Choose the right first step
iPhone photo privacy guides.
Use built-in iPhone tools when you know what you are looking for. Use a broader checklist when you do not. If a screenshot may already have escaped your control, start with revocation and containment.
Start here
Match the method to the problem.
You remember the text
Use Photos or Spotlight search to find a word, email address, phone number, domain, or heading visible inside an image.
You do not know what remains
Run the camera-roll privacy checklist across account access, developer work, finance, identity, health, and sharing.
The image was already shared
Use the local exposure check to prioritize credential revocation, destination review, redaction, deletion, and Photos permissions.
Credentials and account access
Find copies that can unlock something.
Find photographed credentials
Separate protected Passwords records from passwords and passcodes stored as images.
Password-photo guide → RecoveryFind backup codes and seed phrases
Review recovery material carefully before deleting a copy you may still need.
Recovery guide → Developer securityFind API keys and tokens
Audit screenshots of terminals, dashboards, logs, configuration, and support conversations.
API-key guide → Payment cardsFind card photos and screenshots
Review old card images, distinguish cleanup from possible exposure, and contact the issuer when needed.
Payment-card guide →Identity, sharing, and metadata
Reduce what an image reveals.
Review passport and ID copies
Find document images that may have outlived an application, verification, or travel task.
ID-photo guide → Visible contentRedact before sharing
Use opaque coverage, keep the source separate, and verify the shared copy at full size.
Redaction guide → Location metadataRemove or omit GPS data
Review a photo's saved location and control whether a shared copy includes it.
Location guide → App permissionsReview access to Photos
See which apps requested access, remove permissions you no longer need, and inspect recent activity.
Photos-permission guide →Useful without another app
Start with built-in controls
- Photos and Spotlight can search recognized text
- Photos Utilities can group receipts, documents, and handwriting
- Markup and sharing options can reduce visible or metadata exposure
When a broader audit helps
Search patterns, then review
- SecretScan checks screenshots locally for likely sensitive patterns
- Results can be missed or falsely flagged
- Deleting an image never revokes the credential inside it
Audit the screenshots you forgot about.
Start with a free screenshot scan. OCR and detection run on the device; Photos and extracted text are not uploaded to SecretScan servers.
Download SecretScan free