Best way to hide photos on android

You can save sensitive photos and videos to a folder protected by your device screen lock in the Google Photos app. Items in Locked Folder won’t appear in the Photos grid, memories, search or albums and won’t be available to other apps on your device that have access to your photos and videos.

Table of Contents Show

Set up Locked Folder
Save directly from Pixel camera to Locked Folder
Move photos or videos to Locked Folder
Learn more about Locked Folder
What can’t I do with items in Locked Folder?
Where can I not find items in Locked Folder?
How to hide photos and videos on Android
1. Hide photos & videos using File Manager on Android
2. Hide Android Gallery via Google Photos
3. Hide Gallery photos, videos with app
4. Secure Folder in Samsung Galaxy
Best Selling Products
What is the best app to hide photos on Android?
What is the best way to hide private photos?
How can I hide pictures on my Android without an app?

Important:

This feature is only available on Android 6 and later.
People who have access to the device screen lock can unlock Locked Folder.
Items in your Locked Folder that are saved to your device aren’t moved to other devices during cable or cloud data transfers.
If you uninstall the Photos app or clear your Photos app data, you’ll lose all items in your Locked Folder. To save these items, remove them from Locked Folder before you make changes.

Set up Locked Folder

Important: The first time you try to move photos and videos to Locked Folder, you'll be prompted to set it up.

Save directly from Pixel camera to Locked Folder

Important: This feature only works on Pixel 3 devices and later.

Move photos or videos to Locked Folder

Important: Cloud backups of these items will be deleted.

Tip: To move photos and videos from Trash to Locked Folder, first restore the content from Trash.

Learn more about Locked Folder

What’s the difference between Locked Folder & Archive?

Archived photos and videos still show up when you search in Google Photos. Locked Folder keeps them hidden and protected by your device screen lock.

What can I do with items in Locked Folder?

You can:

Move them out of Locked Folder
Permanently delete
After unlocking your device, view them at any time

What can’t I do with items in Locked Folder?

To prevent accidental exposure of your sensitive photos and videos, you can’t do the following with your Locked Folder content:

Add items to an album or photo book
Back up items
Edit items or revert changes made before an item was moved to Locked Folder
Share items in Google Photos or with other apps like Instagram or Facebook
Move items to Trash
View photos or videos that your device can't display in original format or resolution

Important:

Photos and videos that you move to Locked Folder are removed from your existing memories and photo print orders. They also won’t be shown on Google smart displays like Nest Hub or through Chromecast, although it may take up to an hour for items to disappear.
Locked Folder items aren't transferred in USB-USB device transfers and aren't kept when you factory reset your device or clear app data.
If you delete the Photos app, your Locked Folder and any items inside will also be permanently deleted.

Where can I find items in Locked Folder?

You can find items you’ve moved to Locked Folder in the Photos app library under "Utilities".

Where can I not find items in Locked Folder?

To keep your sensitive photos and videos private, items in Locked Folder:

Won’t appear in search results, albums, shared items or any new memories.
Are removed from existing memories and draft print orders.
Aren’t available to share through third party apps.

Important: Your sensitive photos and videos won’t be shown on Google smart displays like Nest Hub or through Chromecast, although it may take up to an hour for items to disappear.

Can I view items from Locked Folder elsewhere on my Pixel device?

To protect your content, no other app on your device can access items in Locked Folder except Google Photos and the device's camera.

Why is an item I placed in Locked Folder found in other areas of Photos?

When you move a photo or video to Locked Folder, only the original item gets moved from wherever it appears in Google Photos. After an item is moved to Locked Folder, any new copies stay where they are stored, including items in trash, unless you move or delete them too.

Why am I ineligible for Locked Folder?

Locked Folder is currently unavailable on fully managed devices and for certain account types. Please reach out to your device's admin or your account’s admin for more information.

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Summary: Want to hide confidential and personal photos or videos on Android? This post shares the best methods to hide your photos and videos in an Android Gallery.

Your android phone is a repository of personal and official photos and videos. It may also have some confidential, sensitive, or private media files, which you don’t want to expose to random people.

The best solution to keep your photos and videos private is to hide them on the Android device.

How to hide photos and videos on Android

Hiding photos and videos on android mean making them disappear from your smartphone gallery but not deleting them. This locks the photos and videos and prevents anyone else from viewing your personal or classified data.

Certain methods can hide videos and photos on android, such as the built-in photo hide feature, Google Photos, and third-party apps.

Here are the best methods to hide photos and videos on Android Gallery:

File Manager on Android
Archive in Google Photos
Hide photos with an app
Secure Folder feature in Samsung Galaxy

1. Hide photos & videos using File Manager on Android

Latest Android phones have built-in File Manager. If you don’t have one on your device, install it from Google Play Store.

File Manager on Android helps to manage files on your smartphone. You can choose to save the desired photos, videos, and other files in the phone’s internal storage or its SD card, if any.

