Google Photos Locked Folder vs a vault app

Everything about Locked Folder on this page comes from Google’s own help pages for Android and iPhone and iPad (checked October 2026). Menu names move around between app versions, so check those pages if a step looks different on your phone.

At a glance

	Locked Folder	Umbra
Cost	Free, part of Google Photos	Free for 3 vaults, 100 photos, 10 videos
Phones	Android 6 and later, iPhone and iPad on iOS 15 and later	Android, iPhone and iPad
Opens with	Your phone’s screen lock (Face ID or passcode on iPhone)	A pattern only you know
Separate password possible	No	Yes, the pattern is separate by design
Encryption	Google Photos' standard encryption practices	AES-256-GCM, a separate key per file
Backup	Optional, you choose at setup, then to Google Photos	Encrypted backup file on both platforms, plus encrypted iCloud backup on iPhone and iPad
Hidden from other apps	Yes	Yes, encrypted inside the app
Several separate hidden spaces	One folder	Several vaults, never listed
Decoy if you’re made to unlock	No	Yes, duress pattern (Pro)
Screenshots blocked	Not mentioned by Google	Yes, they come out black
Logs wrong attempts	Not mentioned by Google	Yes, break-in log
Documents and notes	Photos and videos only	Photos, videos, PDFs, scans and notes

What Locked Folder does well

Google has built a sensible feature, and for a lot of people it’s enough.

It hides properly from the rest of your phone. Items in Locked Folder don’t show in your photo grid, memories, search or albums. Other apps that have access to your photos and videos can’t see them.
It reaches your TV and smart display too. Locked items stop appearing on Nest Hub and through Chromecast, though Google says that can take up to an hour.
It’s already there. No install, no new app icon, nothing to explain if someone looks through your apps.
Backup is optional. If you want a copy in the cloud, you can turn on Locked Folder backup. If you don’t, the items stay on the phone only.

If your goal is that photos don’t pop up when you show someone your holiday pictures, or that a photo-editing app can’t read them, Locked Folder does that well.

Where it falls short

Your screen lock is the only lock

Google’s help page is direct about this: the Locked Folder password is your device screen lock, and you can’t use a different one. On iPhone it opens with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.

That’s fine for strangers. It isn’t fine for a partner, a child, a parent or a friend who has seen you unlock your phone. For them, Locked Folder is one tap away.

There’s no key of its own

Google describes Locked Folder as protected by "Google Photos' standard encryption practices". It doesn’t claim end-to-end encryption, and there’s no extra key that only you hold. On the phone, the folder is as safe as your screen lock. In the cloud, backed-up items are handled like the rest of your Google Photos library.

Backup is a trade-off either way

With backup off, Google says items are lost if you factory reset, clear the Photos app’s data, uninstall Photos, or lose or damage the phone. They’re also skipped when you move to a new phone with a cable or cloud transfer.

There’s one more catch people miss. If you move a photo into Locked Folder while Locked Folder backup is off, Google deletes the copy that was already backed up to Google Photos. So the photo you just "protected" may now exist on one phone only.

With backup on, the items are stored in your Google account, count toward your storage, and open on other devices signed in to that account. Anyone who gets into your Google account on another device can reach them by passing that device’s lock.

You can’t do much with the photos

Inside Locked Folder you can’t add items to albums, edit them, or share them, either in Google Photos or to other apps. You can’t move them to Trash, only delete them permanently. To send a locked photo to someone, you have to move it out first.

Copies stay behind

Moving a photo in doesn’t move edited versions, related copies or copies others saved from a shared album. Anything you already sent someone stays on their phone. That’s true of every hiding tool, vaults included, but it’s worth knowing before you rely on Locked Folder as a cleanup.

What a vault app adds

Umbra keeps photos inside the app, encrypted, behind a pattern that has nothing to do with your screen lock.

