Rearrange hidden photos/make separate hidden folders

I would be really nice to be able to rearrange hidden photos or separate them into separate folders/albums while remaining hidden. I know many have asked this and I’m not sure why it’s a feature that isn’t present already or why it would be difficult to do. Hope we can get one or both of these features in a future update.

Posted on Jul 21, 2025 08:40 AM

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3 replies

Jul 21, 2025 10:29 AM in response to PupNSuds_8254

Are you using an iPhone, iPad or a Mac?

On a Mac you can organize your hidden photos with smart albums, but not on the mobile devices, where smart albums are not available.

To organize the hidden Phots on a Mac create a smart album like this:

  • New smart album
  • Set the rules to "Match all"
  • Photo is hidden
  • And e.g. "Date taken is ..." or any other rule to select some photos, for example "album is hidden holiday photos", if you added the photos to an album "Hidde holiday photos".


Any smart album with a rule "Photo is hidden" will behave like the Hidden album. When you unlock it, you can see the photos in this album.

,

Jul 22, 2025 09:20 AM in response to PupNSuds_8254

On my iPhone I have a folder called MyHidden. I put all my pictures from the Hidden Album into it. It will look empty, of course. If I unhide the Hidden pictures, they'll show up in MyHidden. If I want them hidden again, I just select-all, and they're invisible again, except in Hidden.


Then I can put all the pictures of My Ex in the MyEx album-- it will also appear empty. But if I select-all in Hidden and unhide, then MyEx will be filled with my ex. MyHidden will also have all my Hidden pictures, so I can select-all and Hide, and all the pictures will be hidden again. I can make another album for MyOtherEx, and so on.


You just have to make sure that ALL of the pictures in Hidden are in MyHidden, or you lose track of them when you unhide them.


Otherwise, you just have to hope Apple acts on your suggestion. What do you think?

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Rearrange hidden photos/make separate hidden folders

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