Short answer
Locked Folder is the right choice for photos you would rather not scroll past in front of someone: it is free, built in, hidden from the grid, search, Memories and other apps, and by default nothing in it leaves the phone. It is the wrong choice against anyone who knows your screen lock, because Google states the Locked Folder password is the same as your device screen lock and cannot be changed. It also offers no decoy, holds no documents, and its contents are lost on uninstall, data clear, factory reset or a lost phone unless you turn on Locked Folder backup, which puts them in Google's cloud. A vault app covers those four gaps.
On this page
AlterVault vs Locked Folder
Locked Folder facts from Google's help page, linked below. AlterVault facts from the app source.
AlterVault
Locked FolderWhat Locked Folder gets right
- Stays on the device
- By default nothing in Locked Folder is backed up. Google's help page says items you do not back up "will only be stored on that device". For a Google product, that is a real privacy decision.
- Out of sight everywhere
- Items "won't appear in the Photos grid, memories, search or albums", and they are not available to other apps that have access to your photos, even ones you granted full media permission.
- Straight from the camera
- On a Pixel 4 or later, the camera can save directly into Locked Folder, so a sensitive shot never spends a second in the main library.
- Everywhere Google Photos is
- It needs Android 6 or later, and the Google Photos app on iPhone has it too. If you set up its backup, the folder follows your Google account to other devices.
Sources: Google Photos Help: Hide sensitive photos and videos in Locked Folder
Where it stops
- It opens with your screen lock
- Google's words: "Your Locked Folder password is the same as your device screen lock." You cannot set a different one. Anyone who knows your PIN, or has watched you draw your pattern, is already past it. There is no second secret.
- No decoy
- Asked to open your gallery, you can refuse or comply. The Locked entry under Collections is also an announcement that there is something to ask about.
- Photos and video only
- Passport scans, PDFs and screenshots of documents end up in Files or Drive with no equivalent protection. The Files app's own Safe folder handles those, behind a PIN that Google says it cannot recover if you forget it.
- It dies with the device
- Google lists what happens to items that are not backed up: they are lost if you uninstall the Photos app, clear its data, factory-reset the phone, or the phone is damaged or lost. The fix Google offers is its cloud backup, which reintroduces the cloud.
The main Google Photos library is not end-to-end encrypted, so Google can access those photos. Locked Folder without backup is the exception; Locked Folder with backup is not.
Sources: Google Photos Help: Hide sensitive photos and videos in Locked Folder, Files by Google Help: Protect your files with Safe folder
Locked Folder backup: what it does, and what it changes
- Off by default
- Backup for Locked Folder is a separate switch from your normal Google Photos backup. Until you turn it on, nothing in the folder leaves the phone, and you can also back up single items by hand.
- On: the folder follows your account
- With backup on, Locked Folder items are stored in your Google account and you can open the folder from any device signed in to it. That is how you survive a lost phone and how you move to a new one without lifting a finger.
- On: Google holds the copy
- Backed-up Locked Folder items are protected the way the rest of Google Photos is, in transit and on Google's servers under Google's keys. They are hidden from your grid, not encrypted with a key only you have.
- The trade
- Backup off means private but fragile. Backup on means durable but in the cloud. There is no setting that gives you both; that is what an encrypted backup file you keep yourself is for.
Sources: Google Photos Help: Hide sensitive photos and videos in Locked Folder
Locked Folder missing, not showing, or photos disappeared
- You cannot find the folder
- In the current Google Photos app, tap Collections at the bottom, then Locked. In older versions it was under Library, Utilities. If Collections has no Locked entry, update the app.
- The option is not offered
- Locked Folder needs Android 6 or later and is not available on fully managed work devices or for some account types. On a work phone, that is the reason.
- Photos disappeared after a reinstall or reset
- If backup was off, Google says the items are gone: uninstalling Photos, clearing its data or a factory reset deletes them. There is no recovery without backup, and no support path that restores them.
- Photos disappeared after a new phone
- Same cause. Locked Folder items were on the old device only. If the old phone still exists and is not wiped, open Locked Folder there and move the items out or turn backup on.
- You deleted something from Locked Folder
- Check Trash first. Google's help page does not promise that Locked Folder deletions pass through Trash, so treat a deletion there as permanent and act quickly.
