How to recover a hidden folder on Android. ways to hide photos on your smartphone. How to hide a photo or video on Android

Situations often arise in life when your Android smartphone or the tablet is taken by acquaintances or friends and you would not want them to see confidential information. How to hide files from the gallery or media player, as well as the file manager in Android, read this article!

There are photos or videos that are embarrassing to show or there are “ secret information"? If you need to hide these files, here's what you need to do:

Instructions on how to hide files on Android: galleries and media player in Android

How it works?

Android constantly scans for changes that occur on the memory card or internal memory. If during crawling the scanner finds a file .nomedia, then it does not scan and display the contents of the folder.

Instructions to hide files and folders
in the Android and Windows file manager

Android is built on the basis Linux kernels and accordingly has common features with similar operating systems based on this kernel. Unfortunately, Windows is not related to Linux in any way and in order to carefully hide a file or folder, you need to try a little.

Hiding a folder or file on Android

In order to hide a file or folder from the file manager (explorer), you need to rename the desired file or folder by adding a dot before the name. That is, to hide the file xxxx.jpg you need to rename the file to . xxxx.jpg. In order to hide the AlenaNu folder, you need to add a dot before the name.AlenaNu

file visible ———————> xxxx.jpg the file is not visible ———————> . xxxx.jpg

folder visible ———————> AlenaNu the folder is not visible ———————> .AlenaNu

This is how you can hide a photo on Android and not only a folder and other files!

After this simple procedure, you will hide what you need in Android, but there is one problem: when you connect to a computer, you will see that everything that you hid in Windows is clearly visible! Therefore, the invisibility needs to be “refined”.

Hiding a folder or file on a Windows computer

Below is a screenshot showing folders at the beginning that are no longer visible in Android, but are visible in Windows:

To hide folders or a file, you need to select all or select one by one -> right-click -> select properties - change the attributes of the file or folder to Hidden.

Do you still have additional questions? Ask them in the comments, tell us what worked for you or vice versa!

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Known for her openness. You can change absolutely everything in it. One of the features that may occasionally be useful to the user is the ability to hide some files, such as photos and videos, from prying eyes. This can be very convenient. Let's look at how to hide a photo on Android. Please note that these tips can be applied to any other files.

Simple ways to hide photos and other files on Android

When you launch the gallery, you can see that it displays all the folders that contain photos or videos. This includes the folder in which photos from the camera are stored, and all your films and videos, storage temporary files, downloads and even music album covers. It is usually not possible to change the displayed folders in the settings. If you download an alternative gallery, such as Quick Pic, you can choose the locations that will be displayed when you launch the program.

Hiding using a computer

The simplest thing you can do is connect your phone either via cable or Wi-Fi and using Windows Explorer activate the “Hidden” attribute.

1. When connecting on a tablet, select the “Storage” mode.
2. Open the folder where your photos are stored, click on the desired file right click mouse - Properties and check the “Hidden” checkbox.

Now when connected to a computer, hidden content will not be displayed. To view them on your PC, in Explorer properties, select the option to view hidden files. But Android ignores this attribute. Therefore, in the gallery or file manager, images hidden on the computer will continue to be displayed. To hide photos on the tablet itself, we will use the following method.

Using the Android File Manager

You will need a normal one, for example, ES Explorer. It can be downloaded for free from Play Store follow the link http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.estrongs.android.pop&hl=ru. Other managers can be used, but this one is the best combination of quality and capabilities. With its help you can hide not only individual photos, but also a whole folder.

1. Launch Explorer, find on the memory card required file or folder.
2. Press and hold the name for a few seconds until a menu with additional functions pops up.
3. Select Rename. Add a period to the title in front. For example, the gallery folder is located in DCIM/Camera. To hide an album in your gallery on Android, rename it to .Camera.
4. Go back to the gallery and make sure the folder is not visible.

But how can you now view the hidden location? And how can I return the normal attribute to it?

1. Log in to Explorer. Swipe from the left edge of the screen - Show hidden files.
2. Go to the memory card, you will see your folder or files with a name starting with a dot. They will be somewhat muted in color.
3. If necessary, rename them by removing the dot at the beginning of the name.
4. Enter the gallery and you will see them appear again.

