Where Is Utilities in iPhone Photos? What's Inside
In iOS 27, open Photos, tap Collections, scroll down, and tap Utilities. It holds Hidden, Recently Deleted, Duplicates and collections Photos builds for you, such as receipts and identity documents.
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What do I need to know?
- Utilities is a section, not an album. It lives under Collections, near the bottom.
- Hidden and Recently Deleted are locked by default. They open with Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode.
- Photos sorts ID and card photos for you. Anyone in your Photos app can find them in one tap.
How do I find Utilities? (iOS 27)
These steps follow Apple's guide to Utilities.
- Open the Photos app.
- Tap Collections.
- Scroll down, then tap Utilities.
- Tap the collection you want.
To move a collection up the list, tap Edit in Utilities, then drag it. Reset undoes your changes.
What is inside Utilities?
Apple says Utilities can show photos you "captured, or recently edited, saved, or shared". It can also group photos by what is in them, "like identity documents, receipts, handwriting, illustrations, and QR codes".
Other collections you may see:
- Hidden. Photos you hid. Apple says you "can't view them anywhere else".
- Recently Deleted. Deleted items stay here for 30 days, then go for good (Apple: delete or hide photos).
- Duplicates. Only appears if Photos finds duplicates. Tap Merge to combine a set (Apple: merge duplicates).
- Recovered. Photos that were not saved properly. Deleting from here is permanent.
Why can't I see Hidden in Utilities?
It may be turned off. Go to Settings → Apps → Photos and turn on Show Hidden Album. Turning it off is an extra layer of privacy. It does not encrypt the photos.
If you can see Hidden but it will not open, it is locked. Use Face ID, Touch ID or your passcode. To stop the lock, turn off Use Face ID in the same Photos settings.
Is Utilities a privacy risk?
It can be. The identity documents and receipts collections gather your most sensitive photos in one place. Passports, driver's licences, bank cards and medical bills can end up there.
Anyone who has your phone unlocked can open Photos and tap through. They do not need to know where those photos were. Apple names Hidden and Recently Deleted as the collections locked by default.
How do I keep ID photos out of Utilities?
Take them somewhere other than Photos. In Cryptile:
- Open a vault with your pattern.
- Tap Add → Take photo. The shot is encrypted as it is saved and never enters Camera Roll.
- For photos already in your library, tap Add → Photos & videos, then let Cryptile delete the originals.
- Empty Recently Deleted in Photos afterwards.
With Cryptile Plus, text in your photos is read on the device at import. You can search the vault for a passport number. Photos never sees the ones you take inside the vault.
What this doesn't protect against
Moving photos into a vault does not remove copies already in shared albums, messages or other cloud services. Anyone who knows your vault pattern can open that vault. If you lose both the pattern and the recovery phrase, the photos are gone.
Do it with Cryptile
Cryptile keeps ID and card photos encrypted with AES-256-GCM, outside your photo library. There is no account and no server.
Cryptile is free for up to 2 vaults, 100 photos and 10 videos, with encrypted iCloud backup included. Plus adds search inside the vault and removes the limits for $19.99 a year (7-day free trial) or $39.99 once.