Break Up With Me
Clearing the reminders

How to hide (or delete) photos of your ex

6 min readEvery app, and the option you won't regret

Their face is still everywhere on your phone — the lock screen, the camera roll, the "On This Day" memory that ambushes you over coffee, the highlight reel still pinned to your profile. Each one is a small reopening of the wound, and being surrounded by an ex's images is tied to a slower, harder recovery.1 Cutting down how often they resurface genuinely helps.

But the kind advice first: you don't have to torch it all at 2 a.m. Deleting a whole relationship's worth of photos in one raw hour is something a lot of people later regret. The smarter move is to hide and archive now — instant, and completely reversible — and leave any permanent deleting for a few weeks from now, when you're steadier. So this guide leans on hide-and-archive first, with delete as the option you can reach for whenever you're ready.

Box it, don't burn it Hiding and archiving is reversible; deleting (eventually) isn't. Everywhere below, the reversible option comes first — so you can get the reminders out of sight today without making a permanent decision in your worst hour. If you know you want them gone for good, the delete steps are there too. Both are valid; just don't let the hardest night make the call.

On your phone

Apple Photos (iPhone, iPad, Mac)

Hide them from your library:

  1. Select the photo (or photos) and tap Share or the ⋯ menu.
  2. Tap Hide → Hide Photo. They move to a Hidden album that's locked behind Face ID (under Albums → Utilities).

Stop them ambushing you in Memories, widgets, and On This Day: open the People & Pets album, tap their face, then the ⋯ menu and choose "Feature This Person Less" (or "…Never"). This is the big one — it keeps them out of the auto-generated Memories and the Photos widget.

To delete for good (later): select → trash icon → then go to Albums → Recently Deleted and delete them there too, or they linger about 30 days. Also leave any iCloud Shared Albums you kept together.

Google Photos (Android, or the app)

Archive (hides them from the main grid but keeps them): select the photos → ⋯ → "Move to Archive."

Stop them in Memories: Settings → Memories → "Hide people & pets" and select their face; use "Hide dates" to skip an anniversary. You can also hide a face group entirely under Search → People → their face → ⋯ → Remove/Hide.

Delete: select → trash → then empty the Trash (photos are kept ~30–60 days). Tip: the Locked Folder (behind your fingerprint/PIN) is a good place to stash anything you're not ready to delete but don't want to stumble on.

Same idea on Samsung Gallery, Dropbox, and the rest — look for "Archive," "Hide," and a Memories or "Stories" setting.

Your posts on social media

Instagram
  1. Archive a post (reversible — only you can see it): open the post → ⋯ → "Archive." Get it back anytime from your profile → ☰ menu → "Archive."
  2. Delete instead: ⋯ → Delete.
  3. Do it in bulk: Profile → ☰ menu → "Your activity" → "Photos and videos." Tap Select, tick multiple posts, then Archive or Delete them all at once. (App only, and it may cap how many per batch — but it beats one at a time.)

Also delete any Story Highlights of the relationship, and untag yourself from their photos: open the photo → ⋯ → "Remove Me From Post" / "Remove Tag."

Facebook
  1. Archive or bin your posts: on a post → ⋯ → "Move to archive" (only you see it) or "Move to trash."
  2. Clean up a whole era at once: use Manage Activity (Profile → menu → Activity log → Manage Activity) to filter old posts by date or person and archive/delete them in bulk.

Stop couple photos resurfacing: in Facebook Memories → settings, use "Hide people" (add your ex) and "Hide dates." That mutes the "On This Day" ambush. And untag yourself from their photos: on the photo → ⋯ → "Remove tag."

TikTok
  1. Make a video private (reversible): your profile → open the video → ⋯ → "Privacy settings" → "Who can watch this video" → "Only me."
  2. Delete instead: ⋯ → Delete.
  3. Do it in bulk: on your profile, open a video's ⋯ (or long-press a post) and choose "Manage" to enter select mode. Tick multiple videos, then set them all to Private or Delete at once. (Exact labels vary by app version.)

Then clear any drafts with them in it, remove them from Following/Friends, and take them out of your Saved/Favorites.

Snapchat
  1. Clean out Memories (where your saved snaps live): open Memories (swipe up on the camera), tap Select, choose the snaps, and Delete. Check "My Eyes Only" too if you saved private photos there.
  2. Turn on Ghost Mode so they can't see your location: open the Snap Map → tap the ⚙ settings → enable Ghost Mode.
  3. Remove & block them: their profile → ⋯ → Manage Friendship → Remove Friend (and Block if you want them fully gone).

Then clear the conversation: press and hold their chat → "Clear Conversation."

Pinterest
  1. Hide a board without deleting it (reversible): open the board → tap Edit (pencil) → turn on "Secret" → Save. Now only you can see it.
  2. Delete a board — a wedding or shared-future board, say — for good: board → Edit → Delete board.
  3. Remove individual pins: open the pin → ⋯ → Delete, or use the board's Organize tool to select several and delete or move them at once.

And unfollow your ex if you were following their profile or boards.

Don't forget the sneaky spots

  • Your lock screen and wallpaper, and any Photos widget on your home screen — the reason "Feature This Person Less" matters.
  • Message threads full of photos, and WhatsApp media auto-saved to your camera roll.
  • Shared cloud backups and albums named after them.
  • The analog stuff — the framed print, the photo in your phone case, the strip from the photo booth.
If someone is threatening to share intimate photos If an ex is threatening to share — or has shared — intimate images of you, that's abuse and, in most places, a crime. You have options and support, and none of this is your fault. StopNCII.org can help stop intimate images from being shared across major platforms before they spread; the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative runs a crisis helpline; and every major platform has a fast-track removal process for non-consensual intimate images. Report it to the platform and, if you feel unsafe, to the police. In the US, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is 1-800-799-7233 (call or text, 24/7, free), and in immediate danger, call 911.
If the memories keep hitting hard, that's normal — and you don't have to white-knuckle it. A therapist can help you process the grief the photos stir up; our talk-to-someone guide can match you with online counseling, usually within days. Some links there are affiliate links, at no extra cost to you.

The goal was never to erase that the relationship happened — it's to stop being ambushed by it while you're trying to heal. Hide the reminders, keep whatever you're not ready to part with, and let time make the delete decision for you. Out of sight really does help it fade.

References

  1. Marshall, T. C. (2012). Facebook surveillance of former romantic partners: Associations with postbreakup recovery and personal growth. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15(10), 521–526.

App menus change as the apps update, so exact labels may differ slightly from your screen; the overall paths are stable. This guide is general information, not legal or safety advice — for image-based abuse, use the resources above or a professional.

Keep reading

How to block contact — on your phone and every app → The no-contact rule, actually explained →