCloud Photos turned on

If you have multiple Apple devices with iCloud Photos turned on, don’t transfer pictures between devices using AirDrop. It’s tempting to use AirDrop when your photos aren’t syncing quickly enough, but the result will be duplicates of the same photos. A little patience here will save you some headaches later. 

Tip 5. Use Shared Albums

When you go to an event with friends or family, everyone typically shares the pictures they took. Instead of emailing photos or texting them to each other, it’s best to keep a Shared album. That way, all your shared photos live in the Photos app. And you don’t have to worry about going back to find them or saving them again, accidentally creating duplicates. 

Does iCloud recognize duplicate photos?

If you have multiple devices trying to sync the same picture, iCloud will recognize it as a duplicate. But if you have copies saved on your iPhone, then iCloud will upload both versions of the photo. 

Duplicates happen to everyone. Especially if you’re using your iPhone as your primary camera. The more you practice your iPhone photography, the more likely you are to fill up your library with similar-looking photos and duplicates. But if you apply some of these tricks and regularly scan for duplicates with Gemini Photos, you can prevent your photo library from filling up with clutter, optimizing your iPhone’s storage space.

The post How to delete and prevent duplicate photos on your iPhone appeared first on Backlight.

What is the HEIC format, and why does iPhone take HEIC photos?

HEIC is Apple’s proprietary version of the HEIF or High-Efficiency Image File format. This newer file format is intended to be a better way to save your pictures, making your images smaller in terms of data while retaining high quality.

Is HEIC better than JPG?

Yes, HEIC is better than JPG in many ways — specifically, in its ability to compress pictures into a small file size without losing image quality. The sticking point is the issue of what apps and devices also support HEIC. While more developers are adopting HEIC every day, it’s still not as commonly accepted as the tried-and-true standard, JPG.

How to set your iPhone to stop taking HEIC photos

Thankfully, if dealing with HEIC photos becomes too much of a hassle, you can have your iPhone camera stop taking HEIC pics by following these steps:

1. Go to Settings.
2. Tap Camera > Formats.
3. Select Most Compatible.

How to send photos from your iPhone as JPG, not HEIC

Another option you have is to keep shooting pictures as HEIC but to share them as JPGs. Here’s how to automatically convert a HEIC file to JPG when you share it from your iPhone:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Photos.
3. Scroll down to the Transfer to Mac or PC section.
4. Choose Automatic. 

How to convert HEIC to JPG or PNG on a Mac

If you’ve transferred some pictures from your iPhone and now have a handful of HEIC photos on your Mac, don’t worry. Before you delete those pics and transfer them from your phone again, check out a few of the apps that can open HEIC files. And if the app you want to use doesn’t support HEIC, there are a couple of easy ways to convert those files to JPG format.

What apps can open an HEIC file?

Naturally, any app created and supported by Apple will open HEIC files. This includes apps like Preview, Photos, and iMovie, etc. Other apps like Adobe Photoshop will open HEIC files on Mac only, while Adobe Lightroom will let you import a HEIC, although it will automatically convert the file to a JPG.

How to convert HEIC to JPG or PNG using Preview

One of the easiest ways to convert an HEIC to a JPG on Mac is to use the Preview app:

1. Open the HEIC file in Preview.
2. Click File > Export.
3. From the Format drop-down menu, select either JPG or PNG.
4. Click Save.

How to change HEIC to JPG or PNG using Photos

Another straightforward way to convert your picture from HEIC to JPEG or PNG is with your Mac’s Photos app. Just follow these steps to convert your picture:

1. Open the Photos app and find the file you want to convert.
2. Select the file.
3. Click File > Export > Export Photo.
4. Choose JPG or PNG from the Photo Kind drop-down menu.
5. Click Export.
6. Select the location where you want to save your picture and click Export.

How to convert HEIC to JPG on a Windows computer

Opening and viewing a HEIC file on a Windows computer is a bit trickier. For now, the options are limited. (As time goes on, more apps will allow you to open those pictures or, at the very least, help you convert them to JPG files.)

What software can open HEIC on Windows?

