Google Photos' new Locked Folder starts rolling out to Pixel phones

It may take a few days for the new feature to become available for everyone.

What you need to know

• Google Photos' Locked Folder feature is starting to roll out to Pixel phones.
• Any item you add to the Locked Folder will not show up on your photo grid, search, albums, and memories.
• You can even directly save photos and videos to the locked folder using the Google Camera app.

Google announced a new privacy-focused feature called Locked Folder during its I/O 2021 keynote last month. As reported by 9to5Google, the feature has finally started rolling out to Pixel devices as part of a server-side update.

As the name of the feature clearly implies, it lets you hide sensitive photos and videos inside a password-protected folder. If you have the latest June feature drop installed on your Pixel phone, you should be able to find the feature in the Google Photos app under Library > Utilities > Locked Folder.

Once you finish setting up the new feature, you can begin moving items to the Locked Folder from your Google Photos library. Once a photo or video is moved to the Locked Folder, it will no longer show up in your photo grid or any other app that can access photos stored on your device. However, it is important to note that items stored in the Locked Folder will not be backed up. Google will also automatically delete a photo or video from the cloud once it is moved to the Locked Folder.

Google has told Android Central that it plans to add cloud backup "in the near future," but a date was not given.

To hide photos and videos, select the photo or video you want to move to the Locked Folder and tap More > Move to Locked Folder, then tap Move to confirm. You can also save photos and videos directly to the Locked Folder from the Google Camera app. Open the Google Camera app on your Pixel phone, tap Photo gallery > Locked Folder. Any photo or video that you take will now be automatically saved to the Locked Folder, and you can easily switch back to your normal gallery.

The Locked Folder feature is expected to expand to the best Android phones from other OEMs at a later date.

Google Pixel 4a

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The Pixel 4a is undoubtedly the best budget phone that Google has launched so far. It offers a class-leading camera, impressive battery life, and the guarantee of regular software updates.

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