File.nomedia

To prevent the gallery and other applications from scanning certain folders, create an empty .nomedia file on your computer or tablet. On a PC, to do this, create Text Document and remove the .txt extension. Then move it to the desired folder and reboot your device. But this method should be used with extreme caution, since not all devices respond adequately to it, and all content may be deleted. Therefore, we advise you to take care of a backup copy.

Using Keep Safe

Follow the link http://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kii.safe, you can no longer worry about the safety of your private photos and video. The program can hide pictures in Android gallery, moving them to encrypted storage. You just need to come up with a password. Now only those who know him will be able to view the photo. You won't give out your secret code to everyone, will you?

Conclusion

There are several ways to hide a folder in the gallery on Android. The simplest, in our opinion, is a simple renaming with the addition of a dot. No one else will see your hidden files, and you can view them through Explorer. Adding a .nomedia file carries certain risks. A Keep program Safe sometimes crashes.

How do you hide personal photos and videos from prying eyes? Did you find our information useful? Share your opinions in the comments.

Today, most of your emails are on your smartphone. These include SMS messages and correspondence in in social networks, and dialogues in Viber applications, Whats App, and much more. In addition, we store personal photos, videos and other information on our smartphone. Personal information. Therefore, getting into someone else’s phone means getting into someone else’s life.

1. Enable Protected Mode on Samsung Galaxy S5

There are two ways to activate the “Protected Mode” function: through the icon in the “ Quick Settings" and through the "Settings" menu. If you choose the second method, then in the “Settings” window scroll the list to the very bottom. There you will find the “Personal Mode” subsection. It should be activated.

2. Confirm your intention

After you have activated personal mode, the system will prompt you to enter a security password and confirm your identity. You can also set up a fingerprint scanner. But it also happens that the system crashes and fingerprints are not scanned, so it’s better to use a password. In addition, on Samsung Galaxy S5 you can add a password as a picture or use your own PIN.

3. Selecting files to hide

Let's say you want to hide some photos from your gallery. To do this, enter the gallery, click the “Menu” button, after which you should select the very photos that you want to hide from extra eyes. Then press the “Menu” button again and select “move to private”.

You will notice that a new folder has appeared in the gallery. It is no different from the others, except for the fact that a castle is drawn on it. This means that to enter this folder you need to use a password.

If you mistakenly transferred a photo to “personal”, you can return it to the general album reverse method using the "Menu" button.

You should know that after turning on the “private” mode, no one, and not even you yourself, will see hidden folders. The ones with the padlock on the icon. Therefore, in order to see hidden folders and files again, you need to disable the “private” mode.

Find out if your samsung smartphone The original Galaxy S5 you are using. In case of loss or theft, please report it to

If there is a need to hide something on your device with operating system Android, there are many ways to do this. Let's look at each of them.

How to hide files on Android

You can hide files on Android either using Root rights or without them.

If you have Root rights, you can:

put a dot in front of the file name to hide it from viewing;

create a .nomedia file using ES Explorer and place it in the folder whose contents you want to hide;

install AppHider for applications or Hexlock for files, applications and other personal information.

If you don't have Root rights, you can:

put a dot in front of the file name and make it hidden;

create a .nomedia file on your PC or laptop, connect the device to the PC and transfer the created file to the folder that you want to hide;

hide application icons in Settings;

set Hide All Files for files, Hide Something for photos and videos, Apex to hide application icons.

How to find out if your device is Rooted

To find out if your phone has Root rights, do the following:

Enter “download root checker” in the search bar.

Download and install the Root Checker program.

Click on the button with the appropriate name in the “Root Check” tab.

Click on the "CHECK ROOT" button in Root application Checker

After this, you will see information about the presence or absence of Root rights on the phone.

Video: how to use Root Checker

If you have Root rights

If you have Root rights, you can hide files by renaming them to “ES Explorer”, creating a .nomedia file or installing the program Hexlock App Lock.

Renaming files in ES Explorer

To hide a file in ES Explorer:

Download the app from Play Market and install it.

