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Tired of Unwanted Memories? How to Control Featured Photos on Your iPhone
Ever unlock your phone only to be greeted by pictures of people or moments you’d prefer to forget? Apple’s “Memories” and “Featured Photos” features are designed to resurface cherished events, but sometimes this nostalgic journey can backfire. These iPhone options collaborate to generate “featured content,” highlighting what the algorithm believes you want to remember. However, alongside a favorite vacation snapshot, you might encounter images of an ex you’d rather avoid. This guide shows how to manage **iPhone photos** and **control memories**.
This featured content isn’t confined to the Photos app. It can surface in various locations across your device, like the search page and even widgets on your home screen, which can be problem if using an iPhone for professional use.
While reminiscing over photos with loved ones can be delightful, stumbling upon embarrassing or unwanted images can be unsettling.
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Having these unexpected photos appear at random on your iPhone, particularly when sharing your screen with someone or letting someone else use your device, can be an inconvenience. Thankfully, there are methods to address this.
Here’s how to prevent unwanted photos from randomly appearing across your iPhone.
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Minimize or Eliminate Specific People from Featured Content
If an individual frequently appears in your photo library, iOS interprets them as significant in your life. Consequently, they’ll likely feature prominently in your Memories and Featured Photos. For many, this is a pleasant experience, reliving treasured moments with favorite people. However, if the relationship has soured, the last thing you need is seeing these memories.
Should circumstances change, and you prefer not to be reminded of someone, you might not want their face popping up unexpectedly. While manually deleting every photo and video of that person is an option, it’s a time-consuming task. Fortunately, there’s a simpler method to hide photos featuring a specific person. This is a quick way to manage **iPhone memories**.
To reduce or prevent someone from appearing in Memories, Featured Photos, and widgets, follow these steps:
- Open the Photos app.
- Locate a photo or video featuring the person you want to control.
- Tap the three-dot menu button in the top-right corner.
- Select Feature This Person Less.
You’ll then have two choices:
- Feature This Person Less: This setting prevents individual photos or videos of this person from appearing in Memories or Featured Photos, but they may still appear in group photos.
- Never Feature This Person: This option completely excludes any photos or videos containing this person, including group shots.
Select “Feature This Person Less” to still include group photos or “Never Feature This Person” to exclude all images.
Completely Disable Memories and Featured Photos
It’s not always exes or former friends causing issues with unexpected photos. An embarrassing snapshot of yourself, or something potentially inappropriate, might surface. If you’re concerned about such occurrences, disabling Memories and Featured Photos entirely may be the best course of action. Here’s how to **turn off Memories** and **disable Featured Photos** to gain full control of your **iPhone photos**.
To disable featured content across your device:
- Navigate to Settings.
- Select Photos.
- Toggle off Show Featured Content.
This action will halt all featured content, including albums within the Photos app, widgets on your home screen, and photos appearing in search results.
Instead of memories and featured photos, you’ll see a gray box indicating “Featured Content is Turned Off.”
Additional Tips to Prevent Unexpected Photos from Appearing
While the above-mentioned methods provide a solid foundation for controlling which photos appear on your device, you have additional options to explore, particularly if the previous tips are insufficient. Here are some extra options for controlling **iPhone memories**.
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Remove Photo Widgets from Your Lock and Home Screen
Some photo widgets exclusively display featured photos. Remove these from your phone, or choose a photo widget that isn’t designated as “featured.”
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Hide Collections in the Photos App
Starting with iOS 18, you can now conceal specific collections that might preview photos you’d prefer not to see. In Photos, go to Customize & Reorder and deselect the collections you want to hide. These collections include Recent Days, People & Pets, and Trips. If Featured Content is disabled, some collections will appear grayed out.
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Turn Off Holiday Memories
If you’d rather avoid seeing memories of recent holidays like Christmas or Thanksgiving, navigate to Settings > Photos and disable Show Holiday Events.
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Stop Photos from Appearing in Search
To prevent photos from appearing when using the search function within apps, go to Settings > Photos and toggle off Show App in Search and Show Content in Search.
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Avoid Featured Wallpapers on Your Lock Screen
In iOS 18, you can set featured photos to cycle as your lock screen throughout the day. Opt for a different wallpaper to avoid unwanted photos appearing on your lock screen.
Watch this: Apple’s Monster iPhone Update: How Apple Intelligence Works on iOS 18.1
For more on maximizing your iOS experience, discover how to increase your iPhone storage and why the iPhone 16 camera control button could be a secret action button.