How to password-protect passport and driving licence photos on iPhone
The iPhone can put a passport or driving licence photo behind Face ID in three ways: the Hidden collection in Photos, a locked note in Notes, or Require Face ID on the app that holds the file. All three stop someone browsing your unlocked phone, but none treats the picture as a document, so front and back stay apart and nothing tracks when the photocard or passport runs out.
Plenty of phones in the UK carry a picture of a passport photo page, sent to a lettings agent last spring or kept for a holiday booking, plus the photocard licence someone once asked for. Those pictures sit in the camera roll next to everything else. Before choosing a lock, it is worth sorting which copies you need at all.
Which copies are worth keeping
A copy never replaces the original in the checks the law sets. An employer confirming your right to work looks at your original documents with you present, uses an identity service provider, or views your status online with a share code, and then makes its own record. Landlords in England follow a similar route for right to rent: originals seen with the tenant present, a registered Digital Verification Service, or a share code.
Your own copy earns its place elsewhere. It saves digging out the passport to read its number for a booking, and if the passport goes missing, HM Passport Office says a photocopy or photo of it can help you answer questions when you cancel it.
Several things need no picture at all:
- National Insurance number: the HMRC app shows it, and GOV.UK lists Apple or Google Wallet if you saved it there before.
- NHS number: the NHS App shows it, and the NHS says you do not need to know it to use its services.
- eVisa: you prove your status with a share code that lasts 90 days, so employers and landlords do not need to see the eVisa itself.
The three iPhone locks side by side
| Hidden collection in Photos | Locked note | Require Face ID | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Covers | Pictures you mark as hidden | A single note and the scans inside it | A whole app, for example Files |
| Opens with | Face ID, Touch ID or the iPhone passcode | The iPhone passcode or a separate Notes password | Face ID, Touch ID or the iPhone passcode |
| Other devices | Hidden there as well when iCloud Photos is on | Locked there as well for iCloud notes | Only the iPhone where you set it |
| Catch | Anyone who knows your passcode gets in | A forgotten Notes password cannot be recovered by Apple | Apps that come with the iPhone cannot be hidden |
Hide the picture in Photos
- Open the passport or licence picture and tap the More button (three dots).
- Choose Hide. The picture leaves the library and moves to the Hidden collection.
- To reach it again, go to Collections, scroll to Utilities, tap Hidden, then View Album.
The collection is locked out of the box. If it opens without asking, go to Settings > Apps > Photos and switch Use Face ID back on (Use Touch ID or Use Passcode on other models).
Scan the card into a locked note
- Start a note, tap the Attachment button and choose Scan Documents.
- Capture the passport photo page, or the front and then the back of the photocard.
- From the More button, choose Lock and pick the passcode or a Notes-only password the first time.
Apple lists PDFs among the attachments that stop a note from being locked, so scan inside Notes rather than dropping in a PDF from email. Locking with the passcode also needs iCloud Keychain turned on.
Put Files or Photos behind Face ID
On the Home Screen, touch and hold the app until its quick actions appear, then tap Require Face ID. The lock lives on that iPhone only and does not sync through iCloud, so an iPad needs its own. Apps you downloaded can also go into the Hidden folder at the bottom of App Library with Hide and Require Face ID.
What a lock cannot do for a document
Each lock decides who gets in, nothing more. The photocard front and back remain two unrelated images, nothing records the date the photocard runs to (DVLA asks you to renew it every 10 years), and a copy you forward carries no sign of who it was meant for. For the wider picture of chats, email and cloud folders, see How to store UK documents safely on your phone. For official digital credentials, which a photo never becomes, see Can you add a UK passport or driving licence to Apple Wallet?.
Keeping them in Dokus instead
Dokus treats each item as a document: your passport, photocard licence or any other card is stored under its own name with front and back together, encrypted on the device and opened with Face ID or Touch ID. It works with no signal, there is no Dokus account, and documents never reach a Dokus server; sync, if you want it, runs through your own iCloud. Screenshots of a document come out blank. When you share a copy, Dokus can stamp it with the recipient and the date. Expiry reminders are part of Dokus Plus.
Once your documents are in, delete the loose pictures from Photos. Deleted photos wait in Recently Deleted for 30 days, so clear them there as well.
Questions people ask
Who can open my hidden photos?
Anyone who can unlock the Hidden collection with your Face ID, Touch ID or iPhone passcode. With iCloud Photos turned on, a picture hidden on your iPhone is hidden on your other devices too, and opens there the same way.
Should I keep a screenshot of my eVisa?
There is no need. Your eVisa lives in your UKVI account, and you prove your status by giving an employer or landlord a share code and your date of birth. A share code lasts 90 days and you can get a new one whenever you need it.
Does a passport photo on my phone count as ID?
No. It is a reference copy. Right to work and right to rent checks use the original document seen with you present, a digital identity check through an approved provider, or an online share code, and the employer or landlord makes their own copy.
My phone and passport were stolen together. What should I do first?
Cancel the passport through GOV.UK as soon as possible, which reduces the risk of someone else using it or your identity. A photo or photocopy of the passport helps you answer the questions the service asks, so a copy synced through iCloud to another device, or kept in Dokus with iCloud sync on, is worth having.
Can I lock one folder in the Files app?
Files has no lock for a single folder or file. Lock the whole Files app with Require Face ID, or keep document copies in an app that encrypts them and has its own lock.
