Do hidden photos transfer to a new iPhone?
Written for anyone upgrading to a new iPhone or preparing a trade-in who wants to make sure neither Hidden photos nor encrypted vault photos get lost
Short answer
Photos and videos inside Apple’s built-in Hidden album transfer automatically to a new iPhone whenever you set it up with Quick Start, restore from an iCloud or computer backup, or sign in to iCloud Photos, and they stay inside the Hidden album on the new phone. By contrast, photos inside an on-device encrypted vault app that excludes its vault files from iOS backups do NOT transfer automatically during phone setup. You must save an encrypted backup file from the vault app and keep your recovery phrase before erasing or trading in your old iPhone.
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Every autumn when new iPhones ship, thousands of people use Apple’s Quick Start phone-to-phone transfer, see all their Home Screen app icons appear on the new iPhone, factory-reset their old iPhone at the carrier counter, and then open their private photo vault app at home, only to find it completely empty.
That happens because Apple’s built-in Hidden album and dedicated encrypted vault apps obey opposite rules during an iPhone transfer.
What transfers automatically to a new iPhone (and what does not)
| Where your hidden photos live | Quick Start (iPhone-to-iPhone) | iCloud Photos / iCloud Backup restore | Unencrypted Mac/PC backup restore | Encrypted Mac/PC backup restore |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apple Photos Hidden album (Apple Support 104987) | Transfers (stays in Hidden) | Transfers (stays in Hidden) | Transfers (if iCloud Photos was off) | Transfers (stays in Hidden) |
| Google Photos Locked Folder (Google Help) | Only if Locked Folder cloud backup is ON | Only if Locked Folder cloud backup is ON | No | No |
On-device encrypted vault (isExcludedFromBackup = true) | No (export vault backup file manually) | No (export vault backup file manually) | No | No |
| Cloud-account vault (e.g. Keepsafe Cloud) | Sign in to account to re-download synced items | Sign in to account | Sign in to account | Sign in to account |
Why security-focused vault apps do not transfer during Quick Start
In Apple’s iOS file system, developers can set the isExcludedFromBackup (NSURLIsExcludedFromBackupKey) resource value on any file or folder. When a vault app sets that flag:
- iOS excludes those encrypted files from nightly iCloud Backups (Apple Support 108770).
- macOS Finder and Windows Apple Devices exclude those files from local computer backups.
- Because Apple’s Quick Start migration uses the exact same underlying device-backup manifest to clone app data onto a new iPhone, iOS skips
isExcludedFromBackupfiles during Quick Start too.
That design protects you from silent backup leaks on shared computers and cloud servers, and it means you must move your vault yourself when switching phones.
Checklist before you erase or trade in your old iPhone
Follow these four steps before you hand your old iPhone to a trade-in counter or tap Erase All Content and Settings:
- Keep your old iPhone without erasing it until your new iPhone is completely set up and you have opened every app to check your files in person.
- For Apple Photos, open Photos on the new iPhone, scroll down to Utilities, tap Hidden, unlock with Face ID, and verify that the item count matches your old iPhone (if you use iCloud Photos, wait for the bottom status bar to say Synced just now).
- For Google Photos Locked Folder, open Google Photos on the old phone, go to Collections, then Locked, and either turn on Back up Locked Folder or move device-only items out before transferring.
- For an on-device encrypted vault app, open Backup and transfer inside the vault on your old iPhone, save an encrypted backup file to Files, AirDrop or a computer, open that backup file on the new iPhone, enter your 12-word recovery phrase, and verify that every photo and video opens on the new phone before wiping the old one.
For a complete pre-trade-in and repair privacy checklist, read our guide on preparing your phone for repair or trade-in.
Questions
Do photos in the iPhone Hidden album transfer during Quick Start?
Yes. Whether you transfer directly from iPhone to iPhone with Quick Start or sync through iCloud Photos, your Hidden album and the hidden flag on every item inside it carry over to the new iPhone automatically.
Will my hidden photos suddenly unhide on the new iPhone?
No. According to Apple Support, the hidden status is part of your Photos library metadata, so hidden items land directly inside Utilities > Hidden on the new iPhone and remain locked behind Face ID or your passcode.
Why was my third-party photo vault app empty on my new iPhone after Quick Start?
Security-focused vault apps set Apple’s NSURLIsExcludedFromBackupKey flag on their encrypted vault files so your vault is never quietly copied into iCloud or computer backups. Because Quick Start uses the same backup-transfer mechanism, the app icon installs on the new phone with an empty vault until you restore your encrypted backup file.
What happens if I already traded in or factory-reset my old iPhone without backing up my local vault app?
If the vault app stored files only on the old phone with device-backup exclusion enabled and you did not export a backup file or enable an encrypted cloud backup inside that app, those files were permanently erased when the old iPhone was wiped.
What about Google Photos Locked Folder when switching to a new iPhone?
Items in Google Photos Locked Folder only appear on your new phone if you turned on 'Back up Locked Folder' inside Google Photos on the old phone. Non-backed-up Locked Folder items do not transfer during Quick Start or USB cables.
Sources
5
- Apple Support: Use Quick Start to transfer data to a new iPhone or iPad (102659)
- Apple Support: Hide photos on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac (104987)
- Apple Support: What does iCloud back up? (108770)
- Apple Developer: NSURLIsExcludedFromBackupKey / isExcludedFromBackup
- Google Photos Help: Hide sensitive photos and videos in Locked Folder
Keep reading
What is in an iPhone backup, and where forgotten copies live
Whether an iPhone backup contains your camera roll and Hidden album depends on one switch. Here is what every backup stores and where old ones hide.
SituationBefore a phone repair, trade-in or sale
Back up before any repair, because a phone can come back erased. Before you sell, sign out and then erase everything.
GuideHidden photos on iPhone: where they go and who can see them
Where do hidden photos go on iPhone, how do you open them in iOS 18+, and who can still see them? The full breakdown.
