Hide videos in a locked vault
Hide videos in an encrypted vault that opens only with your PIN or pattern. Full-size playback inside the app, nothing left in the camera roll. iPhone and Android.
At a glance
- Imports videos from your library into the encrypted vault
- Plays back inside the app with sound, no export needed
- Videos leave the camera roll, so they are out of the grid, Memories and photo-cloud sync
- Same PIN or pattern lock as the rest of the vault
- iPhone and Android
- Large 4K videos take longer to import than photos; keep the app open until the import finishes
Videos are the files people most want hidden and the files most hiding methods handle worst. The iPhone Hidden Album takes them, but they stay in the library and sync to iCloud. Google Photos’ Locked Folder takes them too, but anyone with your phone’s screen lock can open it. And a locked note in Apple Notes is not a video player.
TuckVault treats videos exactly like photos: pick them, import them into the vault, and they are encrypted on the device and removed from the places other people and other devices can reach. The difference is what happens afterwards — you can watch them inside the vault, with sound, at full quality.
How to hide a video
- Open the vault and unlock it with your PIN or pattern.
- Tap Add → Videos and select the clips. Long videos take a little longer to import; the progress bar tells you when each one is done.
- Delete the originals from Photos or Gallery when prompted, then empty Recently Deleted (iPhone) or Trash (Google Photos / Gallery).
- If your library backs up to the cloud, open the cloud bin as well and clear it, in case the originals uploaded before you deleted them.
From then on the only copy is the encrypted one in the vault.
Hidden Album vs Locked Folder vs TuckVault, for videos
| iPhone Hidden Album | Google Photos Locked Folder | TuckVault | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stays in the library | Yes | No, but on-device only | No — in the vault |
| Opens with the phone’s screen lock | Yes (Face ID → passcode) | Yes | No — separate PIN or pattern |
| Syncs to the cloud | Yes, with iCloud Photos | Only if you turn on backup | No |
| Playback | In Photos | In Google Photos | Inside the vault |
| Encrypted by the app | No | No separate encryption | Yes, AES |
| Android and iPhone | iPhone only | Android (and iOS Google Photos) | Both |
The full comparisons are on the Hidden Album and Locked Folder pages.
Videos and storage
A vault does not make videos smaller, and it should not: the point is to keep the file intact behind a lock. But most of the gigabytes on a full phone are videos, and most of those are not private — they are the ten-minute recording of a school play and the 4K clip of a fountain. For those, use TuckVault’s video compressor to shrink the file without deleting the memory, and reserve the vault for the clips that actually need a lock.
Good habits
- Finish the import before switching apps. A half-imported video is neither in the vault nor safely in the library.
- Check the cloud bin. Videos take longer to upload, which makes it more likely the original is still sitting in iCloud’s or Google Photos’ trash after you delete it from the phone.
- Keep one private backup of irreplaceable clips somewhere else that is also private, because deleting the app deletes the vault.
Lock what's private. Clear what isn't.
TuckVault keeps your private photos, videos and documents behind a PIN or pattern with AES encryption on your device — and cleans up duplicates, large videos and messy contacts on the same phone. Free to download for iPhone and Android.
Frequently asked questions
Does hiding a video compress it?
No. The vault stores the file you give it. If you want a smaller copy, that is a separate choice in the cleaner's video compressor, not something the vault does on import.
Can I watch vault videos without exporting them?
Yes. Open the vault, tap the video and it plays inside the app. Exporting is only needed if you want the file back in your library or want to share it.
Where do hidden videos go on iPhone without an app?
The Hidden Album takes videos as well as photos. Like hidden photos, hidden videos stay in your library, open with your iPhone passcode and sync to iCloud Photos — which is why people move them to a vault instead.
How much space do vault videos use?
The same as the original file. The vault is about privacy, not compression. If storage is the problem, run the video compressor on the large videos you keep in the library, and move only the private ones into the vault.