Launch and scroll the main menu to the right or left. Select the desired folder and open it.

Long press to highlight the file and

Place a dot in front of the name and confirm your choice by clicking “OK”.

If you want to hide a group of files:

Long press to highlight all the files you want to hide.

Click on the "Rename" button.

In the window that opens, select the second item and put a dot in the input field. This way you won't have to give each file a new name: it will consist of a dot and the old name. You don't have to change the extension. Click OK.

Select the second list item, enter a period in the name field, click “OK”

After this, the files will be hidden. To view them, expand sidebar applications, and select “Show hidden files” from the list. Set the switch to the On position.

Set the switch to On to view hidden files

Creating a .nomedia file in ES Explorer

To create a .nomedia file in ES Explorer, do the following:

Download, install and launch the application.

In the list of folders, select the one whose contents will be hidden. Enter it.

From the menu at the bottom of the screen, select New - Create File. In the name field, write “.nomedia”. Confirm your selection by clicking "OK".

You will see a notification that the .nomedia file has been created.

Video: how to hide files using .nomedia in ES Explorer

Hexlock installation

Hexlock is free application, which allows you to hide all types of data, as well as personal information user (SMS and contact list). Downloaded from the official store.

To hide files using Hexlock, do the following:

Open Play Maket. Find, download and install the application.

When starting, decide on the type of protection: PIN code, graphic password or fingerprint scanner. Choose what suits you best. Repeat twice.

From the side menu, select Media Vault. Click on the button with the plus sign, select a folder and files in it to add them to the storage. Click on the ADD TO VAULT button.

Files that you have hidden will not be viewable.

To recover hidden files:

Open the application. Depending on what you have set as security, enter a PIN code, picture password, or scan your fingerprint.

From the side menu, select Media Vault. All previously hidden files will be displayed there.

Highlight with a long press what you are going to restore, click on the restore button in the form of a crossed out padlock icon at the bottom of the screen and select Restore in the Restore From Vault selection confirmation window.

The files will be restored.

Video: Hexlock app review

If there are no Root rights

If you do not have Root rights, you can hide files by putting a dot in front of the name, creating a .nomedia file, or installing the Hide All Files application.

Dot before file name

To hide a file this way, do the following:

Open File Manager. It can be standard, or it can be downloaded from the Play Market.

Go to the folder you need. Long press to select the files you want to hide.

Click on the "Rename" button.

In the input field, place a period before the file name.

Confirm your choice by clicking OK/Done. Close the application.

Go to your device's Settings, select Apps, and then All. In the list of suggested ones, open those that you use to view audio/video/photos and click on “Erase data”.

When renaming an audio recording, its name should not be separated by a hyphen or dash. Otherwise the file will not be hidden.

Create a .nomedia file on your PC and transfer it to the desired folder

The .nomedia file will hide all files from a folder whose contents you do not want to be revealed. To create it, do the following:

Connect your smartphone to your PC or laptop. On your desktop, create a new text document, leave it blank and resave it as .nomedia. From the list of file types, select All Files.

Move the .nomedia file to the desired location. If you need to hide a file from a folder placed in another, you can place it in the root directory. If you are concerned about the safety of your files, then it is better to create new folder, insert .nomedia into it and then transfer what you need to hide.
Place nomedia file to the folder you need

Clear application data in “Settings” by following the path: “Settings” - “Applications” - “All” - “Gallery” / “Music” / any program that you used to display hidden files - “Erase data”. More details about this point are written above.

Your data that you hid will no longer be displayed, and the folder containing it will be marked as empty and will not be displayed either.

If you don’t want to create a file from scratch every time, copy it to a previously created empty folder and then place it wherever you need it.

Setting Hide All Files

Hide All Files allows you to hide absolutely any type of file, including documents Microsoft Office, PDF, EPUB, as well as images, videos and audio recordings.

To hide files using Hide All Files:

Find the application in the Play Market, install and open it.

Come up with strong password to login and click OK.

Enter your password and click OK

Examine the list of all folders with files in the Public tab. The app only displays what's stored on the memory card, so if you need to hide something, move it there.

