How to Hide Photo Collections in iOS 18

Apple’s redesigned Photos app in iOS 18 unifies your photo library and curated content into a single, scrollable screen. To help users manage visual clutter, iOS 18 fully supports hiding, collapsing, and reordering auto-generated collections like Recent Days, Trips, Memories, and People & Pets. This guide explains how the feature works and outlines the exact steps to customize your layout.

Customizing and Hiding Auto-Generated Collections

You can remove any unwanted auto-generated sections from your main view without deleting the photos inside them.

Follow these steps to hide specific photo collections:

  1. Open the Photos app on your iPhone running iOS 18.
  2. Scroll to the very bottom of the main library screen.
  3. Tap Customize & Reorder.
  4. Review the list of available collections, which includes:
    • Recent Days
    • People & Pets
    • Pinned Collections
    • Memories
    • Trips
    • Shared Albums
    • Albums
    • Featured Photos
    • Media Types
    • Utilities
    • Wallpaper Suggestions
  5. Uncheck the blue checkmark next to any collection you wish to hide from your main feed.
  6. (Optional) Drag the three-line handle next to any remaining collection to change the order in which they appear.
  7. Tap the X in the top-right corner or swipe down to save your preferences.

Once unchecked, the selected collections will immediately disappear from your primary Photos feed.

Collapsing and Managing Pinned Collections

If you prefer to keep certain features visible but compact, iOS 18 includes a Pinned Collections section that acts as a customizable quick-access row.

  • Modify Pinned Items: Within the Pinned Collections section, tap Modify to add or remove shortcuts (such as Favorites, Videos, Screenshots, or specific albums).
  • Collapsing the View: You can reduce the size of this section by removing unnecessary shortcuts, keeping the display strictly focused on the items you access daily.

Restoring Hidden Collections

Hidden collections are not permanently deleted; the app simply stops rendering them in your scrollable view. To restore any hidden section:

  1. Scroll to the bottom of the Photos app.
  2. Tap Customize & Reorder.
  3. Re-check the box beside the collection you want back.
  4. Tap Reset at the top right if you wish to revert the entire layout back to Apple's original default setup.