Someone Screenshotted Your Private Photo: What Now
You sent a photo, or showed it on your screen, and the other person took a screenshot. You cannot delete their copy from your iPhone. You can ask them to delete it, keep a record, and act fast if it spreads.
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What do I need to know?
- A screenshot is a separate copy. It lives on their phone and in their backups, outside your control.
- No setting blocks it. iOS cannot stop screenshots, and view-once modes cannot stop a second camera.
- Most screenshots go nowhere. Many people never share them. A calm request often works.
What can I do today?
- Ask them to delete it. Keep it short and in writing: "Please delete the screenshot of my photo."
- Ask about backups too. Their copy may also be in iCloud Photos or a shared library. Ask them to empty Recently Deleted.
- Screenshot the conversation yourself. If the app showed a screenshot alert, capture that too. Note the date and their username.
- Unsend if you still can. Some apps let you delete a message for everyone. It removes the original, not their screenshot.
- Check where else you shared it. Look through other chats and shared albums for the same photo.
Apple's guide to taking a screenshot covers the button presses on each model. Screenshots save to Photos, so move your record somewhere private afterwards.
What if they threaten to share it?
That is blackmail, not a misunderstanding. Do not pay, and do not delete the messages. Our page on keeping blackmail evidence on iPhone walks through the steps and where to report.
What if it has already been shared?
You are not to blame, and there are free tools:
- Adults: StopNCII.org helps stop intimate images being shared on partner platforms. The fingerprint is made on your device, and the image is not uploaded.
- Under 18 in the image: Take It Down from NCMEC works the same way. You can also report to NCMEC's CyberTipline.
- Report the post on each platform where it appears, and keep a screenshot of the link.
Sharing intimate images without consent is a crime in many places. Talk to a lawyer or the police about your options.
How do I stop it happening again?
Send less, and show less. To show someone one photo, use Guided Access on your own screen so they cannot swipe. They can still photograph the screen, so pick the photo with that in mind.
Keep private photos out of your camera roll altogether. Then a phone handed over to show one picture cannot land on another.
What this doesn't protect against
Nothing on your phone can reach a copy on someone else's phone. A vault does not stop a screenshot of a photo you open in front of someone. It does not stop a photo you send from being saved. If someone watches you draw your pattern, they can open your vault.
Do it with Cryptile
Cryptile keeps private photos in a vault opened by a pattern, separate from Photos. A different pattern opens a different vault, so the one you open in company can hold nothing sensitive.
Cryptile is free for up to 2 vaults, 100 photos and 10 videos. Plus removes the limits for $19.99 a year (7-day free trial) or $39.99 once. The price is the same every day.
Cryptile Send, for sending encrypted files, is coming and is not available yet.