Select the folder you want, scrolling down the list if necessary.

Select the files that you want to hide and click on the button with the image of a lock.

Select the files you want to hide and click on the padlock button

To view hidden files, go to the Private tab. To restore them, check the boxes next to them and click on the button with the image of a lock.

Select the files to be restored and click on the button with the image of a lock

How to hide a photo or video on Android

You can hide photos or video files using any of the methods described above: rename them, place them in the .nomedia folder, or download an application to hide them.

If you have Root rights, then you can use Hexlock - an application that allows you to hide all types of files, not just photos and videos. It is described in more detail in the section “How to hide files on Android”.

If you do not have Root rights, then install the Hide Something application. It's free, but it does its job perfectly.

Login to the Play Market, find the application, download it and open it.

Create a graphic password. At least 4 points.

Select the folder you are interested in from the list and open it. In the list of images, click on the ones you want to hide, and then click on the button with a ghost.

Select the files you are interested in and click on the button with the image of a ghost

In the dialog box, click OK. The images along with the folder will be hidden.

Click "OK" to hide files

To view and restore hidden images go to the “Invisible” tab. Open the folder, select the images and click on the restore button with the eye image. In the dialog box, click OK.

How to hide apps

If you have superuser rights, you can use Hide It Pro or the same Hexlock to hide certain applications. If there are no such rights, then only their icons can be hidden.

If you have Root rights

If you have Root rights, then you can use the Hide It Pro and Hexlock App Lock programs.

Installing Hide It Pro

To hide apps using Hide It Pro, do the following:

Launch the application. When it loads, click on the logo image and hold it for a while. This way, the application will be hidden from prying eyes.

Click on the logo image to launch all application functions

Enter your password and PIN. After this, the main application menu will open.

Select Hide Apps.

Select Hide Apps

Agree to install the plugin. At the warning about the need for superuser rights, click OK.

Open the All Applications tab. Select the apps you would like to hide and click OK.

Installing Hexlock App Lock

To hide apps using Hexlock App Lock:

Launch the application. If you have already launched the application, then enter the same password/PIN code; if not, come up with a new one.

Choose one of three modes:

• “Home” is a set of applications that you use while connected to your home network;
• “Work” - similar to the network at work;
• "School".

From the list of all applications, select those that you would like to hide and turn the switch next to them to the “Enabled” state.

Go to your profile. You can automate the connection by selecting the appropriate button in the menu and checking the box next to your home/work network.

After this, the applications will be protected with a password or PIN code, and unauthorized access to them will be excluded.

In the absence of Root rights

If you do not have Root rights, then try hiding application icons in the settings or use the Apex application.

Hide application icons in settings

If you have applications that you don’t use, you can’t delete them, and the icons are in the way, then you can hide them. To do this:

Go to your device's Settings and select Applications.

Scroll to the All tab.

Select the application whose icon you want to hide. Click on it.

Find the "Disable" button. If it is blocked, click on the “Stop” button. Then confirm your choice by clicking “OK”.

Click on the “Stop” button and on “OK”

Installing Apex Launcher

A similar result can be achieved by installing a third-party launcher - an application that will automatically hide everything unnecessary icons. For example, you can use Nova Launcher or Apex Launcher.

Let's look at the algorithm using Apex as an example:

Launch the launcher. Go to Apex Settings by double-clicking on an empty space.

In Settings, select Application Menu Settings.

Find the "Hidden Applications" item. Open it and check the boxes of those applications whose icons you would like to hide.

Click on "Save".

Video: How to use Apex Launcher

How to hide a specific folder

You can hide a folder in exactly the same way as a file:

rename it by putting a dot in front of the name;

place the .nomedia file in it. It will be considered empty and will not be displayed;

use apps. They will hide all the files contained in the folder; it will also be considered empty and will not be displayed.

How to set a password for a hidden element

You can lock the entire device. For these purposes it is used:

standard pin code. Go to “Settings” - “Location and Security”. Select PIN;

graphic key;

password. A compromise option between a PIN code and a graphic key.

You can only block some specific folder or file. For this:

Download from the Play Market and install any application that allows you to hide files.