The app also has the option to hide photos and videos in Android Gallery. You can create a new folder in File Manager, add photos and videos from the Gallery, and hide it. Any video or photo you moved to the File Manager folder, won’t show up in the Gallery app.

Steps to hide photos, videos in File Manager:

Note: The exact steps may vary depending on your Android device.

Open File Manager.
Click on Menu > Settings.
Toggle on Show hidden files.

Figure: Show hidden files in Android Settings

Open File Manager menu again and select either internal storage or SD card.
Click on New folder or Create folder in some Android models.

Figure: Create folder option File Manager

Name the folder. Make sure to add a period (.) before and after the name like .personal. Close File Manager.

Figure: Enter folder name

Open Gallery to add photos or videos to the folder.
Select the photos and videos and click on Add to album.
Select Hidden album. Your photos and videos will get added in the Hidden folder and removed from Android Gallery.

Figure: Hidden albumin Gallery

Next, open File Manager > Settings.
Toggle off Show hidden files. The folder you created won’t be visible in File Manager. You can toggle on Show hidden files whenever you wish to see the hidden photos and videos.

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2. Hide Android Gallery via Google Photos

Archive photos and videos in Google Photos on Android phone. This will hide them from your Android Gallery. You can access photos and videos in Archive folder under the Library option in Google Photos.

Steps to hide photos, videos in Google Photos:

Note: The exact steps may vary depending on your Android model.

Open the Google Photos app and select the images and videos you want to hide.
Click on the three-dot icon at the top-right corner.
Click Move to Archive.

3. Hide Gallery photos, videos with app

There are free apps available on Google Play Store to hide pictures and videos in Gallery. Android photo hide apps are a good alternative if you find the File Manager complicated.

These apps are easy-to-use and have the option to password protect your media files on Android.

Unlike File Manager, they offer several features like password/ pin/ fingerprint protection, cloud backup, private gallery, and more.

Some of the best apps to hide pictures and videos on Android are Vaulty, LockMyPix, Gallery Lock, Hide Something, etc.

Figure: Vaulty app Settings screen

Vaulty: Vaulty offers a private photo gallery where you can view locked photos and videos. You can create multiple vaults that allow you to organize a specific set of photos.

Key features:

Pin or text password protection
Create multiple vaults for a specific set of photos and videos
Mugshot feature that snaps a picture of anyone who enters wrong password.
Free online backup, which helps to save hidden media files in case the phone is lost or broken

LockMyPix: LockMyPix provides safe photo and video protection on Android using military-grade AES encryption that uses pin, fingerprint, password, or pattern. You can encrypt hidden photos and videos from the Gallery and even click images to add them to LockMyPix vault.

Key features:

AES encryption
Hides and encrypts unlimited photos and videos
Option to make LockMyPix app invisible on Android phone
A Fake-Login feature that opens a fake LockMyPix account where you can place other pictures / videos. Nobody knows that you have another LockMyPix vault.
Encrypted backups

4. Secure Folder in Samsung Galaxy

Samsung Galaxy phone users can use Secure Folder feature to hide photo and videos on Android.

It allows you to keep private pictures, videos, and apps in a secured folder. You can lock the folder as well as hide it on your Samsung phone.

The Secure Folder feature is included in Galaxy S7 and S7, Galaxy A3, and Galaxy A5.

Steps to set up Secure Folder on Samsung Galaxy:

Choose Apps > Settings > Lock screen and security > Secure Folder
Sign in to your Samsung account. Choose SIGN IN.
Choose the lock method you want for your Secure Folder.
A shortcut to the Secure Folder will be added to your Home and Apps screen.
Open Secure Folder and add photos and videos from the Gallery.

Steps to hide the Secure Folder

Choose Apps > Settings > Lock screen and security > Secure Folder
Select Hide Secure Folder.
Choose OK to confirm.

Conclusion

This post shares how File Manager, Google Photos, and third-party apps can hide photos and videos on Android.

If you want to hide photos without using a third-party app, go for File Manager. Samsung Galaxy users can utilize the Secure Folder feature.

Apps like Vaulty, LockMyPix, and Gallery Lock can hide files in Gallery for free. They have premium versions that offer advanced protection for your photos and videos on Android.

About The Author

Nishat

Nishat Paiker is an expert technical writer and editor with over 8 years of experience. She has deep knowledge about data recovery and loves to explore new technology and DIY tools. Nishat has keen interest in photography. You will often find her giving photography tips and hacks.

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What is the best app to hide photos on Android?

Best Photos and Video Hiding Apps for Android (2022).

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Google Files (Safe Folder).

What is the best way to hide private photos?

From the Photos tab, open an individual photo or video page, tap the Menu button (three dots, top right) then Move to archive or Delete from device. To hide a batch of photos and videos at once, long press on the first one until it's checked, then tap on the other items you want to archive.