Microsoft has released a codec called HEIF Image Extensions, which will allow you to view and open HEIC files. Once you have it installed, your computer will see HEIC photos just like any other image file. But the codec is only available for Windows 10, so if you’re running an older operating system, then you’ll need to use one of the apps below to convert your pictures.

How to convert iPhone HEIC to JPG using CopyTrans HEIC for Windows

When you install CopyTrans HEIC for Windows on your computer, it also installs an extension that will allow you to not only open HEIC files but convert them to JPG as well. After you have it installed, just follow these steps:

1. Find the HEIC photo you want to convert on your computer.
2. Right-click and select Convert to JPEG with CopyTrans.

The JPG copy of your picture will appear in the same folder. That’s all there is to it! 

How to change the HEIC format to JPG using iMazing HEIC Converter

Another easy-to-use app is iMazing HEIC Converter. There’s a bit more of an interface to this one, and you gain additional control over your conversion settings. When you have iMazing HEIC Converter downloaded and installed, this is how you convert your HEIC files:

1. Open iMazing HEIC Converter.
2. Drag and drop your pictures into the app.
3. Choose whether you want to convert to JPG or PNG.
4. Drag to set the Quality slider.
5. Click Convert.
6. Select where you want to save the JPG on your computer.
7. Click Ok.

While dealing with HEIC files may be annoying, remember they do serve a purpose. They optimize the size of your pictures while retaining image quality. So, if you can bring yourself to leave your photos as HEIC, it will be in your best interest — especially in the long term. But the good news is, there are a handful of ways to quickly and easily convert your pictures to JPG format.

The post What is HEIC, and how do you convert iPhone photos from HEIC to JPG? appeared first on Backlight.

Step 1. Declutter iPhone photos before you organize them

Every photo library is filled with clutter, so before you spend a ton of time wading through that mess, you should get rid of the junk you don’t want. And the good news is that you can use Gemini Photos to scan your pictures and quickly get rid of that clutter. The app looks for things like duplicates, screenshots, notes, blurry pictures, and even similar-looking photos.

Download Gemini Photos from the App Store, open it on your iPhone, and follow these steps to clean up your library.

Similar-looking pictures

1. Tap Similar. Your pictures will be grouped by Date or Event.
2. Click on a grouping. Gemini will auto-select the best pictures.
3. Review the selection and tap Move to Trash for each set.
4. When you’re done, tap Empty Trash and then tap Delete to confirm.

Duplicates

1. Tap Duplicates. Gemini Photos will locate all the duplicates in your Camera Roll.
2. Tap each set of duplicates to review them.
3. After you’ve gone through them all, tap Delete Duplicates at the bottom of the screen.
4. Tap Delete to confirm.

Videos

1. Tap Videos. Gemini Photos will show you all of the videos in your library with how much space they’re taking up.
2. Swipe up on a video to keep it, or swipe down on it to delete it.
3. Tap Empty Trash at the bottom.

Screenshots

1. Tap Screenshots. Gemini Photos will auto-select all of your screenshot photos.
2. Tap to uncheck the ones you want to keep.
3. At the bottom of the screen, tap Delete All and then Delete.

Notes

1. Tap Notes. The app will scan your photos for pictures of whiteboards or notebooks and group them together.
2. Tap to check the pics you want to get rid of.
3. Tt the bottom, tap Delete All when you’re finished.

Blurred

1. Tap Blurred to review all of the pics Gemini Photos found that are blurry.
2. Select the pictures you don’t want to keep.
3. Tap Delete All and then tap Delete to confirm.

Other

1. Tap Other to review the pictures that don’t fit into the above categories. Your pictures will be grouped by date.
2. Tap on one of the months.
3. Swipe up on a picture to keep it, or swipe down on it to delete the photo.
4. After you’ve gone through all of these images, tap Empty Trash at the bottom.

When you’re finished cleaning out your library, don’t forget to open your Photos app and tap Albums > Recently Deleted > Select > Delete All to remove those pictures from your iPhone. Otherwise, they’ll remain on your device, taking up space for the next 30 days.

Step 2. Delete iPhone photo albums you don’t need

When you go into the Album tab in the Photos app on your iPhone, you may notice some old albums you don’t want anymore or even some albums created by other apps (like Whatsapp or Snapchat). If you’re not using these albums, it’s best to get rid of them so that they’re not cluttering up your phone and making it harder to find the albums you want to use.

