How To Hide Files In Android Device For Free [2023]

On modern smartphones, including those based on Android, there are quite a lot of files of various formats: videos, photos, music, etc. Among these, there may be some personal information that the user would like to hide from prying eyes. Today we will talk about how to hide files in Android.

How to hide files in Android without third-party apps

Most phone manufacturers have provided a feature to hide files. This does not require the installation of special applications. Just follow the instructions below:

1. Click on the “Files” icon on the phone screen, in the window that opens, go to the “Internal memory” section.
2. In the context menu, you need to create a new folder and give it a name.
   IMPORTANT. Be sure to put a dot “.” before the folder name.
3. After creating the folder, you need to return to the main screen of the phone and go to the “Settings” section.
4. In the settings, you must activate the “Display system files” function.
5. Next, through the device’s memory, you need to select all the files that you want to hide. You need to move them to the folder you created earlier.
6. After the transfer process, go to the settings and turn off the “Display system files” option.

The last point is the most important, otherwise, the files will not be hidden but simply moved to a new folder.

Create a secret folder with Google

This method is available for Android 8.0 and higher devices. To hide files, you will need to have an update to the latest version of the Google Files program, which is usually included among the installed basic phone applications.

Sequencing:

1. Open application.
2. Click on the “View” icon (located at the bottom of the screen).
3. Scrolling down the page, click “Selections”, then “Secret Folder”.
4. Select a security option (PIN code or pattern).
5. Enter a protection variation and repeat the action.
6. Mark the necessary files through the application.
7. Click on the three dots icon (in the upper right corner) and select the “Move to secret folder” option.

To open hidden files on Android, just enter the application and confirm the action by entering a pattern or PIN code.

View and open hidden files using applications

The best option to open hidden files on Android using apps is to use Explorers installed from Google Play. Let’s take ES Explorer and Total Commander as an example.

ES Explorer

The application has a fairly simple interface that even a novice user will understand. In order to hide folders on Android, just call the Explorer menu, and swipe right with your finger. Next, activate the “Show hidden files” function. To open hidden files, you just need to click on the image of the folder in which they are located. Total Commander

This program hardly needs to be introduced, the Explorer is one of the most popular applications of its kind. Total Commander allows you to hide, open and view files on Android without changing their attributes. To display hidden files, you need to enable the “Show hidden files” function in the menu, and then restart the program.

Hiding files by creating a private space

The easiest way to hide personal information, which is originally provided in many phone models. Perfect for protecting personal data from prying eyes. To create a personal space on your phone, you need to do the following (using the Huawei brand as an example):

• In the settings, go to “Security and privacy”.
• Next, opposite the “Personal space” column, move the “slider” to the active mode.
• After activation, the system will prompt you to enter a password, and then repeat it (you can also set the “User recognition by fingerprint” functions).

Next, you need to move the files from the main profile, let’s say “Galleries”, to the newly created second space.

On devices from other manufacturers, this function may have a different name, but the principle and algorithm of actions do not have significant differences.

Restore visibility for hidden files

In order for a hidden folder to become visible, you need to do two simple steps:

1. In the Android device explorer, enable the visibility of hidden files – “Show hidden files”.
2. Rename the folder with hidden files, and remove the dot “.” at the beginning of the title.

After exiting the main screen and further transitioning to the device files, the folder will become available for viewing.

Various ways to remove hidden files

Deleting hidden files on Android will help your phone not run out of memory and run much more stable and faster. Often, the user is faced with the problem of full memory, although there are no applications on the device that take up a lot of space.

Removing hidden files through Total Commander

To delete hidden files through Total Commander, you need to:

1. Launch the application.
2. Find the required files or folder.
3. Select and click on the cross icon, which is located at the bottom of the panel.
4. Confirm the deletion of the selected files in the pop-up window.

Reset

The easiest way to get rid of all files in one click. The disadvantage of this function is that the entire memory of the device is cleared, and saving data is impossible. It is better to move important documents and files beforehand.

The advantage of a factory reset is the complete return of the phone to its original state. This method is perfect for cleaning the phone of all malicious and hidden files that overflow the memory.

To completely remove hidden files on Android, you will need to do the following:

1. In the device settings, select “System Restore” or “Backup and Reset” (depending on the phone model).
2. From the proposed options, select “Reset data with full formatting.”
3. After confirming the action and waiting for the end of the procedure.