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How to find sensitive photos on your iPhone

Updated 2 November 2026 · By the FirstHour team

Short answerUse the search in the Photos app for words like "passport" or "card", then look through your screenshots. It's free but it won't catch everything, so for a large library, an app that checks on your phone can save time.

What to look for

Search the Photos app

  1. Open Photos and tap Search.
  2. Try words that appear on the things you're looking for, such as your bank's name, "passport", "license", "password" or "code".
  3. Apple's guide lists text as one of the things you can search for, along with dates, places and categories. Results vary, so try a few words.

Look through your screenshots

In Photos, open Collections, then look under Media Types for Screenshots. That's where backup codes and bank details tend to end up. Start with the oldest, since those are the ones you've forgotten.

What to do with what you find

  1. Delete what you don't need, then empty it from Recently Deleted. Otherwise it stays there for 30 days.
  2. Lock away what you need to keep. Here's how the options compare.
  3. Change anything that was exposed. If a password or backup code was sitting in a picture, replacing it is safer than just deleting the picture.

How FirstHour helps

Looking through thousands of pictures takes a while, which is why Protect does it for you, on your iPhone. It groups what it finds, such as card numbers, IDs and backup codes, and keeps them blurred until you're ready. Here's what each group means.

No check is perfect. It often misses handwriting, blurry or cropped pictures and raised card digits. It may also miss ID cards written only in alphabets it reads less well, such as Hebrew, Persian, Bangla and Hindi. It doesn't check videos or your Hidden album. "Nothing found" means nothing obvious, not "safe".

Questions

Does searching in Photos send my pictures anywhere?

Apple's Photos search isn't part of FirstHour, so check Apple's privacy information for how it works. FirstHour's check runs on your iPhone, and your pictures are never uploaded.

Does FirstHour check my Hidden album?

No. FirstHour doesn't check pictures in your Hidden album, so look through it yourself.

Sources

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