Xiaomi smartphone owners often face a situation where media files downloaded from messengers or social networks automatically enter the shared feed, which creates visual noise and prevents them from quickly finding the right pictures, and is especially annoying when personal or work videos are visible to outsiders when unlocking the device.
The standard MIUI or HyperOS Gallery app has its own file indexing features, the default system scans all available folders and shares their contents. Fortunately, the developers have provided several ways to manage this process, from simple concealment to complete lockdown.
In this article, we will explore all the available methods to clean the gallery of unnecessary video content, you will learn not only to hide albums, but also to reconfigure scanning paths, and use built-in privacy protection tools.
Why do videos appear in the shared feed
The main reason for unwanted files is the Android file system algorithms, applications like Telegram, WhatsApp or browsers create their own directories to save content, and by default, these folders are marked as public, and the system scanner of media files immediately adds their content to the general list.
Media files are indexed automatically every time you update a gallery page or after you reboot your device, and if you download a funny video or get a video file in a work chat, it's almost guaranteed to appear in the general preview grid.
To make matters worse, some apps don’t have their own media hiding setting, in which case the only solution is to manually tamper with folder structure or use Xiaomi’s system features to limit visibility.
⚠️ Note: Deleting a file from a gallery often means completely deleting it from your device.Be careful not to lose important data unless you have made a backup.
Understanding how Media Scanner works helps you manage content more effectively, doesn't distinguish between personal and work files if they're in public directories, so the key to solving this problem lies in changing the permissions or visibility of specific folders.
Hiding Albums Through Gallery Settings
The easiest and fastest way to remove videos from public viewing is to use the built-in album hiding feature, which does not delete files, but only makes them invisible for standard viewing.
To activate this feature, open the Gallery app and go to the Album tab. Find the section you want to hide (like the Video or the folder of a particular messenger).
From the menu that opens, select Hide the album, and the system will suggest setting a password or using a fingerprint to protect the album, and once confirmed, the album will disappear from the general list.
- 📁 Open the tab "Albums" in the Gallery app.
- 👆 Press and hold your finger on the title of an unnecessary album.
- 🔒 Select the item "Hide the album" in the menu that appears.
- 🔐 Set a password or biometrics to access.
To view hidden albums, you need to go back to the album section and pull the list down before a password request appears, which creates an additional layer of privacy without having to move files.
☑️ Checking the album cover-up
And it's important to note that album hiding works locally, so if you hand the phone over to another person and they know the path to the files through the conductor, they can see the contents, so it's a good way to protect against random gaze, but not to store highly classified data.
Use of the "Hide Files" function**
There's a deeper layer of protection in the MIUI shell, the Hide Files feature, which, unlike album hiding, moves files to an encrypted memory area that can only be accessed through a special system input.
The function is activated through security settings. Go to Settings → Passwords and Security → Privacy. Here you need to turn on the Hide Files switch and set a special password for access.
Once you turn on the function in the gallery and explorer, you can hide individual photos and videos. Just select the desired file, click the menu (three dots) and select Hide. The file will disappear from normal viewing completely.
| Parameter | Hiding the album | Hiding files |
|---|---|---|
| Access. | Pull down on the album | Through settings or conductor |
| Visibility in the conductor | Viden (no previews) | Hidden completely. |
| Protection | Basic | High (encryption) |
| Convenience | High. | Average. |
This method is ideal for those who want to completely eliminate the possibility of video detection by outsiders. Even when connecting a smartphone to a computer in file transfer mode, hidden objects will not be displayed without entering a password on the phone screen.
What to do if you forget the password from hidden files?
Don't overuse this feature by hiding too much data, because it can make navigation more difficult. Use it point-by-point for really important content.
Blocking through file.nomedia
For advanced users who want to disable video in the Xiaomi gallery at the file system level, there is a method for creating a special marker: a file called.nomedia placed in a folder tells the system to ignore its contents when scanning media.
To implement this method, you will need any file manager with access to system folders, such as MI File Manager or Total Commander. Find the directory from which you want to hide the video (often Download, Telegram, WhatsApp Video folders).
Create a new file in this folder and call it strictly.nomedia (required to have a dot at the beginning and no extension). Once you create the file, you need to restart the device or clear the cache of the Media Scanner application to make the changes effective.
- 📂 Open the file manager and find the target folder.
- 📝 Create a new text file.
- ✏️ Rename the file to.nomedia.
- 🔄 Reboot your smartphone to update your database.
This method is the most effective way to solve a problem with specific applications, for example, if you don’t want to see any videos from Instagram, the.nomedia file in the app cache folder will solve the problem globally.
⚠️ Note: Files with a prefix." are hidden in Linux and Android. Make sure your file manager settings include the "Show Hidden Files" option, otherwise you won't be able to create or edit a token.
It’s worth remembering that some aggressive memory cleaners can delete.nomedia files as trash, and check for a marker periodically if videos start showing up again in the gallery.
Configure the display in the Gallery app**
HyperOS shell and newer versions of MIUI allow you to flexibly configure which folders are displayed in the application interface, without the use of complex file manipulations.
Go to the settings of the Gallery app itself, usually the gear icon in the top corner or the three-dot menu item, and find the Display Settings or Album Management section.
Here you'll see a list of all the folders that the system considers media storage. Just turn off the switches in front of the directories you don't want to see videos from, which is similar to creating a.nomedia file, but is done through a graphical interface.
The advantage of this method is that it's safe for the system, because you don't risk damaging the file structure or getting entangled in hidden files. All changes are reversible in one click.
However, this functionality may vary depending on the firmware version (Global, China, EEA).If you do not find this option, then in your version of Xiaomi it has been replaced by other controls, and you should use the method with the.nomedia file.
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If the folders in the video settings are still displayed after disabling, try clearing the Gallery app cache through Settings → Apps → Gallery → Clear the cache.
Regularly checking these settings is useful after major system updates, as newer versions of the software can reset user display preferences.
Use of third-party galleries**
If the standard Xiaomi app seems overloaded or inconvenient to manage video content, you can always install an alternative. Third-party galleries often have more flexible filtering and privacy settings.
Popular apps like Google Photos, AGallery, or Simple Gallery allow you to create complex folder exclusion rules, for example, in Google Photos you can simply turn off syncing and displaying specific folders in your device settings.
Installing a third-party gallery also allows you to bypass some of the system's limitations: You can assign a new application by default, and the standard MIUI gallery will no longer be used for viewing, remaining only storage.
- 📥 Download an alternative gallery from the Play Store.
- ⚙️ Give the application the necessary permissions to access files.
- 🚫 In the settings of the new gallery, eliminate unnecessary folders.
- 🏆 Assign the application to the main for opening photos and videos.
Using Google Photos is especially beneficial for those who use cloud storage, and you can set up automatic uploads of videos to the cloud and then remove them from the device, freeing up space and removing visual noise.
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Third-party galleries often run faster than standard galleries and have less advertising, making them a great alternative for owners of older Xiaomi models.
When choosing an alternative, pay attention to the permissions that the app requests. The gallery has access to all your personal photos and videos, so only trusted developers should trust this data.