This changes curation, not storage
Photos builds a People & Pets collection from recognised faces and uses it to drive memories, featured content, and suggestions. Marking a person as less featured, or removing them from the collection, adjusts that curation.
It does not delete their photos, move anything to Hidden, revoke copies you shared, or prevent someone finding the images by scrolling or searching.
Decide which outcome you want
There are two different goals here and they need different actions. Fewer reminders is a curation setting. Photos that other people cannot see is a storage decision.
Applying the first when you wanted the second produces a library that feels calmer and is exactly as exposed.
Group photos complicate it
An image containing several people can still surface through anyone else in it, so hiding one person may not remove the photo from suggestions.
Where the photo itself is the concern rather than the reminders, move the photo.
Doing it
- Decide whether you want fewer suggestions or the photos genuinely hidden.
- Use the People & Pets controls to feature the person less, or not at all.
- Review group photos, which can surface via other people.
- Check shared-library copies, which follow their own curation.
- Confirm the person no longer appears on the specific surfaces you care about.
Two errors
- Treating face hiding as photo deletion.
- Resetting all people suggestions when a single person was the issue.
A fictional example
Eli starts with a non-sensitive test: “Decide whether you want fewer suggestions or the photos themselves hidden.” Next, Eli follows the second check: “Review group photos and shared-library copies.” This fictional scenario demonstrates the decision process; it is not a report of product testing.
Common mistakes
- Treating face hiding as photo deletion
- Resetting all people suggestions when one person is the issue
What this workflow does not change
- Treating face hiding as photo deletion
- Resetting all people suggestions when one person is the issue
Questions people ask
Can I restore a hidden person later?
Yes, through Photos' current people-management controls; exact menus vary by release.