How to find and open a personal album on Xiaomi Poco M3: hidden folders and settings MIUI

Are you actively taking photos on the Xiaomi Poco M3, but suddenly you find that some of the photos have disappeared from the main gallery? Or are you trying to find old photos that were once hidden from prying eyes? Most likely, they were in a personal album, a special storage in the MIUI firmware that automatically hides some media files. In this article, we will examine all the ways to access hidden photos, including system settings, file manager and even recovery via PC.

The problem is that MIUI is regularly updated, and the location of a personal album can vary depending on the firmware version, and on the Poco M3 (especially on global firmware models), this section is sometimes hidden deeper than on other Xiaomi smartphones, and we tested all the current methods on devices with MIUI 12-14 and collected working solutions from basic to advanced.

What is a personal album on Xiaomi and why is it hidden?

A private album (Private Album or Hidden Files) is a secure folder in MIUI that automatically includes:

• 🔒 Photos and videos marked as "hidden" in the gallery
• 📥 Media files obtained through secure messengers (e.g. Telegram Secret Chats);
• 🔄 Screenshots of some system windows (e.g., payment notifications)
• 📁 Files moved there manually through a file manager.

By default, access to the album is protected by your Mi Account password or fingerprint, and this is for security: even if someone picks up your phone, they won't be able to view sensitive photos, but many users forget that this feature exists and start to panic when they don't find important photos in the main gallery.

⚠️ Warning: If you reset your phone to factory settings without detaching your Mi Account, your personal album will be lost forever, and you can only recover it through Xiaomi's official ownership service.

On the Poco M3, a personal album can be called differently depending on the regional firmware:

• 🌍 Global/EEA: Private Album or Hidden files.
• 🇨🇳 China: (private album)
• 🇷🇺 Russia: Personal or Hidden Files.

Method 1: Access through the standard MIUI gallery

The easiest method is to use the built-in Gallery app, which is pre-installed on the Poco M3 and is usually located on the home screen or in the Tools folder.

Step instructions:

1. Open the Gallery app.
2. Slip on the Albums icon (usually at the bottom of the screen).
3. Scroll the list up and the Private Album (or Personal) section should appear there.
4. When you first log in, the system will ask for a password from your Mi Account or a fingerprint.

If the album is not on the list, try:

• 🔍 Enter a private or hidden request in the gallery search;
• 📱 Reboot the phone – sometimes the album appears after the restart.
• 🔄 Update the Gallery app through Google Play.

If the gallery doesn’t show hidden files even after these actions, move on to the next method.

Method 2: Search through the file manager

A personal album stores files in a secure system folder, and to find it manually, use a standard File Manager or a third-party manager (such as Solid Explorer).

The path to the hidden photo:

/storage/emulated/0/MIUI/PrivateAlbum/

How to get there:

1. Open the “Conductor” (the folder icon on the desktop).
2. Go to the Internal Memory section → MIUI.
3. If there is no PrivateAlbum folder, turn on the hidden file display: Tap on ⋮ (three dots) in the upper right corner; Select Settings → Show hidden files; Go back and update the list.

PrivateAlbum

2023-10-15

⚠️ Warning: The files in this folder are encrypted. If you just copy them to a PC, they won't open. To view the photos, use only the built-in gallery MIUI or export them through the album menu.

If the file manager does not show the MIUI folder, it may be due to:

• 🔐 Lack of permissions to access system directories;
• 📱 Obsolete firmware version (update MIUI)
• 🛠️ File system damage (resetting will help).

Method 3: Restore access through your Mi Account

If you forget your personal album password or reset your phone, you can restore access through your Xiaomi account.

Recovery steps:

1. Go to Settings → Accounts → Mi Account.
2. Make sure you are logged in to the same account that was used when setting up the album.
3. Open the Gallery and try to log in to the Private Album.
4. The system will offer to restore access through SMS or email associated with the account.

If this method has not worked:

• 📧 Check if your email or phone number has changed in your Mi Account.
• 🔄 Try to sign in to an account on another Xiaomi device.
• 📞 Contact Xiaomi with a confirmation of purchase (check, box).

💡

If you often lose access to hidden files, export them to the Mi Cloud cloud or to the SD- card. To do this, open a personal album, highlight files and click Export (arrow icon up).

Method 4: Using a PC to access hidden files

If the phone doesn't recognize the personal album, you can connect the Poco M3 to your computer and try to extract files via the Android Debug Bridge (ADB), a technique that requires minimal technical skills.

What you need:

• 🖥️ Computer with Windows/Linux/macOS;
• 🔌 USB-cable (preferably original);
• 📥 Utility ADB (download from the official website);
• 🔧 Included debugging by USB phone-on.

Instructions:

1. Enable Developer Mode: Go to Settings → About Phone; Tap 7 times on MIUI Version; Return to Settings → Additional → For Developers; Activate Debugging over USB.

Connect your phone to your PC and confirm access to debugging.

adb shell ls /storage/emulated/0/MIUI/PrivateAlbum/

If the folder exists, you will see a list of subfolders with dates.

adb pull /storage/emulated/0/MIUI/PrivateAlbum/ C:\PocoM3_PrivateAlbum\

⚠️ Warning: Files copied through ADB will be encrypted. To open them, transfer them back to the phone in the DCIM folder and use the standard gallery. Alternatively, use programs to decrypt MIUI- files (e.g., MIUI Hidden Album Decryptor, but they require root rights).

Method 5: Recover deleted files from a personal album

If you accidentally delete a photo from a hidden album, you can try to restore it. There are two ways to do this on Poco M3:

1. Through the MIUI basket:

• Open the Gallery;
• Put it on ⋮ → basket.
• Find deleted files and restore them (storage period – 30 days).

2. Through third-party utilities (root required):

• 📱 Install DiskDigger or GT Recovery
• 🔍 Select the Internal Memory section.
• 🖼️ Filter the results in.jpg,.png,.mp4 formats;
• 💾 Save the recovered files to the SD- card.

Important: Without root rights, recovery software will only see thumbnails of photos (low resolution), and full recovery is possible only with superuser rights.

💡

If you regularly lose important photos, set up automatic backups in Google Photos or Mi Cloud, which will eliminate the need to restore files manually.

Frequent Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Poco M3 users often face typical problems with their personal albums, and here are the most common ones and ways to solve them:

1.The album disappeared after MIUI update

The reason could be a reset of the gallery settings.

• 🔄 Reinstall the Gallery app;
• 📥 Update the firmware to the latest version;
• 🔧 Reset the application settings (Settings → Applications → Gallery → Storage → Clear Data).

2. Can't get in - writes "Incorrect Password"

This means that:

• 🔑 You entered an incorrect password from your Mi Account;
• 📱 Phone is not connected to the Internet (required for authorization);
• 🔄 Mi's account has been changed or deleted.

3 Photos in the album are displayed as damaged

It's because of:

• 📁 File system damage (fsck check will help);
• 🔄 Interrupted encryption process (reboot phone)
• 📱 An outdated version MIUI (firmware update).

FAQ: Answers to Frequent Questions