How to Create a Password Folder on Xiaomi: The Complete Guide

A modern smartphone holds a huge amount of sensitive information that should not be open to prying eyes. Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco devices often wonder how to reliably protect personal photos, videos or documents from accidental viewing by friends or when a gadget is lost. A standard gallery or file manager does not always provide the proper level of privacy, so the MIUI system offers a built-in tool to create a secure space.

Creating a special hidden folder allows you to isolate selected files from the main storage, making them visible only after you enter a password, pattern lock or fingerprint. This mechanism works at the system level, which guarantees a high level of security even when you have access rights to the main lock screen. Unlike third-party applications, the built-in Second Space or Hidden folder does not require the installation of additional software and does not collect user data.

In this article, we will discuss in detail the process of activating protection, configuring biometric authorization and moving data to a safe zone. You will learn how to create a folder with a password on Xiaomi and what nuances exist when working with this tool in different versions of firmware.

Principles of operation of the MIUI security system

The foundation of personal data protection in the MIUI shell is a file isolation mechanism that works independently of the main access system to the phone. When you create a secure area, the system encrypts the content and hides it from standard gallery and explorer applications. Access to this data requires separate authorization, which may differ from the screen unlock password, which creates an additional layer of security.

Technically, the process of hiding is implemented by changing the attributes of files and moving them to the system partition, access to which is limited by the rights of the superuser or a special security token. USB-cable in file transfer mode, the contents of the hidden folder will not be displayed without first unlocking through the settings of the smartphone.

It's important to understand that the feature doesn't just hide icons, it changes the path to files in the file system. If you decide to delete the Gallery or Explorer app, your hidden data will remain intact, as it is tied to your system account and security profile, not to a particular viewer app. However, resetting your device to factory settings without first unlocking and transferring files will lead to its irretrievable loss.

• 🔒 Data encryption occurs on the fly when files are moved to a hidden area.
• 👆 Support for biometrics allows you to open access in a fraction of a second through a fingerprint.
• 📂 Files in a hidden folder do not occupy double space, but move to a protected partition.
• 🔄 Sync with the Mi Cloud is only possible for unprotected files by default.

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Use a complex graphical key for a hidden folder, different from the screen unlock key, to increase the level of protection in case of being forced to unlock the phone.

Activation of the function of hiding files and folders

The first step to creating a secure storage is to enable the appropriate feature in the security settings. In modern versions of MIUI, this tool is often integrated directly into standard applications such as Gallery or Explorer, but the basic password setting is done through the system menu. You need to go to Settings, then select Passwords and Security or Privacy Protection.

The menu that opens will provide the Hide files option, and will prompt you to set a password to access hidden files, which can be a digital code, a pattern lock, or a mixed password, which will be requested every time you want to view the contents of the hidden folder, and it is recommended to remember or write this password, as it may not be possible to restore it without linking to your Mi Account.

Once you set the password, the system activates the concealment mode. From now on, standard applications will have special tabs or sections that can only be accessed after you enter the installed code. Some versions of the firmware use a special gesture or sequence of actions to log into the hidden folder, which we will talk about below.

⚠️ Note: If you forget the password from the hidden folder and do not link it to the Mi Account, it will be almost impossible to restore access to photos and documents.

Create a hidden folder through the Gallery and the Explorer

The most convenient way to work with protected data is to use built-in MIUI applications. To create a hidden photo folder, open the standard Gallery app. At the top of the screen, where the tabs Photos, Albums and Share are displayed, you need to pull a finger from the bottom up until vibration or characteristic sound appears.

Once you enter a password or put your finger on it, you'll be taken to the hidden gallery interface, where you can create new albums that are automatically protected. To move photos to this album, you just need to highlight them in the main gallery, click the "More" button (three dots) and select the Hide option. Files will disappear from public access instantly and only appear in the secure section.

The same principle applies to File Manager, where you open the Explorer, swipe from the bottom up to activate the hidden folder, and you can create folder structures for documents, videos and audio files, and you can move files through the action menu: select a file, click More -> Hide, and this keeps document scans, personal videos and sensitive records safe.