Sources: Google Photos Help: Hide sensitive photos and videos in Locked Folder
Moving Locked Folder to a new phone
- Decide: cloud or by hand
Turning on Locked Folder backup moves the folder through Google's servers and it appears on the new phone once you sign in. If you would rather it never touched a server, do it by hand with the next two steps.
- Move items out on the old phone
Open Locked Folder, select everything, and move it out to the main library. Do this before the phone transfer, not after, and before any factory reset.
- Move them back in, or somewhere better
On the new phone, once the library has transferred, put them back in Locked Folder, or import them into a vault whose backup is one encrypted file. Then delete the unprotected copies and empty Trash, which keeps them for 60 days.
What AlterVault adds
- A code your screen lock does not open
- Your vault code goes through Argon2id to derive the key, which wraps a master key in the Android Keystore. The phone's PIN has nothing to do with it, and nobody who knows that PIN gets in.
- A decoy to hand over
- Shake once and the vault becomes an ordinary gallery of ordinary photos, with no animation and nothing to explain. Shake again for the code pad.
- Documents as well as photos
- PDFs and scans come in through the system picker into the same encrypted store, so the passport scan is protected by the same code as the photos.
- A backup file you control
- One encrypted file per vault, written where you choose and restorable on any Android or iPhone with your code. Private like Locked Folder with backup off, durable like Locked Folder with backup on, and never on anyone's server. Every file inside is encrypted with XChaCha20-Poly1305.
AlterVault runs in the ordinary app sandbox and its Android build holds the INTERNET permission for the purchase check through RevenueCat and for anonymous usage events sent to PostHog. Photos, file names and your code never touch the network. Locked Folder is a Google feature with Google's engineering behind it; the comparison here is about design choices, not about who writes better code.
What to actually do
Keep Locked Folder for the holiday photos you would rather not scroll past in front of someone. It is free, it is already there, and for that job nothing is better. Leave its backup off unless losing those photos would hurt more than Google holding them.
Put anything with a consequence somewhere with a code your screen lock does not open, a decoy to hand over, and one encrypted backup file that moves to your next phone. That is the gap AlterVault was built for, and the free tier is enough to test whether it fits.
Questions
Is Google Photos Locked Folder safe?
Yes, for its purpose. Contents stay on the device unless you turn on its backup, are hidden from the grid, search, Memories and albums, and are not available to other apps, including ones with media permission. Its limit is that it opens with your screen lock, and Google says that cannot be changed.
Can Google see photos in my Locked Folder?
Not while backup is off: items are only stored on the device. If you turn on Locked Folder backup they are uploaded to your Google account and protected like the rest of Google Photos, which is not end-to-end encrypted. Your ordinary library is accessible to Google either way.
Does Google Photos Locked Folder back up?
Only if you switch on its own backup setting, which is off by default and separate from normal Photos backup. With it on, the folder is available on any device signed in to your account. With it off, items are lost if you uninstall Photos, clear its data, factory-reset or lose the phone.
What happens to my Locked Folder when I get a new phone?
With backup off, the contents stay on the old device, and people discover this after wiping it. Either turn on Locked Folder backup before the move, or move the items out to the main library, transfer, and move them back in. A vault whose backup is a single encrypted file avoids the problem.
Why is Locked Folder missing or not showing in Google Photos?
Look under Collections, then Locked; older app versions had it under Library, Utilities. It needs Android 6 or later and is not available on fully managed work devices or some account types. If photos vanished from it after a reinstall, reset or new phone and backup was off, Google says they are gone.
Can I recover photos deleted from Locked Folder?
Check Trash immediately. Google's help page does not say Locked Folder deletions go to Trash, so assume they are permanent. Items lost through uninstall, data clear or factory reset with backup off cannot be recovered by Google support.
Does Locked Folder work for documents and PDFs?
No. It handles photos and video only. The Files by Google app has a separate Safe folder for documents behind its own PIN, which Google warns it cannot recover if forgotten. A vault app that accepts anything from the system picker keeps documents and photos in the same encrypted store behind one code.
Is a vault app better than Locked Folder?
For anything that matters, yes. Locked Folder hides photos behind the PIN everyone around you already knows. AlterVault encrypts each file behind a code your phone does not have, adds a decoy gallery to hand over, takes documents as well as photos, and backs up to one encrypted file you keep. For photos you merely do not want to scroll past, Locked Folder is enough and free.