A key that isn’t your PIN. Your pattern is stretched with Argon2id and mixed with a secret that never leaves your phone (Android Keystore or iOS Keychain). Files copied off the phone can’t be guessed at somewhere else.
Every file encrypted on its own. AES-256-GCM with a random key per item. Videos play straight from the encrypted file without being written out in the clear.
Several vaults that nothing lists. Each pattern opens its own vault. The unlock screen is just a grid of dots and never lists vaults. With Pro, nothing on the phone records how many exist.
A decoy for when you’re pressured. With Pro, a duress pattern opens a harmless vault and removes the way into the others from the phone.
Screenshots and screen recordings come out black, and the app switcher shows a cover.
A break-in log. Three wrong patterns in a row get logged, and with Pro, a silent photo from the front camera.
Backups you hold the key to. Export an encrypted .umbra file and keep it in Google Drive or anywhere else. It stays encrypted, and only your recovery phrase opens it. The same file restores on iPhone and iPad if you ever switch.
No account. No email, no sign-up, no analytics. Recovery is a 12-word phrase, or one you choose yourself, that only you hold.

The trade-off is real too. Umbra can’t protect you from someone watching you draw the pattern, from a compromised phone, or from a vault you left open. And if you lose both the pattern and the recovery phrase, nobody can open the vault, including us.

How to move photos from Locked Folder to a vault

Locked Folder won’t share to other apps, so the photos have to come out before a vault can import them.

Open Locked Folder. In Google Photos, go to Collections, then Locked, and unlock.
Move the photos out. Select them and choose to move them out of Locked Folder (Google’s wording; the exact button label varies by app version). They go back to your main library.
Install Umbra and draw a pattern. Save the 12 recovery words somewhere off the phone.
Import the photos. Pick them from your gallery inside Umbra. Each one is encrypted as it comes in.
Let Umbra delete the originals. After importing, Umbra offers to delete them from your gallery. Say yes.
Clean up Google Photos. If photo backup is on, Google Photos backs up items in your main library, so check whether these were uploaded while they were out of Locked Folder, delete them, then empty the Trash.
Export an encrypted .umbra backup file from Umbra, so the vault doesn’t live on one phone only.

Do steps 2 to 5 in one sitting, so the photos spend as little time as possible back in your main library.

When to use which

Use Locked Folder to keep photos out of your grid, search and memories, and away from other apps. It’s free, built in, and the screen lock is enough when the people around you don’t know your PIN.
Use a vault when someone who knows your screen lock is exactly who you’re hiding from, when you want a backup only you can read, or when you need a believable answer if you’re made to open it.

Using both is reasonable. Locked Folder for the merely awkward, a vault for the genuinely private.

Questions

Is Google Photos Locked Folder as safe as a vault app?

Not quite. It’s safe from people who can’t unlock your phone and from other apps on it, but it isn’t separate from your screen lock, so anyone who knows your PIN, pattern or passcode can open it. Google describes it as protected by its standard encryption practices, not end-to-end encryption. A vault app adds its own lock and its own key, which is what matters if the person you’re hiding from knows your PIN.

Can I set a different password for Locked Folder?

No. Google says the Locked Folder password is your device screen lock and you can’t use a different one. If you want a separate lock, you need a different tool, such as a vault app, or Samsung Secure Folder on a Galaxy phone, which asks you to set its own PIN, password or pattern (checked October 2026).

What happens to Locked Folder photos if I uninstall Google Photos?

If they aren’t backed up, they’re gone. Google says items kept only on the device are lost if you uninstall Photos, clear its data, factory reset or lose the phone. Turn on Locked Folder backup, or move them somewhere with a backup you control, before you do any of those.

Can Google see photos in Locked Folder?

Items that stay on your phone with backup off aren’t uploaded. Backed-up items are stored in your Google account under Google Photos' standard encryption, and Google doesn’t describe it as end-to-end encrypted. If you want a cloud copy that only you can read, use an encrypted backup you hold the key to.

Is there a Locked Folder on iPhone?

Yes. Google Photos has Locked Folder on iPhone and iPad with iOS 15 or later, unlocked with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. Apple’s own equivalent is the Hidden album, which has a similar limit: it unlocks with your phone’s Face ID or Touch ID (checked October 2026), not a lock of its own. See Umbra vs the Hidden album for the full comparison.

Checked against public pages on 26 October 2026. Details change, so check the linked pages before you decide. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.