How To Hide Messages On iPhone?

[Daryl_Dixon]

I'm trying to find a way to hide messages on my iPhone so that other people won't be able to quickly glance at them. I don't want to erase the entire conversation; I just want to keep some text messages private. Can iMessage chat be hidden, message previews be disabled, or certain iPhone conversations be locked? A few easy steps would be great.

 

[Kelseyleblanc]

To hide messages on an iPhone, one of the ways is to use the 'Require Face ID' feature (FaceID) that comes with iOS 18. Simply press and hold the Messages app icon on your home screen, then tap 'Require Face ID'; this sets the entire application as a biometric lock. As for individual chats, you can hide them by swiping a thread to the left and hitting the 'Hide Alerts' (bell icon) to prevent notifications from appearing on your lock screen. Also, you can change your Settings so that even if a message notification comes up, its content will remain hidden. Go to Settings > Notifications > Messages > Show Previews and set it to Never.

 

[Larajohn]

On an iPhone, you won't be able to totally hide messages without removing them, however, there are ways to make them less visible to others. For instance, you can disable message previews on the lock screen (Settings > Notifications > Messages > Show Previews > Never), apply message filtering to unknown senders, or erase certain conversations. If you want to go further with privacy, Screen Time restrictions can be turned on or you can take advantage of third, party apps that offer hidden chat features. Still, keep in mind that iMessage does not come with a built, in secret folder feature.

 

[Rapunzel]

To hide messages on an iPhone, go to Settings → Notifications → Messages, then turn off Lock Screen and Banners, or disable Show Previews. You can also mute a chat by opening it in Messages, tapping the contact name, and enabling Hide Alerts on your Apple device.

 

[Colter]

To hide messages on iPhone, open Settings, tap Notifications, select Messages, and disable “Show Previews” or choose “When Unlocked.” You can also turn off Lock Screen alerts. For extra privacy, delete chats or enable Screen Time restrictions to limit message access.