How to delete an album on iPhone

Deleting an album is simple to do directly on your iPhone. Just follow these steps:

1. Open the Photos app and tap Albums at the bottom.
2. At the top, next to My Albums, tap See All.
3. Tap Edit.
4. Tap the red minus button next to the album(s) you want to delete.
5. When you’re finished, tap Done.

How do I delete the Favorites album?

Unfortunately, there is no way to delete your Favorites album. This is one of the stock albums that is automatically created by the Photos app, and like the Recents album, Favorites can’t be moved, renamed, or deleted.

Does deleting a photo album delete the photos in it?

The quick answer is no. Deleting an album only deletes the album, not the pictures inside of it. If you want to delete the pictures as well, you can follow these steps:

1. In Photos, open the album.
2. Tap Select > Select All.
3. Tap the trash can icon in the bottom-right corner.

Now, you can delete the album following the steps mentioned in the section above.

Step 3. Put photos in a hidden album on iPhone (optional)

If you have sensitive or private photos you want to keep but don’t necessarily want them in your Camera Roll, one option is to hide the pictures. You can also create a hidden album where all of your hidden photos will live.

How to create a Hidden album on iPhone

Your Hidden album will only appear if you have opted to hide a picture. This is how you’d hide a photo:

1. In the Photos app, find the image you want to hide and tap it.
2. Tap the Share icon in the bottom right.
3. Scroll down and tap Hide.

How to add new photos to the Hidden album

After you hide one photo, a Hidden album will be created, and you can add more pictures to it. Just follow these steps to add new images to your album.

1. Tap the Library tab at the bottom of the Photos app.
2. Tap Select and tap each picture you want to add.
3. Hit the Share icon in the bottom right corner and then tap Hide.

Where to find the Hidden album

With iOS 14, Apple has made the Hidden album a little more — hidden. Before you can find the Hidden album under the Albums tab, you have to enable it first.

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Photos.
3. Toggle to Enable Hidden.

Now, you can go back to the Photos app and tap Albums > Hidden to view all of your sensitive pictures.

Step 4. Organize your photos into relevant albums

If you have thousands of photos in your library, scrolling through your Camera Roll might not be the most efficient way to find your pictures. Organizing them into albums helps you find the photos you’re looking for a lot more quickly.

How to add photos to the Favorites album

Here’s how you add a photo your Favorites album:

1. Find the picture you want to add in the Photos app.
2. At the bottom of the screen, tap the heart icon so that it’s filled in.

And that’s all there is to mark a picture as one of your favorites.

How to create photo albums categorized by location

The Photos app also makes it really easy to create an album based on the geographic location where the photo was taken. Follow these steps:

1. Tap the Search tab at the bottom of the Photos app.
2. In the Search bar, type a location.
3. Tap See All > Select.
4. Tap to select all the pictures you want to add to an album.
5. Tap the Share icon > Add to Album > New Album.
6. Name your album and hit Save.

If you want to add more pictures to an album based on their location, you can repeat steps 1 through 5, but instead of tapping New Album, tap on the existing album.

How to create iPhone photo albums categorized by theme

The search feature in Photos also works for themes, so you can organize all your beach trips or all the pictures you’ve taken of cool classic cars. Here’s how to create an album based on the theme of your pictures:

1. At the bottom of the Photos app, tap Search.
2. In the Search bar, type a theme like “beach.”
3. Tap See All > Select.
4. Select all the pictures you want to put in an album.
5. In the bottom, tap the Share icon > Add to Album > New Album.
6. Give the album a name and then hit Save.

How to create photo albums categorized by people

One of the Photos app’s more impressive features is facial recognition. It scans your pictures and tries to identify all of the people in your photos. So, if you wanted to create an album based on a specific person, here’s how you’d do that:

1. Tap the Albums tab at the bottom of the Photos app.
2. Scroll down to the People & Places section and tap People. Then select a person.
3. Tap Select and then choose all the pictures you want to add to your album.
4. Tap the Share icon > Add to Album > New Album…
5. Name your Album and tap Save.

