How to Hide Private Photos on Android

All photos you take with your smartphone are saved in your device's photo library.Curious people can easily see pictures that you don't want them to see.Maybe you captured confidential information, a gift for a loved one, or something else you wished to keep private.Hiding pictures from your photo album for whatever reason is easy.

If you want to know how to hide photos on Android, read on!

Native tool to hide photos in gallery

Almost all Android phones have a built-in option to hide pictures in the gallery.Samsung uses its own app for this, while other phones do it through Google Photos.Let's take a look at both methods.

For security reasons, though, taking screenshots in your phone's secure or locked folders isn't possible.

hide photos from samsung phone

If you have a Samsung phone running Android Nougat 7.0 or higher, you can use Samsung's Safe Folder feature.It lets you keep private files, pictures and even apps in a separate password-protected area.

To set up Secure Folder for the first time, go to Settings > Biometrics & Security > Secure Folder.You need to sign in with your Samsung account.After you log in, the device prompts you to choose your preferred lock method.Once you're done, you'll be able to access Secure Folder from the app drawer.To hide photos in Safe Folder, open the app and tap Add Files.

Photos in Secure Folder are stored only on your device and not elsewhere.They're not backed up anywhere, and if you have to factory reset your phone, they're also deleted.

Hide pictures in Google Photos

Almost every Android phone comes with Google Photos installed.You can set up a locked folder in Google Photos to hide your private pictures from your main gallery.When you move photos into this folder, they will no longer appear in any photo browsing apps on your device.

To set it up, go to Library > Utilities > Lock Folder and follow the on-screen instructions.You just unlock with your fingerprint or PIN and tap to move the item.Select the photos and videos you want to add, then tap Move, then tap Move.To move them out of the folder again, select them and tap Move.You can also delete the contents of folders.

Locking folders is a great feature, but it's easy to spot if you're not careful.Google Photos also functions as a cloud image backup service, but the contents of private folders will not be backed up (if they are already backed up, they will be removed).You need to move the pictures out of the locked folder to move them to the cloud.

Hide photos from gallery using file manager

If you want to use a different solution, there are many other options, but the process is slightly more complicated.

You can use a file manager to perform some tricks, or rely on third-party tools that specialize in hiding content.Some third-party gallery apps also have this feature.Let's first examine two tricks file managers use to hide files.

Create new folder

Before getting started, you'll need a high-quality file manager installed on your phone.Once you've made your decision and installed your file manager, launch the application.You need to create a new folder that starts with a period (for example, .PrivateFiles or .Secret).

Then, move all the photos you want to hide into the newly created folder.How to do this varies from app to app, but usually a long press on the file you want to move will select it.

Any relocated files will no longer show up in the gallery app.This is because any folder starting with a period will not be scanned by the phone software.

Create a ".nomedia" file

If you want to hide hundreds of photos, it's not practical to move them manually.Instead, it's easier to create a .nomedia file in the folder you want to hide.

When the phone sees a .nomedia file in a folder, it won't load the contents of that folder when it scans your directory.

To create files, you still need a third-party file manager app.Use this to navigate to the folder you want to hide, then create a new file in the directory called .nomedia (make sure to include the period).The file does not need to contain anything, the filename is the most important part.

To reverse, simply delete the .nomedia file.

However, while both methods hide content from the native picture library, the pictures will still be visible in any file manager.They are not password protected.

Third-party apps that hide pictures

There are also several third-party photo gallery apps that can be used to hide photos and keep them safe.Here are three of the best apps:

1.Vaulty

Vaulty has become the leading app for hiding content.Thousands of users have left positive reviews on the Google Play Store.

It comes with a photo library.Any photos you lock will only be viewable there.Gallery also allows you to create multiple vaults, meaning you can have different collections of photos to show to different people.All your content is password protected, and it even backs up your media, so it's safe even if you lose your phone.

Download: Vaulty (Free, in-app purchases available)

2. Keep safe

Keepsafe is Vaulty's biggest competitor.It functions very similarly: all your photos are password-protected and encrypted, and you can also back up your photos to the app's cloud storage.

The app also has the ability to hide screen icons, which means anyone picking up your phone won't know what you're hiding.Finally, it has a Snapchat-like self-destruct feature that lets you share photos with other users that self-destruct after 20 seconds.

Download: Keepsafe (Free, in-app purchases available)

3.LockMyPix

LockMyPix uses standard-grade AES encryption to hide an unlimited amount of photos or videos on your Android phone or tablet.A few other features of the app that make it stand out include the ability to create a fake vault with a separate PIN, support for photos on SD cards, encrypted backups, and support for GIF files.

Download: LockMyPix (Free, in-app purchases available)

Easily Hide Photos on Android

We've covered a series of tricks for those who want to hide photos on Android.Most users can stick with their phone's native tools.But if you want more features, such as the ability to hide apps where private photos are located, you'll need to use a third-party app.