Set a password or pattern.

Select files from the folder you want to hide. Confirm your choice.

You can use for this purpose both applications that require Root access and applications that do not require any additional rights. All of them equally allow you to set a password and protect your data from unauthorized access.

Video: how to put a password on files and folders in Applocker

How to Find and Open Hidden Items in Android System

Hidden items can be found using the built-in File Manager. To do this, just open it and see which file/folder names begin with a dot.

For the same purpose, you can use ES Explorer:

Launch the application. Open the side menu and find the “Show hidden files” item.

Find the item “Show hidden files” and set the switch to the “Enabled” position

Set the switch to the On position.

Scroll through the menu to a list of all folders and files. The icons of hidden files and folders will be translucent.

Apart from this, you can connect your device to your laptop or PC and check for hidden files there. For this:

Connect your smartphone to your laptop/PC.

Open the folder in Explorer where you would like to find hidden files.

If you have not previously made them hidden in Windows, they will be displayed.

If you did, then go to “Start” - “Control Panel” - “Appearance and Personalization”. Select Folder Options and then the View tab. In chapter " Extra options» Click “Show hidden files, folders...” and confirm your choice by clicking “OK”. Hidden files will appear.

Video: how to open hidden files using ES Explorer

How to open hidden items without a password if they are password-protected

This is only feasible in 2 cases:

if the files were protected only graphic password for the entire device, and this password was bypassed;

if the files are in a password-protected archive, but cannot be opened, you can only view them.

To bypass a picture password:

enter Google account(keep your address Email and password secret);

delete the gesture.key file manually (do not download or install file manager Aroma);

delete the gesture.key file via additional user(don't create additional account with SuperSu and multiplayer mode if this is not necessary);

reset settings to factory defaults.

You will only be able to view the names and types of files in a password-protected archive, but you will not be able to extract or open them.

Enter the password to unpack the archive in the Easy Unrar, Unzip & Zip application

Share with your friends!

Many users sometimes have a question about how to hide files on Android that you want to leave inaccessible to others. By default, all folders and photographs are displayed in the gallery, and using standard features the system will not be able to hide them. But there is a solution - this third party software, you can install a new gallery on your phone, such as Quick P. This is a program with good functionality and capabilities, which provides excellent photo management capabilities. Quick Pic has user-friendly interface with good optimization for any display and has support for multi-touch gestures.

You can hide files on Android this program, in which in just a couple of clicks you can hide individual or all files from the gallery. In addition to the main function, it can sort photos, create new folders, rename them and much more. And using the built-in graphic editor You can edit your photos and give them various effects.

How to hide apps on your phone using a computer?

We connect the phone to the PC, where you will need to select the “Hidden” attribute. To do this, open the folder with photos on the computer, right-click on the file of interest, and then select “Properties” and check the box next to “Hidden”.

After simple actions You can make a hidden Android file that will no longer be displayed. To be able to view hidden photos, you need to uncheck the box and return the ability to view them. But this method can only hide files from your computer; they will still be displayed on your phone.

Hiding files using a file manager

It seems to us that this is the most convenient way how to hide files on Android in the gallery. To do this, you just need to download a third-party file manager, for example, ES Explorer. It is optimal in terms of stability and capabilities. But you can use any other one if it seems more convenient to you. This way you can hide both individual photos and the entire folder.

To hide files, follow these instructions:

Turn on ES Explorer, where we find the folder or individual file of interest;

Click on the name until a menu appears where you can select additional options;

Click “Rename” and put a dot in front of the name.

After that, go to the gallery and check whether this folder is no longer displayed in the gallery. To be able to view hidden apps, you need to return to Explorer, after which you can open the display by swiping from the left edge of the screen hidden objects. All that remains is to remove the dot and hidden files will become accessible again.

Using designated applications

Deciding how to hide files on an Android 6.0 phone, you can download special application, of which there are quite a few on the Internet. They work approximately the same way, but for the purposes of this article we will describe KeepSafe. The program will securely hide photos and videos by setting a password to access it. Having set it, the content is moved to a separate storage, to which only you will have access. To access the files, you only need to provide a password.