If you only want to tag a person that Photos has detected in your pictures, just do the following:

1. In Photos, tap Albums
2. Scroll to People & Places and tap People.
3. Select the person you want to tag.
4. At the top, tap Add Name.
5. Type the person’s name and tap Next.
6. Photos will show you other images with that person in them. Select all that are accurate and tap Done.

The more photos you review and tag that person in, the better the Photos app will be at tagging them in the future.

How to rename a photo album on iPhone

Maybe you’ve created an album, but now the name doesn’t make sense anymore. Or perhaps you just realized there’s a typo in your album name. Don’t worry. You can always rename your albums by following these steps:

1. In the Photos app, tap the Albums tab.
2. Tap to open the album you want to rename.
3. Tap the ellipses icon and select Rename Album.
4. Type in your new Album name and hit Save.

The Photos app for iOS is a great tool for managing pictures and can be incredibly useful when your library is organized. With features like the Search tool and facial recognition, there’s no reason you shouldn’t be able to find the specific picture you’re looking for in a matter of seconds. Hopefully, this article has eased some of the anxiety that might have kept you from diving in to clean up and organize your photo library.

The post How to organize thousands of photos on your iPhone appeared first on Backlight.

Thankfully, there are a couple of ways you can hide photos and videos on your iPhone. You can even go as far as to lock them with a password if you’d like. Keep reading to see what options you have for hiding your pictures.

1. Hide pictures and videos in iPhone Photos

The default Photos app will actually let you hide pictures and videos directly in the app. It basically moves whichever photo or video you select into a hidden album. This is great for the pics you want to keep but don’t want to see every time you open your Camera Roll.

You should also keep in mind that this hidden album is in the same place for everyone. That means anyone you allow to use your iPhone could see those hidden photos in just a few taps.

How to create a hidden album

When you first hide a picture or video in the Photos app, it automatically creates a hidden album. To hide your pictures:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Find the picture or video you want to hide.
3. Tap the Share button > Hide.
4. Confirm that you want to hide the picture.

How to unhide a photo or video

If you accidentally hid a picture or now want to move it back in your Camera Roll, you can unhide it when you:

1. Open the Photos app.
2. Tap Albums > Hidden.
3. Select the picture you want to unhide.
4. Tap the Share button > Unhide.

2. Lock photos on iPhone using Notes

Maybe you were hoping for a way to password-protect specific pictures. Even though you can’t do that in Photos, there is a workaround using the Notes app that will let you do that. You can move a photo into a new note and then add a password to the note. Unfortunately, this only works for still images because you can’t save Live photos or videos in a note.

How to lock and password-protect photos in Notes

Before you can lock your photos in the Notes app, make sure you have the lock feature enabled. To turn on password protection for your notes:

1. Open the Settings app.
2. Tap Notes > Password.
3. Set and Verify the password you want to use for all notes.

When you have this feature turned on, you can start adding pictures to a password-protected note. To lock a photo with a password:

1. Open the Photos app and find the picture you want to lock.
2. Tap Share > Notes.
3. Select to save it to a new note or an existing note.
4. Tap Save.
5. In the Notes app, open the note with the picture.
6. Tap Share > Lock Note.
7. Type your password.
8. Go back to the Photos app and delete the picture from your Camera Roll.

That last step is important because just copying your pictures to a password-protected note still leaves it in your photo library. So, it’s not truly locked until you delete it from the Photos app.

How to access and save the photos you locked in Notes

After you password-protect your pictures, it’s just as easy to view them or even save them back to your Camera Roll. To access and save your locked photos in the Notes app:

1. Open the note where you saved your picture.
2. Tap View Note.
3. Type in your password to see all of the pictures you have in that note.
4. To move them back to your Camera Roll, tap and hold an image.
5. Tap Share > Save Image.

3. Hide iPhone pictures in Google Photos

If you’re using Google Photos on your iPhone, you’ll be happy to learn you can also hide your pics directly in this app. You can use the Archive feature to move a photo or video out of your library, similar to the Hide feature in Photos.

How to hide a photo or video in Google Photos

You can follow these steps to hide and archive a picture in Google Photo:

1. Open the app and tap on the Photos tab.
2. Tap on the picture you want to archive.
3. Then tap the ellipses in the upper right corner.
4. Finally, tap Archive.