It's worth noting that hidden files don't just get masked, they physically move to another file system directory, so if you try to find them through a third-party file manager without root rights, you won't find them. This ensures a high level of data privacy.

Set up biometric protection and passwords

To make hidden folders more usable, MIUI allows you to use biometrics. Instead of entering a complex password every time, you can unlock hidden files with your fingerprint or facial recognition, and you need to go to your security settings and find Use your fingerprint to access hidden files.

When this function is activated, the system will ask you to confirm the action with your current fingerprint, then when you try to enter the hidden folder, you will need to touch the scanner, but it must be entered in cases where the biometrics do not work, for example, after rebooting the device or if the finger is wet.

The combination of security techniques strikes a balance between security and speed, such as using a fingerprint for daily access and a complex password to make critical changes to security settings. Don't neglect setting a password by relying on biometrics alone, as in emergency situations (such as dirty hands), a password will be the only way to access.

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Biometric protection significantly speeds up access to hidden files, but does not replace the need to remember the main password in case of system failures.

Use of the Second Space for Maximum Insulation

If a standard hidden folder isn't enough for you, Xiaomi offers a more radical solution, Second Space, which is not just a password folder, but a full-fledged second operating system inside your smartphone. The second space has its own wallpaper, settings, apps, and most importantly, its own files, which are completely isolated from the main space.

You can set the system so that when you unlock the phone with one finger, you get into the main space, and when you use the other finger, you get into the second hidden space. To an outsider, the phone will look normal, because the second space leaves no trace in the main system.

You can create a second space through the Settings -> Second Space menu. The initial setup process takes a few minutes, as the system creates a virtual user profile, and in this space, you can install separate versions of apps, like a second WhatsApp or banking apps, and store photos that will never appear in the main gallery.

• 📱 Complete data isolation: applications in the second space don’t see files in the first space.
• 🔑 A separate login password for each space increases privacy.
• 📉 Minor impact on device performance due to optimization MIUI.
• 🚫 Inability to transfer files between spaces without using cloud or special tools.

The use of Second Space is ideal for separating work and personal lives or storing highly sensitive information, but it is worth considering that this feature consumes additional RAM resources, which can be noticeable on budget models.

⚠️ Note: When you delete the Second Space, all data, applications and files that were in it will be permanently deleted.

Transfer and management of files in a protected area

Managing files inside hidden folders has its own peculiarities. As mentioned, the standard copy and move operations here work through the Hide or Delete from Hidden menus. When you decide to return a file from a hidden folder to the public domain, the system moves it back to the original directory or to the folder you specify when exporting.

When dealing with large amounts of data, such as 4K video, the process of hiding can take some time, as the actual movement of bytes of information occurs. Interrupting this process (for example, battery discharge) can lead to file damage. So before mass hiding heavy files, make sure that the battery charge is at least 20-30%.

You can also use voice commands or widgets to manage hidden files if they are supported by your firmware version, but the most reliable and proven way is to use the standard Explorer or Gallery interface, where you can sort files, create nested folders and rename them without fear of being seen by others.

It is important to regularly check the contents of hidden folders to ensure the integrity of the data. Although Xiaomi is stable, software failures do occur, and having an up-to-date backup of important documents on an external medium or in a reliable cloud will never be superfluous.

Frequent problems and ways to solve them

Users may encounter various difficulties in using the file hiding feature, and one common problem is that the Hidden Files tab disappears after the system update, in which case you need to re-activate the function in the security settings or check if it has been disabled as a result of the application settings reset.

Another problem is that you can't open a hidden folder because you've forgotten your password. If you've linked a Mi Account, you can try to reset your password through the recovery procedure on Xiaomi's website. If you haven't, the only option is to reset your phone, which will cause you to lose all your data, so you have to be very careful about passwords.

Users also sometimes complain that hidden photos are not displayed in other applications, such as image editors, which is normal security behavior: applications do not have access to hidden files, and in order to edit such a photo, it must first be extracted from the hidden folder, processed and, if necessary, hidden again.