Moto Secure: how to hide photos and apps on a Motorola phone

Motorola phones hide apps and files with Secure folder, part of the built-in Moto Secure app. It's a locked space with its own PIN, and it can even disguise itself as a different app. Here's how to set it up, hide photos and apps in it, make the folder itself disappear, and the one rule to know before you trust it: Motorola can't reset a forgotten Secure folder PIN.

How to set up Secure folder

1. Open the Moto Secure app, or go to Settings → Security & privacy → More security & privacy.
2. Tap Secure folder, and unlock your phone if asked.
3. Choose a lock: a pattern, a PIN of 4 to 16 digits, or a password of 4 to 16 characters. Make it different from your screen lock, so knowing one doesn't open the other.
4. Add your fingerprint too, if you like.

Secure folder then appears in your app list or on your home screen.

How to hide photos and files on Motorola

1. Open Secure folder and unlock it.
2. Tap the add button, then Add files.
3. Select your photos or files, tap Select, then Move.

Move takes the files out of their old location, so they only exist inside Secure folder. To see them, open Files inside the folder. Screenshots you take while you're in Secure folder stay there too, instead of joining your other screenshots.

How to hide and lock apps on Motorola

Secure folder is also Motorola's way to lock apps. Apps inside it only open once you've unlocked the folder.

1. Open Secure folder, tap the add button, then Add apps.
2. Tick apps you already have, or tap Add from Google Play to install a fresh copy inside the folder.
3. Sign in to the app again inside the folder, since your login isn't copied across.

An app you add from your phone is still in your main app list too. To keep it only in Secure folder, delete the copy outside. Inside the folder's Notification Manager, you can choose whether secure apps show their message content, just their name and icon, or nothing at all.

How to disguise or hide Secure folder itself

Secure folder can change its own look, or disappear:

• Disguise it. Open Secure folder, tap Disguised icons and turn on Use disguised icons, then pick another icon and type a different name.
• Hide it. Open Secure folder, tap Stealth mode and choose where it should be invisible: in the Moto Secure app, in your app list, or both. To get back in, go to Settings → Security & privacy → More security & privacy → Secure folder.

Both stop a casual look, not a determined one. Settings still lists Secure folder for anyone who goes looking, which is true of any disguised app.

If you forget the Secure folder PIN

This is the part to know before you move anything in. Motorola's help says that if you forget the folder's PIN, password or pattern, the only option is to delete the folder and set it up again, and deleting it removes every app and file inside.

So treat Secure folder as a lock, not a safe place to keep the only copy of something. Choose a code you'll remember, and keep a backup of anything you can't lose somewhere else. Motorola's guide doesn't mention a way to back up the folder or move it to a new phone. Our guide to moving hidden photos to a new phone covers what to do before you switch.

Private space on newer Motorola phones

Newer Motorola phones with Android 15 or later may also have Android's own Private space, a separate locked area for apps. Our list of Secure Folder alternatives compares it with Moto Secure and the options on other phones.

A vault with a backup

Secure folder keeps things locked on one phone, with no way back from a forgotten PIN. A vault app like Hidey works differently: it encrypts each photo, video or file on your phone, deletes the original, and backs the vault up to a hidden folder in your own Google Drive, encrypted before upload, for free. Forget your PIN and you can reset it from Hidey's lock screen through Google after a 24-hour wait, without losing anything. The trade-off to know: whoever controls your Google account could reset it too, unless you turn on zero-knowledge mode (Pro). For more on what happens when you can't get into a vault, see what to do if you forget your vault PIN.