Does uninstalling a photo vault app delete your photos?
What happens to hidden photos when you uninstall a vault app, reset your phone or switch to a new one, and how to make sure they survive.
· 7 min read
It depends on where the vault keeps your files, and most people only find out after it's too late. Here is what happens to hidden photos when you uninstall a vault app, reset your phone or move to a new one, and how to check your vault before you need to.
Where vault apps keep your photos
When you hide a photo, a vault app moves it somewhere your gallery can't see. On Android, that is usually one of three places:
- The app's own storage. Every Android app gets private folders that other apps can't open. Android's documentation is clear about what happens to them: files saved in app-specific storage are removed when the user uninstalls the app.
- A hidden folder on your phone's shared storage. Some vaults keep their files in a folder of their own, often with a name that starts with a dot. That folder isn't removed with the app.
- The vault company's cloud. Some vaults upload your photos to their own servers, sometimes only on a paid plan or up to a limit.
Many vaults also keep the key that opens your files inside their app storage. So even when the files survive an uninstall, a reinstalled app may not be able to open them again.
What happens when you uninstall
| Where the vault keeps your photos | After you uninstall |
|---|---|
| Its own app storage only | Gone, along with the app |
| A hidden folder on the phone | Still there, but they may not open again if the key went with the app |
| The vault company's cloud | Back after you sign in again, if your plan backed them up |
| A backup you control | Back after you restore it |
Two things that don't help after an uninstall: the vault's own trash or recycle bin, which goes with the app, and "vault recovery" software. Recovery tools can sometimes find leftover files that were only hidden, never encrypted. Properly encrypted files can't be opened without their key by any tool, and one that promises otherwise deserves suspicion.
After a factory reset
A factory reset erases everything on the phone's internal storage: every app, every hidden folder and every vault. Only copies kept somewhere else come back, such as a cloud backup or a backup file you saved off the phone.
The same goes for the hiding tools built into Android. Google says items in Google Photos' Locked Folder that aren't backed up are lost if you uninstall Google Photos, clear its data or reset the phone, and Android's Private space isn't restored from a device backup at all.
Moving to a new phone
Vault files don't move to a new phone by themselves, and copying the vault folder across often doesn't work, because the key that opens it stays on the old phone. What you need is a backup the vault can restore from, made before the old phone is gone.
Check your vault before you need it
- Find out where it backs up. Look for backup or sync in its settings, and check that the last backup is recent.
- Try a restore once. If your vault offers a backup file or a cloud restore, test it while you still have the originals.
- Unhide or export before uninstalling. If your vault has no backup at all, move your photos out first.
- Wait for the backup before you reset or trade in a phone.
How Hidey handles it
Hidey keeps your encrypted files in a hidden folder on your phone's storage, not in its app storage, so uninstalling Hidey doesn't delete them. What it needs after a reinstall is the key, and there are three ways to get it back:
- A cloud backup. Sign in with the same Google account and enter your PIN, and your vault comes back from Google Drive (free), on the same phone or a new one, even after a factory reset. With Pro, your own S3 storage works the same way.
- Android's own backup. Hidey also keeps a copy of your vault key, locked with your PIN, in Android's Block Store. Android keeps it across a reinstall only when Backup by Google is on (on most phones, Settings → Google → Backup).
- A backup file. Hidey can export an encrypted backup file, protected by a code it shows you once. Keep the file somewhere other than your phone.
Without any of the three, the encrypted files stay on your phone, but nothing can open them. That's also what keeps them safe from anyone else.
Backups are encrypted on your phone before upload. One trade-off to know: Drive backup also lets you reset a forgotten PIN through Google after a 24-hour wait, so whoever controls your Google account could do the same, unless you turn on zero-knowledge mode (Pro). If you're locked out rather than reinstalling, see what to do if you forget your vault PIN. The security page explains how the keys and recovery work.