Where did OnePlus Lockbox go? Hiding photos and apps on OnePlus today
Lockbox became Private Safe and Hidden Space became Hide apps. How to use both on OxygenOS today, how to find hidden apps and photos, and what they protect.
· 7 min read
If you're looking for Lockbox on a newer OnePlus phone, you won't find it. Since OxygenOS 12, OnePlus phones have been built on OPPO's ColorOS, and Lockbox's job went to Private Safe, while Hidden Space became Hide apps with an access code. Here's where everything moved, how to use each feature today, and what it does and doesn't protect.
What happened to Lockbox and Hidden Space
| OxygenOS 11 and earlier | OxygenOS 12 and later |
|---|---|
| Lockbox, in the File Manager app | Private Safe |
| Hidden Space, swiping right in the app drawer | Hide apps, opened with an access code |
| App locker | App lock |
Lockbox lived in File Manager: you moved files into it and opened it with a PIN. Guides from the time describe it as a hidden folder behind a PIN rather than encryption. If your phone never updated past OxygenOS 11, Lockbox is still in File Manager. If it did update, look in Private Safe.
How to use Private Safe on OnePlus
Private Safe keeps photos, videos, audio and documents behind a privacy password, separate from your screen lock. It works the same way as Private Safe on OPPO and realme phones.
- Open Settings and tap Privacy (Security & privacy on newer versions), then Private Safe. Searching Settings for "Private Safe" also works.
- Set a privacy password, and make it different from your phone's unlock code. The same password also protects App lock and Hide apps.
- Add the recovery options it asks for, such as a recovery email or security question. They're how you reset the password if you forget it.
There are two ways to move photos in:
- From Photos: select the photos, tap ⋮ and choose Set as private.
- From Private Safe: open it, tap the add button and pick your files.
Photos in Private Safe leave the Photos and Files apps and only open inside the safe, with your privacy password or fingerprint. For quicker access, Private Safe's settings can add a home screen icon. To make a photo public again, select it inside Private Safe and move it back out.
How to hide apps on OnePlus (the new Hidden Space)
- Open Settings, tap Privacy (or Security & privacy), then Hide apps, and enter your privacy password.
- Choose the apps you want to hide.
- Set an access code: a #, a few digits and another #, such as #2580#.
To open a hidden app, open the Phone app and dial your access code, or go back to Hide apps in Settings. While you're there, turn on the option that hides notifications for hidden apps. Otherwise a message can still show up on your lock screen with the app's name on it. If you'd rather an app stayed visible but looked like something else, see how to disguise an app.
How to find hidden photos and apps on OnePlus
- Hidden apps: dial your access code in the Phone app, or open Hide apps in Settings with your privacy password.
- Hidden photos: open Private Safe. If they aren't there, check Google Photos' Locked Folder (Collections, then Locked) and the other places in our guide to finding hidden photos.
Where Private Safe falls short
Private Safe is a big step up from Lockbox, but it has limits worth knowing:
- Recovery. If you forget the privacy password and can't use your recovery email or security question, there's no way back in. Wiping the phone to clear the password erases Private Safe with everything else.
- Backups. Don't assume your phone's backup includes Private Safe. If the phone is lost or reset, its contents can go with it, so check before you rely on it.
- The next phone. Private Safe only exists on OnePlus, OPPO and realme phones, so moving to another brand means taking everything out first.
- Copies elsewhere. Hiding a photo doesn't remove copies Google Photos already backed up. Here's where those copies hide.
- Hidden apps aren't locked apps. Anyone who learns your access code sees every hidden app. Use App lock as well for the ones that matter.
Hiding photos on OnePlus with Hidey
Hidey is a vault app that works the same on a OnePlus phone as on any other Android phone. It encrypts each photo on your phone with AES-256-GCM, checks the encrypted copy, then deletes the original, so it's gone from Photos, Files and every other app. The vault opens with its own PIN or password, or your fingerprint, and its calculator disguise is free if you'd rather it looked like an ordinary calculator.
Hidey also backs up to a hidden folder in your own Google Drive, free and encrypted before upload, so your photos survive a lost phone and come with you to the next one, whatever the brand. If you forget your PIN, you can reset it through Google after a 24-hour wait. Whoever controls your Google account could do the same, unless you turn on zero-knowledge mode (Pro). For every option side by side, see how to hide photos on Android.