How to put a password for an album in the gallery Xiaomi: 3 working ways

Protecting personal photos from prying eyes is a key challenge for Xiaomi smartphone owners. Even if you carefully store your phone and keep it out of the hands of the wrong person, the risk of accidentally viewing sensitive photos always remains. Fortunately, MIUI firmware offers built-in tools to lock albums with a password, but not all users know how to use them correctly.

In this article, we will discuss three official ways to protect albums in the Xiaomi gallery (including hidden features MIUI 14), and also talk about the nuances that can prevent you from setting a password. You will learn how to circumvent restrictions on older versions of firmware, which alternative applications are worth considering, and why blocking sometimes works incorrectly.

Why is there no “Password to Album” feature in Xiaomi Gallery?

Many users find that the standard Xiaomi gallery does not have a direct option to “Block the album”, the reason lies in the MIUI architecture: instead of blocking individual folders, developers offer two alternative solutions:

• 🔒 The hidden album "Private Safe" is a secure section where you can transfer photos and videos. MIUI 12.5+ Qualcomm Snapdragon chips of the 6th series and above.
• 📁 Blocking the Gallery app – a password or fingerprint to log in to the app itself (does not protect individual albums!).
• 🔐 Third-party apps – for example, Google Photos with a “Blocked Folder” or Vaulty feature.

It is important to understand that MIUI does not support passwords at the level of individual user albums (for example, “Vacation 2026” or “Documents”). All built-in methods work either with an entire application or with a special hidden storage. This restriction is due to Xiaomi’s security policy, which prohibits fragmentation of media files.

⚠️ Note: On smartphones with MediaTek processors (e.g. Redmi Note 11 or POCO M4 Pro) Private Safe may not be available even in MIUI 14.This is due to the chipset's hardware limitations.

Method 1: Using a hidden album Private Safe (MIUI 12.5 and later)

The most reliable way to protect photos is to transfer them to Private Safe, which is not displayed in the main gallery and requires authentication every time you open it.

1. Open the Gallery app.
2. Slip on three dots in the top right corner → select Private Safe.
3. When you first start, the system will prompt you to set a password or a graphical key (other than locking the screen!).
4. After setting up, drag and drop the desired photos/video to Private Safe through the “Share” menu.

Files in Private Safe are encrypted and not displayed in other applications (such as Google Photos or WhatsApp), but there is a caveat: when you reset your phone to factory settings, the content will be deleted without the possibility of recovery.

Set a password more difficult than PIN-lock-screen|Backup important photos on PC|Check that the feature is available in your version MIUI|Turn off gallery sync with cloud for hidden files-->

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If Private Safe doesn’t show up in the gallery, try updating your firmware to the latest version or installing an alternative gallery, such as Simple Gallery with encryption support.

Method 2: Block the entire Gallery app

If Private Safe is not available, you can block access to the entire gallery, which is less flexible (protects all albums at once), but works on all Xiaomi models.

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Blocking applications.
2. Turn on the function if it is disabled (you will need to set a password).
3. Find the Gallery in the list and activate the switch.
4. Choose the type of lock: password, fingerprint or facial recognition.

Now, every time you open a gallery, you'll need authentication, minus the method: if you use a photo a lot (like sending it to messengers), you'll get annoying, and it doesn't hide the preview of photos in notifications or widgets on the home screen.

⚠️ Note: Some models (e.g. Redmi) 9A) Application blocking may conflict with the "Second Space" function. If the gallery stops opening, disable the second space in Settings → Special facilities.

Method 3: Third-party apps to block albums

If the built-in MIUI tools don't work, consider alternatives.

• 📂 Google Photos: Locked folder (requires Android 11)+). Photos are not synced to the cloud and are password protected by the device.
• 🔐 Vaulty or KeepSafe: Create encrypted storage with separate storage devices PIN-They maintain calculator masking.
• 📁 Solid Explorer: File Manager with folder encryption (paid) allows you to block access to any directories, including DCIM/Camera.
• 🔄 Archivists: Pack the photo in ZIP/RAR with a password (for example, through WinRAR or 7-Zip). Disadvantages - uncomfortable to view.

When choosing a third-party application, pay attention to:

• 🔒 Encryption: data must be stored in encrypted form (e.g, AES-256).
• 📱 Integration with MIUI: Some apps may conflict with Xiaomi’s memory optimization.
• 💰 Free versions often limit storage (e.g. KeepSafe only gives 50MB).

Built-in Private Safe|Blocking the Gallery annex»|Third-party apps (e.g. Google Photos)|Password archiving|Not defending.-->

Frequent problems and their solutions

Xiaomi users often encounter errors when trying to block an album, and consider typical scenarios and ways to fix them:

1.Private Safe is not displayed in the gallery

Causes and solutions:

• 📱 Outdated firmware: Update MIUI before version 12.5+ through settings → The phone. → Updating the system.
• 🔧 Region restrictions: some models for India or China have disabled the function.
• 🛠️ Hardware restrictions: on cheap MediaTek models (e.g. Redmi) A1) Private Safe may not be available in principle.

2. Password from Private Safe is not accepted

If you have forgotten your password or the system does not recognize it:

• 🔄 Reboot your phone – sometimes helps with temporary crashes.
• 📱 Try entering the password from the lock screen (on some versions) MIUI They're synchronized).
• ⚠️ If nothing works, you'll have to reset your phone to the factory settings, and all the data in Private Safe will be lost!

3 Gallery lock resets after update

After the MIUI update, lock settings sometimes go up.

• 📌 Before updating, remember or write down the password from the gallery.
• 🔄 After the update, check the settings in Settings → Annexes → Application lockdown.
• 📱 If the lock is missing, install it again – it does not affect the photos themselves.

How to hide albums without password (alternative methods)

If password locking is not available or seems excessive, you can simply hide the albums from prying eyes.

• 📂 Rename folder: Add a dot to the beginning of the name (e.g.,.SecretPhotos). These folders are not displayed in the standard gallery, but are visible through the file manager.
• 🔄 Transfer to SD-Map: Create a.nomedia folder inside the album – the gallery will ignore its contents.
• 📱 Use of the second space: c MIUI You can create a separate profile with your own data (including a gallery) and switch between spaces requires a password.
• 🌐 Cloud Storage: Upload photos to Google Drive or Mega with encryption, and then delete local copies.

Importantly, these methods do not protect photos from targeted search (for example, through Files or ES Explorer); they only reduce the likelihood of accidental detection.

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The most reliable way to protect photos on Xiaomi is a combination of Private Safe (for storage) + backup on an encrypted cloud (for example, Proton Drive).

Comparison of Album Protection Methods in Xiaomi Gallery

FAQ: Frequent questions about Xiaomi album blocking