How to hide photos from Memories and widgets on iPhone
Apple says hidden photos do not appear in the Library, other albums or the Photos widget on your Home Screen. Its Hidden album page does not say whether Memories or Search leave them out, so do not rely on that. For other photos, Photos lets you feature a person, place or day less, and you can reset suggestions in Settings.
What Apple says about hidden photos
The Hidden album page says hidden items move to the Hidden album and "don't appear anywhere else in Photos, like the Library, other albums", and that they do not show in the Photos widget on your Home Screen. That is the whole claim. Memories and Search are not mentioned there, in either direction. So hide the photo, then look for yourself: open Memories and search for something in the photo and see if it shows. Results can differ by iOS version, which is why we checked Apple's pages and do not state more than they do.
Hide steps: press and hold the photo, tap Hide, confirm. All five ways of hiding photos.
Photos you have not hidden: show a person, place or day less
Apple's Personal Safety guide gives these steps on iPhone.
- Memories. Open Photos and tap Collections. Touch and hold a memory, tap Feature Less, select a person if asked and tap Next, then choose Feature This Day Less, Feature This Place Less or Feature This Person Less.
- Featured photos. Open a photo of the person, tap the More button, tap Don't Feature This Person (you may need to scroll), choose the person, tap Next, then choose Feature This Person Less or Never Feature This Person and tap Confirm.
- Photos widget. Apple says these settings also apply to the Photos widget, with no separate steps.
- Reset. In Settings > Apps > Photos > Featured Content, tap Reset Suggested Memories or Reset People & Pets Suggestions.
These work on people, places and days, not on one photo, and they reduce how often something appears; Apple does not say they remove it.
Other places a photo can turn up
Memories are one route. Others are shared albums, a Shared Library, messages you sent, and copies on other devices. Hiding changes your copy in Photos only, so check each route separately.
Keep photos out of the library altogether
A photo that never entered your library cannot surface in Memories or the widget. In StrongRoom you can take a photo or video inside the Vault, and it goes into the Vault and never into your photo library. You can also import existing photos and then, if you choose, delete the originals; the app asks every time. The Vault has no widgets, by design. Private camera. A camera that keeps the photo out of your photo library
What StrongRoom cannot do: it cannot take back a photo already in iCloud or on another device, and it has no cloud copy of its own. What it does not protect against.
Frequently asked questions
Do hidden photos show in Memories?
Apple's Hidden album page does not say. It says they do not appear in the Library, other albums or the Photos widget. Check on your own phone.
How do I stop one person appearing in Memories?
Open a photo of them, tap More, tap Don't Feature This Person and choose Feature This Person Less or Never Feature This Person.
Can I reset what Photos suggests?
Yes: Settings > Apps > Photos > Featured Content > Reset Suggested Memories.
Sources
- Hide photos on your iPhone, iPad, Mac or Apple Vision Pro with the Hidden album (Apple Support), checked on 2026-10-30.
- Personal Safety guide: show people, places and days less in Photos (Apple Support), checked on 2026-10-30.