How to hide apps and photos on a Google Pixel (Private space and Locked Folder)

Google Pixel phones don't have a Secure Folder or a switch that hides app icons. They have two other tools instead: Private space for apps, on Android 15 and later, and Google Photos' Locked Folder for photos. Here's how to hide apps and photos on a Pixel with each one, how to get back to them, and the gaps to know about before you rely on them.

The steps follow Google's own help for Pixel and Android.

How to hide apps on a Pixel with Private space

Private space is a separate, locked area of your phone for apps you don't want others to find. To set it up:

1. Open Settings → Security & privacy, and under Privacy, tap Private space.
2. Unlock with your screen lock, then tap Set up and Got it.
3. Optionally, sign in to a Google account for the private space. Google suggests using a different account from your main one, so private notifications and files don't show outside it.
4. Choose a lock: your phone's screen lock, or Choose new lock to give the space a PIN, pattern or password of its own.

A lock of its own is the better choice: anyone who knows your screen lock would otherwise know this one too. Google says private space needs Android 15 or later, and it isn't available on managed devices such as some work phones.

Add apps to Private space

Apps go inside the private space as separate installs, with their own data. Unlock the space at the bottom of your app list and use its option to install apps there from Google Play. An app you already have outside it stays where it is, so if you want it only in private space, uninstall the outside copy.

Lock private space, and hide it

Scroll to the bottom of your app list, find Private space and tap Lock. While it's locked, Google says its apps are stopped completely: they can't run or show notifications, and they're hidden from your app list, search, recent apps, the photo picker and even Settings.

In private space's settings, two options make it harder to find:

• Lock private space automatically: every time the phone locks, 5 minutes after the screen times out, or only after a restart.
• Hide private space when it's locked: the space disappears from your app list the next time you lock it.

How to open a hidden private space

Search your app list for "private space" and tap the result, or go to Settings → Security & privacy → Private space, then unlock it. Google says that search result appears on phones with no private space too, so seeing it doesn't tell anyone you have one.

Private space's gaps

• No backup. Google says private space isn't restored from a device backup, and deleting it deletes its apps and their data. Only data an app syncs to its own cloud comes back.
• No way back without its lock. If you forget the lock, the only fix is to reset private space, which deletes everything inside.
• Not invisible to everyone. Google says someone with a computer connected to the phone, device logs or apps that look for it may still tell it exists.

Our guide to finding hidden apps on Android shows what others can see, and our list of Secure Folder alternatives compares Private space with other brands' locked spaces.

How to hide photos on a Pixel with Locked Folder

Google Photos' Locked Folder keeps photos out of your grid, albums and search, and away from other apps, behind your screen lock:

1. In Google Photos, select the photos or videos.
2. Tap Add to, then Move to Locked Folder, then Move.

On a Pixel 4 or later, you can also save straight from the camera: touch and hold the preview of your last photo or video, next to the shutter, and tap Locked Folder. To see the photos again, open Collections → Locked.

Two catches: its only lock is your screen lock, and its backup is off unless you turn it on, in which case moving a photo in deletes its Google Photos backup. Our Locked Folder guide covers the backup, and if you only want photos out of your main view, Archive does that without a lock.

A vault that goes with you

Private space and Locked Folder each lock one thing, on one phone. Private space has no backup at all, and Locked Folder backs up only if you turn that on. Hidey is a vault app that works on a Pixel the same way as on any other Android phone. It has its own PIN or password, separate from your screen lock, or your fingerprint, and it encrypts each photo, video and file you hide, checks the encrypted copy, then deletes the original. Its calculator disguise is free if you'd like it to look like a calculator.

Hidey's backup to a hidden folder in your own Google Drive is free and encrypted before upload, so your photos come with you to your next phone, Pixel or not. If you forget your PIN, you can reset it through Google after a 24-hour wait, so whoever controls your Google account could too, unless you turn on zero-knowledge mode (Pro). For how Locked Folder compares, see our Locked Folder comparison.