Most people have images meant for their eyes only, like snapshots of personal documents or intimate photos they’d rather keep out of the main gallery. These are the kinds of images people would not want to accidentally share with someone else or have exposed to anyone who gains physical access to their phone.
Traditional photo libraries like Google Photos aren’t safe for private photos because they are not built for privacy. They can help protect your pictures from unauthorized access, but that doesn’t necessarily mean your sensitive photos are hidden from the service provider. Because Google Photos is not end-to-end encrypted, Google can technically access and process your photos in accordance with its policies.
The Locked Folder feature in Google Photos can be useful, but it doesn’t change the underlying privacy model of the app. So before relying on it for sensitive images, it’s worth understanding what Locked Folder does, how to use it, and what its privacy limits are.
- What is the Google Photos Locked Folder feature?
- How to hide photos in the Google Photos Locked Folder
- Limitations
- A more private way to store sensitive photos
What is the Google Photos Locked Folder feature?
Locked Folder is a Google Photos feature that lets you store selected photos and videos in a separate, protected space on your device. When you add items to this hidden folder, they:
- Don’t appear in your photo grid, albums, search results, Memories, or partner sharing
- Are hidden from other apps on your device that have access to your regular photo library
- Require your device screen lock to view and manage, such as your PIN, password, fingerprint, or face unlock
How to hide photos in the Google Photos Locked Folder
Setting up the Google Photos Locked Folder to hide your photos takes only a few moments:
- Open Google Photos.
- Tap Collections.
- Scroll down, and tap Locked. You will be prompted to open the Locked Folder using your device screen lock option.
- Tap Move items.
- Select the photos or videos you want to add, and tap Move.
- Confirm using your device screen lock option.
- If Locked Folder backup is off, you can turn it on by tapping Manage backup or skip by tapping Continue.
- Tap Move to confirm.
To add new items, tap the new photo icon 🖼 on the bottom left. It’s not possible to create subfolders in the Locked Folder feature for organization.
Managing photos and videos in Locked Folder
To return a photo or video to your main Google Photos library, select it in Locked Folder, tap Move, and tap Move again to confirm. The item will leave Locked Folder and reappear in its original position in your photo timeline.
You can also permanently delete items by pressing Delete, and again Delete to confirm.
Limitations of the Locked Folder feature in Google Photos
The Locked Folder feature is useful for keeping private photos out of your main gallery, such as when you hand your phone to someone else and don’t want them scrolling into something sensitive. But it does not create a separate, end-to-end encrypted vault.
End-to-end encryption means your data is encrypted on your device before it reaches a company’s servers, and only you hold the keys to decrypt it. Not even the service provider can read your files. Google Photos does not offer end-to-end encryption for your photo library — so Google retains access to your images — and the Locked Folder tool is governed by the underlying policy of the Google Photos privacy policy.
That matters because Google does not simply store photos passively. Its automated systems can scan content for policy violations, and mistakes can have serious consequences.
In one widely reported case, a father in California took medical photos of his toddler(新しいウィンドウ) at a doctor’s request and sent them to the healthcare provider. Because the photos were also backed up to his Google account, Google’s systems flagged them as potential CSAM, reported him to law enforcement, and terminated his account. Police cleared him of wrongdoing, but Google still refused to restore the account, leaving him without access to years of emails, photos, purchase history, and other data.
The privacy cost of backing up Locked Folder photos
By default, items you move to the Google Locked Folder only exist on your local device. If you don’t turn on backup, you could lose your photos if your device is damaged or lost.
On the other hand, backing up your Locked Folder photos means keeping them stored on Google’s servers and giving the company broad access to your sensitive content that you don’t feel comfortable sharing with anyone else.
That leaves you stuck between two bad options:
- Keep photos on your local device only and risk losing them, or
- Back them up to Google Photos and accept they may be scanned by Google’s automated systems and reviewed by humans if an algorithm flags something, even by mistake.
If neither option sits right with you, there’s a better, safer way to store sensitive photos without risking that your cloud storage provider can take a sneak peek.
A more private way to store sensitive photos
If you want to safely store sensitive photos long-term, use Proton Drive. While Proton Drive does not have a direct equivalent to Google Photos’ Locked Folder, it approaches photo privacy differently by protecting your photos with end-to-end encryption so no one can see them except you and the people you choose to share them with — not even us.
You can enable automatic photo backup on your phone to keep them synced across your devices, browse photos in a timeline, organize them into albums, mark favorites, filter by media type, and securely share individual photos or full albums with passwords and expiration dates. Shared links can be easily revoked anytime.
Unlike Google Photos and Google Drive, Proton Drive is transparent when it comes to your data: All Drive apps are open source and independently audited, which means anyone can verify our security. We never scan your files or photo library, show ads, use your photos for AI or product improvement, or share your information with anyone.
When you’re ready to move on from Google Photos, you can easily migrate your memories to Proton Drive. And when you’re ready to deGoogle more broadly, you can take the next steps toward a privacy-first ecosystem built to protect your data rather than exploit it.
