How to hide a file or folder on Android

In this article, we will figure out how to hide a folder on Android, how to hide files on Android so that they are not visible on a mobile device. Hidden files and folders of an Android device will allow you to protect private information from strangers that is not intended for other users who can access a smartphone or tablet, for example, family members.

A modern mobile device running on the Android operating system usually stores a large amount of various information: videos, photos, documents, etc. This data may include personal information that should be hidden from prying eyes. Due to the negligent attitude to the data stored on the phone, problems may arise, including in personal life.

To protect sensitive data, you need to hide files and folders on Android. A hidden folder on Android will help protect personal private information, an outsider will not see on a smartphone if it falls into his hands, nothing that was hidden by the user of a mobile device.

For greater reliability, all private data can be collected in one folder, and then hidden from prying eyes. You can not hide individual folders at all, but hide only some files located in different folders.

In the article you will find instructions on how to create an invisible folder or hide a file on a mobile device running the Android operating system. We will create a new hidden folder, hide an already existing folder, hide a file, show a hidden folder or file, remove a hidden folder or file: make them visible again.

To create a hidden folder or a hidden file, we need a file manager (Explorer). If your device has a file manager pre-installed, use this application. If there is no File Explorer on your smartphone or tablet, or you are not satisfied with its capabilities, check out the article about the best file managers for Android to choose the right application for your device.

The method of creating a hidden folder involves disguising a folder or file as a system directory or application. In the Android operating system, system directories are not displayed by default.

Using the example in the article, I will show the work in the powerful file manager ES Explorer (ES File Manager), due to the fact that this is the most popular program of this type. In other applications, the names of the menu items of the programs may differ, but all the actions performed will be identical.

How to create a hidden folder on Android

First, let’s create a new folder in ES File Explorer. To do this, you must enable the display of hidden files using the program.

Do the following:

1. Open file manager.
2. Enter “Settings” (in the top left menu) and then go to the “Display Settings” option.
3. Check the box “Show hidden files” (Show files starting with a dot).

Create a new hidden folder:

1. In the main window of the file manager, select the internal or external memory (SD card, if the system allows writing to external media without root rights), where the hidden folder should be located.
2. Click on the right drop-down menu, in the “New” window that opens, select “Folder”.
3. Create a folder, give it a name, put a dot in front of the folder name, for example, “. Folder” or something like that, as you like. I advise you to write the name of the folder in Latin letters, in this case, the name of the folder will not be evident.
4. Click on the “OK” button.
5. Move the necessary files to this folder from your device (smartphone or tablet).
6. Enter the file manager settings, uncheck the box next to the settings item showing system directories.

After that, the hidden folder will not be displayed among other folders on the mobile device.

How to make a hidden folder on Android

Similarly, you can hide an existing folder on an Android mobile phone. We do not need to enable the image of hidden folders in the settings.

Let’s say we need to hide private videos. Using the file manager, select the folder on the device that you want to hide. In our case, this is the “Video” folder located in the internal memory of the mobile device.

1. Click on the folder, select Rename.
2. Before the name of the folder, put a dot “.Video”, click on the “OK” button.
3. The hidden folder will disappear from view when you re-enter the gallery, you will not find the folder with video files there, because this folder is hidden in the system.

Similarly, you can hide the folders: “Audio”, “Video”, Pictures, “Camera” (located in the “DCIM” folder), “Download”, “Document”, etc., other folders with multimedia files that are in application folders, for example, in the WhatsApp folder.

How to hide folder contents for gallery

Let’s look at another method that hides the contents of an existing gallery folder. With this method, the folder itself is not hidden, but the contents of the folder are not displayed in the gallery.

Now I will show you how to hide a folder on Android in the gallery where multimedia files are displayed: photos, videos, etc.

1. In the file manager, enter the folder whose contents you want to hide in the gallery.
2. From the file manager menu, select “New” and then “File”.
3. Name the file “.nomedia”, with a dot at the beginning of the file name, click OK.
4. Reboot your device.

After launching the smartphone, the contents of the folder will not be displayed in the phone’s gallery. In the file manager, the folder and its contents will be visible.

How to view hidden folders on Android

In order to open hidden folders on Android, you need to enable the display of hidden folders on your mobile device.

1. Enter the file manager settings, turn on the display of hidden directories.
2. Hidden data will be visible on your phone until you turn off showing hidden files again.

How to make a hidden folder visible on Android

Now let’s see how to make a folder visible again at all times, regardless of whether showing hidden folders is enabled or disabled on the device.

1. Enter the file manager settings, check the box to show hidden directories.
2. Find the hidden folder, click on the folder.
3. Select “Rename”, remove the dot in front of the folder name.
4. Uncheck the box next to the option to show hidden files in the file manager settings.

This folder has become visible again, a regular folder.

How to make gallery folder contents visible

If you no longer need to hide media files in the gallery, delete the “.nomedia” file from the media folder.

1. Turn on showing hidden files in the file manager.
2. Enter the folder whose files were hidden in the gallery.
3. Delete the previously created file named “.nomedia” from there.
4. Restart your smartphone.
5. Turn off showing hidden directories on your phone.

In the “Gallery” all files will be visible again: videos, photos, images, screenshots, etc.

How to hide a file on Android

In some cases it is necessary to hide an individual file without hiding everything else. If you have read the article up to this point, then you probably already guessed how this can be done.

1. Enter the folder where you want to hide the file.
2. Click on the file, select Rename.
3. Put a dot in front of the file name “.filename”, and then click on the “OK” button.
4. The hidden file will become invisible.

This way you can hide several files in one folder, the rest of the files from this folder will be visible.

How to open hidden files on Android

To view a hidden file, you must enable the display of hidden files in the file manager.

How to make a hidden file visible on Android

When the need to hide something disappears, the hidden file must be made visible again.

1. In the file manager settings, check the box to show hidden files.
2. Enter the folder with the hidden file, select the “Rename” option.
3. Remove the dot from the file name, click on the “OK” button.
4. In the file manager settings, uncheck the box next to the “Show hidden files” item.

The hidden file will become a regular visible file again.

Article Conclusions

Using the file manager, you can create a hidden folder or hide a file if the user needs to protect private information stored on a mobile device. There are several ways in which you can hide a folder or file completely, or hide media files in a folder from being viewed in the smartphone gallery.