Coming soon to theApp Store

Add things to Hidden

Free

On this page

You can put things into Hidden from inside it, while you scan, or from any document in your vault. Anything you add from inside Hidden is encrypted as it’s saved and never passes through your vault.

If you have more than one space, everything goes into the space that’s open: open the right space first. See Spaces.

What it is

Inside Hidden, the floating bar at the bottom changes. Instead of Scan and +, you get:

  • Camera: the private camera, for photos and videos straight into Hidden. See The private camera.
  • + (VoiceOver: “Add to Hidden”): a menu with
    • Scan document
    • From Files
    • Secure note
    • and, under Move in: Move from Photos and Move from the vault…

From outside Hidden there are two more ways in: Save to Hidden on a new scan, and Move to Hidden on a document.

Step by step

Scan a document into Hidden

  1. Open Hidden and tap + → Scan document.
  2. Scan as usual. On the review screen, Save to Hidden is already on.
  3. Tap Save. The scan is encrypted into the space you have open.

While you scan into Hidden, screenshots are blocked (best effort), and the pages exist only in that scan session. If Hidden locks before you save, the unsaved pages are deleted.

Send a new scan to Hidden from the vault

  1. Tap Scan anywhere in the vault and scan your pages.
  2. On the review screen, turn on Save to Hidden (it’s off by default).
  3. Save. Face ID (and your Hidden code or pattern, if you use one) opens Hidden, and the scan goes straight in.

If Hidden isn’t set up yet, Paperwise sets it up first, then saves your scan into it.

Import files

  1. In Hidden, tap + → From Files.
  2. Pick one or more files. They’re encrypted into Hidden as they’re imported.

Hidden keeps files up to 200 MB each. If a file can’t be added, Paperwise tells you, and nothing is saved to your vault.

Write a secure note

Tap + → Secure note. The note opens straight away and is saved in Hidden as you write.

Move photos and videos from Photos

Tap + → Move from Photos (or Add from Photos when Hidden is empty). Paperwise then offers to delete the originals from Photos. Read Move photos out of Photos first: it explains where the originals were before.

Move documents from your vault

  1. In Hidden, tap + → Move from the vault….
  2. Tick what you want to move. Each item is encrypted into this space and leaves All items, search and AI.
  3. Tap Move.

Hide a document you’re looking at

  1. Open the document in your vault.
  2. Tap ••• → Move to Hidden. If the document shows the banner “This looks like an ID. Move it to Hidden?”, you can tap Move to Hidden there instead.
  3. Confirm with Face ID (and your Hidden code or pattern, if you use one).

Paperwise tells you where to find it: “Hidden. Find it in Vault → Hidden.” You can also hide several at once: tap Select on a list, choose the documents, then Hide.

If Hidden isn’t set up yet, Move to Hidden runs the setup first. Once you’ve saved the recovery key and tapped Done, Paperwise asks “Hide 1 item?” (or “Hide 3 items?”). Tap Hide to move them in, or Don’t hide to leave them in your vault.

When someone sends you a Paperwise share link and you open it in the app, tap Save to Paperwise and choose Hidden. Face ID (and your Hidden code or pattern, if you use one) opens Hidden first.

Free and Pro

Everything on this page is free.

Privacy

  • Nothing is saved to your vault first. Scans, files, photos and notes added from inside Hidden, and scans saved with Save to Hidden, are encrypted as they’re saved. They’re never queued for the vault’s text search, AI, sync or backup in readable form. If saving fails, you see an error; the item never falls back to your vault.
  • Text on hidden scans is recognised on the iPhone and stored only inside the item’s encrypted record.
  • Move to Hidden and Move from the vault… start from something that was already in your vault. Paperwise deletes its vault files and removes its words from the vault’s search at once. To keep a new scan from ever being in your vault, use Save to Hidden instead.
  • If you use sync (Pro) or the encrypted iCloud backup, hidden items are synced and backed up only as ciphertext under Hidden’s own keys.

Tips

  • Starting a scan from inside Hidden is the surest way to keep it out of the vault: Save to Hidden is already on.
  • Inside Hidden, the chips All, Documents, Photos and Notes filter what you see. Photos and videos have their own albums under Photos.
  • To take something back out, open it and tap Unhide. It returns to your vault, encrypted under the vault’s key, which isn’t behind Face ID. There the app lock is what keeps people out.

What if…

What if I don’t see Save to Hidden on the review screen?

It shows only for new scans. When you edit pages of an existing document, the switch isn’t there; use ••• → Move to Hidden on the document instead.

What if “Move from the vault…” is empty?

It says “Nothing in your vault to move.” when there’s nothing that can be moved. Items already in Hidden aren’t listed.

What if a file wasn’t added?

Hidden may have locked during the import, the iPhone may be short of space, or the file is over 200 MB. Open Hidden and try again.

Still stuck? Write to support@paperwise.app.