How to show someone a photo on your iPhone without them swiping to the others

Photos is built so that the photo you opened sits in the middle of a continuous strip. Swiping sideways moves along your Library in date order, and swiping up shows details or the grid. Nothing in the app marks a photo as the only one meant to be shown.

Most people who see too much do so by accident, not on purpose. A friend swipes to zoom or reach the next holiday photo, and the next one is a screenshot of a bank transfer or a scan of an ID.

Guided Access is an accessibility feature built into iOS. Set it up once:

1. 1Open Settings, then Accessibility, then Guided Access, and turn it on.
2. 2Tap Passcode Settings, then Set Guided Access Passcode, and choose a code. You can also allow Face ID to end a session. Pick a code you do not use as your iPhone passcode.

To use it each time:

1. 1Open the Photos app and tap the photo you want to show, so it fills the screen.
2. 2Triple-click the side button (the Home button on iPhones that have one). If another accessibility shortcut also uses triple-click, iOS lists the options; choose Guided Access.
3. 3Tap Options in the bottom corner and turn Touch off. With Touch off, the screen ignores taps and swipes, so the photo cannot be changed.
4. 4Tap Start. Hand over the phone.

To finish, triple-click the side button again, enter the Guided Access passcode (or use Face ID if you allowed it) and tap End.

With Touch off the other person cannot zoom in either. If they need to zoom, leave Touch on and accept that they could swipe, or zoom in yourself before you start the session.

Often the best fix is not to hand over the phone at all:

1. 1Open the photo and tap the Share button.
2. 2Choose AirDrop, a chat app or Mail, and send it to the person.

They then look at the photo on their own phone. Before you send a picture that was taken at home or at work, see how to remove location data from photos on iPhone.

If you have several photos to show, a shared album holds only what you add to it, but it is shared through iCloud, so use it only with people you would trust with those photos.

Guided Access works only if you remember to start it. For photos that should stay out of sight in any case, you can move them out of the main Library:

• The Hidden album removes photos from Library, Memories and widgets. Turn on Face ID for it in Settings, under Photos (Apps, then Photos on newer iOS versions). See how to hide photos on iPhone, and if the album seems to be missing, how to find the Hidden album on iPhone.
• Anyone who knows your iPhone passcode can still open the Hidden album, because the passcode works as a fallback for Face ID.

Photos you never want to swipe past, such as ID scans, card photos or private pictures, can live outside the Photos library. Lockboxy is a private, encrypted vault for iPhone built for that.

1. 1Open Lockboxy with its passcode and go to the Media tab.
2. 2Use the import button and pick photos in the iOS photo picker. Only the photos you pick are imported.
3. 3Lockboxy can then offer to delete the originals from your library. iOS asks you to confirm, and deleted photos still sit in Recently Deleted for up to 30 days. See how to permanently delete photos on iPhone.

Photos in Lockboxy are encrypted with AES-256 on your device, and they never appear in the Photos app, so swiping in Photos cannot reach them. There is no account and no server holding a copy.

• Guided Access stops swipes, but whoever knows the Guided Access passcode can end the session. Use a different code from your iPhone passcode.
• Guided Access keeps people inside one app. It does not stop them from using the phone once it is ended, so end it only when the phone is back in your hands. See how to lend your iPhone without exposing your photos for more on lending a phone.
• The vault key in Lockboxy comes from your passcode. If you forget it, nobody, including us, can open the vault, unless you made a Recovery Key (Premium) beforehand.
• The free plan has room for up to 30 photos or videos and 10 files. The price of Premium is shown in the app before you buy; see the Premium page.