How to hide files and folders on Android
Keep files and folders out of your gallery and file manager, lock them in Files by Google’s Safe folder or your phone’s own safe, and see hidden files again.
· 7 min read
Hiding a file on Android can mean three different things: keeping it out of your gallery, keeping it out of sight in your file manager, or locking it so nobody else can open it. Here's how to do each one, for single files and whole folders, and how to see hidden files again when you need them.
Three levels of hidden
| Level | How | Who can still open the files |
|---|---|---|
| Out of your gallery | A .nomedia file, or a folder name that starts with a dot | Anyone with a file manager or a computer |
| Out of your file manager | A file or folder name that starts with a dot | Anyone who turns on "show hidden files" |
| Locked | Files by Google's Safe folder, your phone's own safe, or a vault app | Only someone with the PIN or password |
Only the last level protects anything. The first two are useful for tidying, and that's all.
Hide a folder from your gallery
Android's gallery apps, Google Photos and the photo picker skip any folder that contains a file named .nomedia, and any folder whose name starts with a dot. Make a folder of your own, such as Pictures/Private, add an empty file called .nomedia, and move your photos in.
Android ignores .nomedia in its standard folders, such as DCIM/Camera, Pictures and Download, so it has to be a folder you made. Our guide to .nomedia files explains how to create one and where it won't work.
Hide files and folders in your file manager
Most file managers hide anything whose name starts with a dot, until you turn on their show-hidden-files setting. Rename a folder from Private to .Private, and both your gallery and your file manager stop showing it.
It's easy, and it's also the first thing anyone curious would check. The files are still ordinary files, readable by any app with storage access or by a computer.
Lock files with Files by Google's Safe folder
The Files by Google app has a Safe folder that locks files behind a PIN or pattern of its own, on Android 8 and later. Google says it keeps your files secure using Android's storage encryption.
- Open Files, scroll to Collections and tap Safe folder.
- Choose a PIN or pattern.
- To add files, select them, tap More and choose Move to Safe folder.
To take a file out, open Safe folder, select it, tap More and choose Move out of Safe folder, and it goes back where it came from. Two things to know: Google says that if you forget the PIN or pattern, you can't get to your files, and Safe folder files can't be backed up to Google Drive. Keep a copy of anything important somewhere else.
Use your phone's own safe
Most phone makers have a locked place for files as well as photos:
- Samsung: Secure Folder has its own My Files app. See our Samsung guide.
- OPPO, realme and OnePlus: Private Safe takes documents and audio as well as photos.
- vivo and iQOO: File Safe, in the File Manager app.
- Other phones: Android's Private space, and the rest of our list of Secure Folder alternatives.
Each one only exists on its own maker's phones, and most can't move to a new phone of another brand.
Encrypt them in a vault app
A vault app that takes any file type does all three levels at once: the file leaves your gallery and folders, it's locked, and it's encrypted.
Hidey hides documents, PDFs, audio and any other file the same way it hides photos, for free. It encrypts each file on your phone, checks the encrypted copy, then deletes the original. Inside Hidey, built-in viewers open photos, videos, audio, PDFs and text without leaving the vault. For other file types, open with hands another app a temporary unencrypted copy and deletes it as soon as you're back in Hidey, though Hidey warns you first that the other app may keep its own copy.
You can also hide files straight from another app with your phone's share menu, though a file shared that way may leave the original behind, so check and delete it there. Unhide files whenever you like, and they go back to the folder they came from. Backups go to a hidden folder in your own Google Drive, encrypted before upload. The trade-off to know: that backup also lets you reset a forgotten PIN through Google after a 24-hour wait, so whoever controls your Google account could reset it too, unless you turn on zero-knowledge mode (Pro).
How to see hidden files on Android
- Files by Google: open its settings and turn on Show hidden files.
- Samsung My Files: tap ⋮, then Settings, and turn on Show hidden system files.
- Other file managers: look for "show hidden files" in their settings.
Hidden files then appear, dot-folders included. Looking for photos rather than files? Our guide to finding hidden photos covers every place they can be.