How to unhide pictures and videos in Google Photos

After hiding a pic or video in Google Photos, if you want to move it back to your library, it’s just as easy to bring it back over. To unarchive a picture:

1. Open Google Photos.
2. Tap the three lines at the top > Archive.
3. Select the picture or video you want to unarchive.
4. Tap the ellipses > Unarchive.

Hiding pictures and videos on your iPhone is almost as simple as taking them in the first place. And depending on how much security you need for your most sensitive pictures, there are ways to hide them natively, as well as workarounds to make sure they stay password-protected. Hopefully, this article has helped you figure out the best way to protect your photos.

The post 3 ways to hide private photos and videos on iPhone appeared first on Backlight.

Keep reading to see what external drives you can use and decide which one will work best for you.

The best external storage options for your iPhone photos

When you run out of space on your iPhone, it’s understandable that you would want to make sure your pictures and videos are backed up so you don’t lose them. And sure, you could save your photo library online, but there’s something nice about having them on a physical drive that you can hold in your hand. Here are a couple of the best external storage options to use with your iPhone.

HooToo iPhone Flash Drive: Best flash drive for iPhone

The HooToo Flash Drive is small and lightweight, making it conveniently portable. It also has a lightning connector on one end and a standard USB connector on the other, so you can plug it directly into your iPhone and computer to transfer your photo library.

HooToo iPhone Flash Drive on Amazon

Qarfee Drive: 4-in-1 iPhone USB drive

The great thing about the Qarfee USB drive is its versatility and 4-in-1 functionality. It not only has lightning and standard USB connectors,  but it also has a Micro USB connector and a USB-C adapter. With this USB drive, you’re prepared for whatever device you need to connect it to so you can back up your photo library. 

Qarfee 4-in-1 iPhone Drive  on Amazon

Sandisk iXpand: Flash drive for iPhone

One of the best things about the Sandisk iXpand flash drive is the iOS app you can use with the drive. It automatically transfers over your photo library, so all you have to do is open the app and plug in the drive. 

Sandisk iXpand on Amazon

EATOP iPhone Memory Stick: The most storage for the lowest price

Like other drives on this list, the EATOP iPhone memory stick has multiple connectors so you can connect it directly to your iPhone and your computer. But where it really sets itself apart is how much space you get for the price. On Amazon, you can get 128 GB for under $24.

EATOP iPhone Memory Stick on Amazon

Leef iBridge 3: Thumb drive for iPhone

The Leef iBridge 3 is probably the most traditional thumb drive on this list. It’s designed so that when you plug it into your phone, you don’t have a massive dongle sticking out like you would with a lot of other drives. Instead, this thumb drive wraps around to the back, making it more convenient to continue using your phone while connected. This is great because you can use Leef’s iOS app to take pictures and videos while saving them directly to the USB storage, so you don’t have to worry about transferring them later to free up storage space.

Leef iBridge 3 on Amazon

iDiskk: iPhone photo stick

If you’re looking for a drive that you can take with you everywhere you take your iPhone, then iDiskk Photo Stick is the drive you need. It’s made with an aluminum casing that helps protect it from falls without adding any unnecessary weight. This makes it an easy and convenient drive to go wherever you go.

iDiskk Photo Stick on Amazon

LIY7: Pendrive for iPhone

Just as its name implies, the LIY7 is not only a convenient flash drive that you can use with your iPhone, but it’s also a pen you can write with. Its versatility makes it easy to slip into your bag or even your pocket to carry with you. And that way, you always have a pen with you, as well as extra storage for your iPhone when you need it most.

LIY7 iPhone Pendrive  on Amazon

LaCie Rugged Mini: External hard drive for iPhone

Maybe you were hoping for something with a little more storage to store your entire photo library. In that case, you’re going to want an external hard drive like the LaCie Rugged. Rugged Mini hard drives start at 1 TB and are currently available up to 5 TB, which should satiate even the largest of libraries.

LaCie Rugged Mini Drive on Amazon

As you can see, there are a ton of options when you’re looking for external storage for your iPhone. It all just depends on your specific needs and how you want to use that storage. Hopefully, reading this article has helped you figure out which options will work best for you.

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