Try these quick fixes if you were able to see iCloud Shared Albums in your Photos app, but they suddenly disappeared without explanation, and you can’t view them on your iPhone or iPad any longer.
Shared Albums are a handy way to share pictures and videos with your family members, friends, and colleagues, without sending them individually to each user. Plus, Shared Albums don’t count towards your iCloud storage limit, and you can use them even if you haven’t set up iCloud Photos.
When things are working correctly, all the Shared Albums you’ve created and those you’re subscribed to, appear inside the iOS Photos app on your device. However, if one such album or the entire Shared Albums section has disappeared from your devices, here are quick ways to get it back.
Recent versions of iOS have altered the appearance of the Photos app, making it confusing and unintuitive. So, if you can’t see your Shared Albums section, chances are you hid it purposefully to declutter the Photos app and make it tolerable. Here’s how to revert this change and show it again in the app.
iOS 26
Unlike iOS 18, you can no longer hide unwanted sections from the Photos app; you can only collapse them. If you still can’t see the Shared Albums, here’s what to do:
- Open the Photos app on your iPhone and tap the Collections tab at the bottom.
- Tap the three-dot menu icon at the top and select Collapse All. This will shrink all sections, and you can easily find the Shared Albums here. If not, jump to the next tip.
iOS 18
The single tab design in iOS 18 is often ridiculed, but it allows you to hide sections you don’t want to see in the Photos app. So, if you accidentally removed Shared Albums from your view, here’s how to show it back.
- Open the iPhone Photos app, scroll to the bottom, and tap Customize & Reorder.
- Now, check the box for Shared Album and tap X to return to the Photos app, where you’ll see the Shared Album section.
If you still can’t see your Shared Albums in the Photos app, then it could be because you or someone with access to your iPhone or iPad turned this feature off. Follow these quick steps to fix this:
- Open the iOS Settings app and tap iCloud.
- Tap Photos under the ‘Saved to iCloud’ section.
- Turn on Shared Albums.
Now, force-quit and reopen the Apple Photos app, and you’ll see your Shared Albums there. Please note that it may take some time for all Shared Albums and their associated pictures and videos to sync to your device over Wi-Fi or cellular data.
Restart your iPhone
Temporary system glitches can be yet another reason why you don’t see the Shared Albums in the Photos app. Simply turn your iPhone off and then back on, and the issue should be fixed.
I was able to see the Shared Albums section in my iPhone’s Photos app, but it only had one album, even though I know I’ve created several and even subscribed to Shared Albums from family members and friends. Refreshing this feature by turning it OFF and back ON helped fix the problem in under 5 minutes.
- Go to iOS Settings > Apple Account > iCloud > Photos and turn off Shared Albums. Then, restart your iPhone.
- Return to iCloud Photos settings and turn Shared Albums back on.
- Finally, open the Photos app and wait for the Shared Albums to sync.
Ask the person if they removed you as a subscriber
If the Shared Albums that you created are visible to you, but those originally created by your family members and friends are not, then chances are they removed you as a subscriber. This could happen after your relationship with them turned sour, they no longer want you to see those pictures, or maybe they accidentally removed you from the album.
If possible, reach out to that person over messages, email, or another medium and ask if they made changes to their Shared Album.
It’s also possible that the original creator of the iCloud Shared Album just nuked the entire album, without informing you. Once a Shared Album is deleted by its creator, all people who were subscribed to it automatically lose access to those shared pictures and videos.
Once again, it’s best to reach out to that person and ask for an explanation.
Log in to icloud.com/photos/ with your Apple Account and check if you can see all Shared Albums here. If you can, that means things are fine, but there is some syncing issue with iCloud on your iPhone or iPad.
To fix this:
- Ensure your device is connected to a stable Wi-Fi or cellular network.
- Turn off VPN if you’re using one.
- Try connecting to a different Wi-Fi network or Personal Hotspot.
- Make sure Apple’s servers are working and there’s no downtime for Photos, Apple Account, and iCloud Account & Sign In.
- Check if there is a pending alert in your iPhone or iPad Settings app, asking you to re-verify by entering your Apple ID password or device passcode.
- Update your iPhone or iPad to the most recent version of iOS or iPadOS.
- Reset network settings and retry.
- If nothing works, sign out of your Apple Account and sign back in.
Screen Time passcode and restrictions are usually the main reason why certain options, such as the Apple Account Sign Out button and the Shared Albums toggle, may be grayed out. To fix this, go to iOS Settings > Screen Time > Content & Privacy Restrictions and turn it off.
Then, return to the first Screen Time settings pane, tap Change Screen Time Passcode, and turn it off.
The above tips typically cover everything you need to know about Shared Albums not showing up in the iOS Photos app on your device. Were you able to solve the problem? Share in the comments section below.