Should you use Locked Folder or Archive?
Google Photos offers two features that both make items disappear from the main grid, and only one is an access control. Archive just tidies your grid; Locked Folder actually asks for your screen lock.
If the goal is that someone holding your phone cannot see the item, Archive is the wrong tool regardless of how well it tidies the timeline.
Set up the screen lock first
Locked Folder derives its authority from the device screen lock, so the strength of that lock is the strength of the folder.
A four-digit PIN that other people in the household know provides exactly as much protection to the folder as it does to the phone, which is to say none against them.
Decide the backup question before moving anything
Backup behavior for Locked Folder is a separate setting from your general Photos backup, and it has changed across versions.
Confirm what your account does before moving irreplaceable media, because a locked item that is not backed up disappears with the device.
What stays behind
- Set and verify a strong device screen lock before setup.
- Confirm Locked Folder backup behavior explicitly.
- Move the item, then check for edited versions that did not follow.
- Look for duplicates created by editors or downloads.
- Check Trash, and any copies already shared with other people.
Two errors
- Using Archive as an access control because the item left the grid.
- Factory-resetting the phone before confirming Locked Folder backup was enabled.
Questions people ask
Can Locked Folder use a different password?
Google's current Android documentation says it uses the device screen lock.