Show Hidden Photos on Mac [macOS Ventura/Monterey Tip]

Most people hide photos for privacy and security reasons. However, you might later forget where the hidden album is or even your password. This article will teach you how to show and unhide hidden pictures on your Mac.

How to View and Recover Lost Photos on a Mac

The main point of hiding photos is to keep them from being seen by anyone but you. Once you choose which photos to hide, they'll be moved to the Hidden Album.

Here's the thing – can you see your hidden albums? If not, here's how to view hidden photos on Mac.

Step 1: Click on "View" in the menu bar.

Step 2: Select "Show Hidden Photo Albums."

Step 3: Click the "Hidden Album" in the sidebar to open it.

After doing this, you should be able to see the hidden photos. If some are missing, you can use software to recover them.

Data Recovery Wizard for Mac is an excellent and powerful utility that comes in really handy. It boasts reliable and secure advanced features to restore lost or accidentally deleted files on your Mac.

This Mac data recovery tool can fix retrieving deleted pictures on Mac, videos, and even recover permanently deleted photos. It handles the job whether the loss was due to virus infection, hardware failure, or system crash. This amazing software has got you covered.

Follow the steps here to retrieve your lost photos with this powerful Mac photo recovery software:

Note: You can create a backup by clicking Disk Backup on the left first. If your disk fails or photos are accidentally deleted from it, you can recover them from the backup image.

Step 1: Search for the Lost Photos

Select the location where you lost your valuable photos and then click on “Start Scan” button to search for the lost files.

Select the location of the lost photos, and then click “Start Scan” to begin the scanning process.

Step 2: Choose the photo you want

The Data Recovery Wizard will immediately scan the disk volume you select. The scanning results will be displayed in the left pane. You can quickly filter out your lost photos by "Path" and "Type".

Step 3: Recover Lost Photos

Select the photos you want to restore and click the “Recover” button to get them all back at once.

Now, share this post with your friends and colleagues to help them find and check their missing photos:

How to Show Hidden Photos on a Mac

If you're having trouble finding hidden photos on your Mac, you've come to the right place. This article will guide you through different methods of displaying hidden pictures on your Mac.

Just remember that un-hiding photos on a Mac means anyone with access to your login credentials can see them, too.

Method 1: Display Hidden Photos by Showing Photo Files

The reason you're not seeing your photos is that they are invisible. So you need to make them visible first.

Step 1: Click the Terminal icon.

Step 2: Type the following command and press Enter:

Type the command in the terminal:

Step 3: Type “killall Finder” and press “Return.”

After going through these steps, you should be able to see hidden folders and files in Finder since you've made them visible.

Method 2: View Photos on a Mac with Finder

You can view your hidden photos using the Finder.

Here are the steps to do it!

Step 1. Turn on your Mac and open the "Finder."

Step 2: Click on "Go" to open the drop-down menu.

Step 3: From the drop-down menu, select "Computer."

Step 4: Double-click the "Macintosh HD" icon.

Step 5: Hold down the “Shift,” “Command,” and “.” keys to show all hidden files and folders.

Method 3: Show Library Files and Folders to View Hidden Photos

You can show files and folders in the “Library” to view hidden photos.

1. Open Finder on your Mac.

< At Step 2 > Hold down the Option key, then choose Go to show the Library folder.

Step 3. Hold down the Option key and click on “Library” to open it.

Click “Go to make the library visible” to make the library visible

This displays all of the folders and files within the library. To show Libraries permanently, drag it to the Sidebar.

How to View Hidden Photos on a Mac

After viewing your hidden photos on a Mac, you might consider un-hiding them to make them visible again. Depending on your needs, you can unhide a single photo or several at once.

If you unhide all the hidden photos, the Hidden album won't appear on the sidebar. However, if you hide a photo, it will reappear on the sidebar. To unhide folders on your Mac, follow the steps in this article: How to Unhide Folders on Mac.

Step 1: Click "View" from the menu bar.

Step 2: Choose "Show Hidden Albums."

Step 3: Tap on "Hidden Album" from the side menu, and enter your passcode to view the hidden photos.

Here are the steps to guide you on how to unhide hidden photos!

1️⃣ Display an image

1. Go to the Hidden album, and enter your Apple ID or password to unlock it.

Select the photo you want to unhide.

Step 3: Tap on “More,” and then select “Unhide.”

2️⃣ Batch unhide multiple photos

Step 1: Open “Hidden Album,” then enter your Apple ID or password.

Step 2: Tap on “Select” at the top, then check off all of the photos you want to unhide.

Step 3: After selecting, tap “More,” then tap “Show.”

Last Words

Due to system crashes, outdated operating systems, virus attacks, and other reasons, your MacOS device can encounter corruption issues that put your data at risk and may lead to data loss. It's better to take preventive measures rather than waiting for problems to occur. Protect your data with the Mac data recovery software tool "Data Recovery Wizard for Mac."

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on "How to Show Hidden Photos on a Mac"

For more information, see the Frequently Asked Questions about hiding photos on your Mac.

How do I find my hidden photos on my Mac?

Hidden photos go into the Hidden album; you can only find them by showing the album.

Here's how to find the hidden photos!

1. Step 1. Click on "View" in the menu bar.
2. Step 2. Select "Show Hidden Albums."
3. Step 3. In the sidebar, click on "Hidden Album," then enter your password to open it and view your hidden photos.

2. How do I view hidden photos?

Finding hidden photos through the Finder can be a hassle. To avoid this, you can show hidden images by:

Make hidden folders and files visible. Show libraries.

3. Will hidden photos be backed up to my Mac?

If you had iCloud Photos turned on before you hid the photos, they'll back up to your Mac because hidden photos sync. However, these images won't appear in your library unless you go into the Hidden album.