Xiaomi Hidden Album: All Ways to Find and Open Hidden Photos

Hidden albums in Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones are not just a privacy feature, but a real black hole for users who accidentally hid photos or forgot their password. Unlike iOS, where hidden media files are stored in a separate folder, the MIUI shell uses several layers of protection at once. And if you're looking for where in Xiaomi a hidden album is physically stored on the device, it's important to understand that its content can be in both system folders and encrypted containers.

The problem is complicated by the fact that with the release of new versions of MIUI 14/15 and HyperOS, the location of hidden files has changed – what worked on the Redmi Note 10 may not work on the Xiaomi 14 Pro. In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to access hidden albums, including bypassing the password (if you forgot it), searching through File Manager and even manual restoration through ADB.

1.The Official Way: Hidden Album in Xiaomi Gallery

The easiest method is to use the built-in Hidden Album feature in the standard Gallery app, which is available on all devices with MIUI 12 and up, including the POCO F5 and Xiaomi 13T. Here's how it works:

1. Open the Gallery and tap three dots in the upper right corner.
2. Select Hidden Album (may be called Private Safe on global firmware).
3. Enter your password, fingerprint, or Face ID (if configured).
4. You'll see all the hidden photos and videos.

⚠️ Warning: If you've never set up a hidden album but are sure the files are missing, check the.hidden folder through Explorer. MIUI It automatically hides media files when imported from other devices.

2.Alternative methods: where the hidden album is physically stored

If access through the Gallery is blocked or files are not displayed, you can try to find them manually. MIUI Hidden media files are stored in two places:

• 📁 Inside the gallery folder: /storage/emulated/0/MIUI/Gallery/cloud/private/ (Root rights are required).
• 🔒 In an encrypted container: /data/system/users/0/private/ (access ADB or custom recovery).
• ☁️ In the Mi Cloud: If sync was enabled, files can be stored in Mi Cloud → Private Safe.

On HyperOS devices (such as Xiaomi 14), the path has changed:

/storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.miui.gallery/files/Private/

But without root rights, you will see only an empty folder here – real files are stored in encrypted form.

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If you connect your smartphone to a PC, the hidden files won’t be visible even through MTP. Use ADB pull with superuser rights to extract.

3. How to open a hidden album without a password

Forgot your Private Safe password? There are several ways to get around the lock, but they require technical skills:

1. Reset via Mi Account (works if your Xiaomi account is tied): Go to Settings → Xiaomi Account → Cloud → Private Safe. Press Forgot Password? and follow the instructions.

Deletion of the key file

root

• Open Root Explorer and go to the /data/data/com.miui.gallery/shared_prefs/.
• Delete the file. private_safe.xml.
• Restart the device – the album will be reset, but the files will remain.
• Recovery via TWRP (for advanced users): Details about recovery via TWRP To do this, install custom recovery, mount /data partition and manually copy files from /data/system/users/0/private/. Risk: if you do not do it correctly, you can lose all data on the device!

⚠️ Note: Methods with root rights or unlocking the bootloader will reset all data on encryption devices (default enabled on the bootloader). MIUI 12+). Before experimenting, make a backup copy through Mi. PC Suite.

4. Search for hidden files through Explorer (no root)

If you don’t have root rights but want to check if your device has hidden files, use the standard File Manager:

Enable the display of hidden files in the Explorer settings

Go to the root folder of the device (/storage/emulated/0/)

Check the folders:.hidden, MIUI/Gallery/cloud/, DCIM/.thumbnails

Use keyword searches (such as “.nomedia”)

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Note the files with the.nomedia extension, which block the folders from being displayed in the Gallery, delete them (pre-copying the content), and the hidden media files will become visible.

5. Features on different Xiaomi models

The location of hidden albums depends not only on the version of MIUI, but also on the device model.

• 📱 Xiaomi 13/14 HyperOS: Uses dynamic encryption. Files are stored in /data/media/0/Android/data/com.miui.gallery/files/Private/, but only available through the Gallery.

On devices with MediaTek (e.g., Redmi 10C or POCO M5), it is sometimes helpful to reset via Fastboot with data storage:

fastboot erase userdata

But it will delete all user files except those in Private Safe.

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Nana POCO-In global firmware devices, hidden albums can sync with Google Photos to the Locked Folder folder, check if files are missing after resetting.

6 Recovering Deleted Files from Hidden Album

If you accidentally delete files from Private Safe, you can try to restore them.

1. With DiskDigger or Recuva: Connect your smartphone to your PC in file transfer (MTP) mode. Scan internal memory for deleted media files.

⚠️ Note: On devices with encryption (by default in the MIUI 12+) Recovery is almost impossible – files are stored in encrypted form.

Through the Mi Cloud backup:

This will remove all files from the hidden album without any possibility of recovery. If the album was synced to Mi Cloud, clean it and there: Mi Cloud → Gallery → Private Safe → Delete everything.

⚠️ Note: On some devices (e.g. Xiaomi) 12S Ultra) After the album is deleted, the folder remains. /data/system/users/0/private/ It's a junk file. It takes up to 500 You need root rights to clean it up.

FAQ: Frequent questions about Xiaomi's hidden albums