How to Hide Messages on iPhone: The Ultimate Guide

In the ever-expanding digital realm, privacy remains a growing concern. Considering the intricacy of the issue, even many iPhone users are on the hunt for the best ways to protect their messages from prying eyes. 

So, if you’re skeptical about privacy, knowing how to hide messages on iPhone will help you keep your chats private.

Whether you want to keep your conversations private, safeguard sensitive information, or simply prevent someone from snooping through your texts, various options can help you hide your messages.

To achieve this, let’s delve into this write-up and see how to hide messages on iPhone and other techniques to keep your chats secure and private.

Use Invisible Ink

Invisible ink is a feature in iMessage that allows you to send messages hidden with a blurred effect. The recipient will have to swipe over the message to reveal its contents, adding an extra layer of privacy. This feature is available on iOS 10 and later versions. 

Follow these steps to hide iMessages using the invisible ink feature:

1. Open your Messages.

   

2. Select the Conversation.

   

3. Type your message as usual. Press and hold the Send button (the green arrow).

   

4. In the given menu, choose Invisible Ink.

   

5. Send the message. The recipient will need to swipe over the message to reveal its contents.

Archiving Messages (Using iCloud Backup)

Searching on Google for an answer to — How to archive text messages on iPhone? We have another great alternative for you.

There isn’t a native “archive” feature for individual conversations. So, to archive iMessages iPhone, you can store messages in a more secure location using iCloud backups. This method keeps messages hidden from your device’s main interface, though they will remain accessible with iCloud.

Steps:

1. Ensure iCloud Backup is enabled on your device by going to Settings > [Your Name] > iCloud.

   

2. Now select iCloud.

   

3. Create a backup by tapping Back Up Now.

   

4. Once the backup is created, you can delete the conversation from your Messages app. The message won’t appear unless you restore it.

When you need to archive text messages from your iPhone, methods like this allow you to keep sensitive conversations safely out of sight on your device. 

Also, you can archive text messages iPhone by using apps like iMazing, which allow you to save and store your messages externally.

*To restore messages, simply reset the device and restore from an iCloud backup.*

Hide Text Messages from the Lock Screen

If you’re looking for another great way to maintain privacy, here’s how to hide messages on iPhone without deleting them.

This method will not let any message preview appear on the lock screen, ultimately protecting your messages from prying eyes. It thereby prevents sneaky people from reading your messages when your iPhone is locked.

Here’s How to hide iMessages previews on the lock screen:

1. Open the Settings app.

   

2. Scroll down and tap Messages from the list.

   

3. Under Options, tap Show Previews.

   

4. Choose Never or When Unlocked.

   

By setting your phone to When Unlocked, message previews will only be shown when your iPhone is unlocked, preventing strangers from seeing the content of your texts.

How to Hide Notifications from Every Phone Application?

You can also implement a hide notification feature on all your phone apps so that they are not exposed to strangers whenever you receive a private notification. 

To stop all notifications from appearing on your lock screen:

1. Open Settings and go to Notifications.

   

2. Tap Show Previews.

   

3. Select Never.

   

By making these changes, you can ensure that app notifications are concealed until you unlock your device.

Use the Built-In “Hide Alerts iPhone” Feature

Want to hide text messages from your girlfriend on your iPhone? 

Fret not, as we bring to you a few methods through which you keep your conversations private. One option is to enable the “Hide Alerts” feature.

Well, now you must be wondering, “What Does Hide Alerts On iPhone Mean?” This feature doesn’t exactly hide the messages but prevents notifications from appearing on your screen. It ensures that annoying prying eyes don’t see your incoming messages. The “Hide Alerts iPhone” feature is one of the easiest ways to hide messages.

Here’s how to use “Hide Alerts iPhone”:

1. Open the Settings app.

   

2. Select Messages from the settings.

   

3. Now click on Allow notification to disable it, and you won’t further receive alerts from messages. 

   

After notification alerts are disabled, you’ll no longer receive updates from any specific conversation. However, the messages you have sent and the chat you have done will still be visible within the Messages app.

Set Up a Lock on your iPhone for Enhanced Security

Before you establish how to hide messages on iPhone, one of the first things to ensure is that your phone is not easily available for anybody to access your messages. 

So keep your phone locked even when you are not using it. 

Thankfully, Apple has ensured that an ideal iPhone will automatically lock the screen after 30 seconds by default unless changed manually.

To change the screen lock time, follow these simple steps below:

1. Go to Settings.

   

2. Select Display & Brightness.

   

3. Now select Auto-lock. From that menu, you can select your preferred auto-lock duration, ranging from 30 seconds to five minutes.

   

Now, for enhanced security, set a passcode to unlock your iPhone when you power it on. A passcode also activates data protection, which encrypts your device’s data.

Set Up a Passcode in your iPhone

Follow these steps based on your iPhone model to set up a passcode:

• For iPhone X or later: Open Settings, then tap Face ID & Passcode and follow the prompts to set a passcode.

  

• For iPhone 8 or earlier: Open Settings, then tap Touch ID & Passcode and follow the instructions to create a passcode.

  

Deleting Messages Permanently

In case you need to completely remove sensitive conversations, deleting messages from your iPhone ensures they are no longer accessible. However, if you have iCloud or a backup, those messages could still be recovered.

Steps to Delete Messages:

1. Open the Messages app.

   

2. Find the conversation you want to delete.

   

3. Swipe left on the conversation and tap Delete.

   

For permanent deletion, make sure to delete the messages from both your device and iCloud if you use iCloud sync.

Wrapping Up

This should have been a thorough answer to the question, “How to Hide Messages on iPhone?”

You now have a variety of options for hiding messages on your iPhone, ranging from basic settings modifications to secret iPhone features. Whether you’re looking to mute notifications, lock your messages, or use apps securely for confidential chats, your iPhone has a range of features to help protect your privacy. 

Take the time to explore these options and choose what works best for your needs and the level of security you want for your messages.