Owners of Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones often face a situation where standard access to images becomes unobvious due to the features of the MIUI or HyperOS shell. Android security system in conjunction with the manufacturer's proprietary add-ons can hide certain directories or change the logic of standard applications. Understanding the structure of the file system is necessary for every user who wants to effectively manage their media content.
There are many reasons why a user can lose quick access to their photos: accidentally hiding icons, crashing the system cache, enabling Security mode, or simply not understanding the difference between cloud and local copies. In this article, we will discuss all possible ways to open a gallery, find lost pictures and customize the convenient display of files.
We’ll look not only at standard methods for running an application, but also at deeper levels of interaction with the file system through the built-in Explorer, which will allow you to gain full control over your data, regardless of the version of the firmware installed.
Standard ways to launch the Gallery application
The most obvious method is to search for an icon on your desktop, but in Xiaomi shells, the interface can be changed beyond recognition. If you don't see the icon, check the Tools or System Apps folder. Often, when you first set up, users hide the shortcuts themselves without realizing it, or they are hidden in the "Unlimited Screen" mode.
The alternative and most reliable way is to use global search, swipe down the center of the screen to open the search bar, and type in the word "Gallery" or "Photos." The system will instantly find the app, even if its icon is removed from desktops, a method that works faster than manually wandering through the menu.
- 📸 Click on the icon with the image of a flower or fan on your desktop.
- 🔍 Use the search bar by system, swiping down from the main screen.
- 📂 Open Explorer and go to Images for direct access to files.
- 🗣️ Activate the voice assistant and say “Open Gallery».
Importantly, in recent versions of HyperOS, the app may simply be called “Photos.” If you’re looking for a classic Gallery and it’s not, it may have been replaced or removed in favor of the new Google Photos standard, which preinstalles on global firmware versions.
⚠️ Note: If the Gallery app disappeared from search and menu, it may have been disabled in the app settings or removed via the app. ADB. Don’t rush to reset the settings, first check the list of system processes.
Search for hidden and protected albums
One of the most sought-after features in the Xiaomi ecosystem is the ability to hide sensitive photos and videos, which are not displayed in the general stream and are only available after you type in a special password or fingerprint. To open such a hidden album, you need to perform a specific action in the interface.
Go to the Gallery app and go to the Album tab. Now swipe from the bottom up the center of the screen and hold your finger for a moment. If the hidden album feature is activated, you'll see a field to enter the unlock password or request a biometric scan.
To enable this feature, if it is not already set up, go to the gallery settings and select Hide Albums. Here you can set a password other than the lock screen password, which increases the security of your personal data. Sync hidden albums with the cloud is usually disabled by default.
- 🔒 Open the tab "Albums" in the Gallery app.
- 👆 Swipe from the bottom up in the center of the screen and hold your finger.
- 🔑 Enter your privacy password or use your fingerprint.
- ⚙️ Set up access via the Hide Albums menu in the app settings.
Files placed in a hidden album are physically moved to a secure directory, and regular photo-viewing apps can't see them without authorization, and it's a reliable way to protect the images from prying eyes if you give a phone to a friend or child.
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Use different passwords to unlock your phone and your hidden album, which will create an additional layer of protection, as knowing the screen pin code will prevent you from accessing hidden files.
Using a Explorer to Access Files
If a standard gallery is not working properly or does not display certain folders (such as images from messengers), the best solution is to use System Explorer, which allows you to see the real directory structure on your device, ignoring the filtering of the media scanner.
Open the File Manager app and select Images, where files are sorted by folder that corresponds to the source apps, for example, photos from WhatsApp will be in the WhatsApp/Media/WhatsApp Images folder, and pictures from Telegram will be in Telegram/Telegram Images.
For a deeper analysis, you can go to path view mode. Click on the folder icon at the top of the screen to see the root structure.
- 📁 /DCIM/Camera — standard folder for all photos taken on camera.
- 📁 /Pictures/Screenshots — Here are screenshots of the screen.
- 📁 /MIUI/Gallery/cloud/cache — Cloud Gallery cache (requires root for full access).
- 📁 /Android/media — Modern applications often store data here.
Using a Explorer, you can force any image file to open, even if it's not indexed by the gallery. Just click on the file and the system will suggest you select an application to open. This is a great way to check if the file structure of the image is intact.
☑️ Checking the visibility of files
Configure folder display in the Gallery
Users often complain that the gallery “does not see” new photos or, conversely, shows unnecessary system images. In the settings of the Xiaomi application, there is a powerful tool for controlling the visibility of albums, which allows you to manually include or hide specific directories.
To get into this menu, open the gallery, go to the Albums tab, and click on the three dots in the top right corner. Select Settings or Hide/Show Albums. Here you will see a list of all the folders containing media files, with switches opposite each.
If you want to remove technical sketches or banner ads from your cache folders, just turn off the relevant switches. Conversely, if you lose photos from Viber or Instagram, find those folders in the list and activate their display.
| folder | Description of the contents | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| DCIM | Photo and video from the camera | Always on. |
| Pictures | Saved images from applications | Turn on |
| MIUI | Screenshots and screen recorders | Turn on |
| Android | Media files of applications (WhatsApp, etc.) | Selectively activate |
| Thunder | Downloads from the browser or bootloader | Turn off (garbage) |
The changes take effect instantly. If you don't see any photos after you turn on the folder, try restarting your device so that the system can re-index your media files. Android media scanner sometimes takes time to update your database.
⚠️ Note: Do not delete or hide system folders that you do not know the purpose of, and this may cause applications that use these resources to store temporary data to malfunction.
Recovery of deleted photos
Accidental deletion of important images is a common problem, and fortunately, the MIUI and HyperOS shells have a shopping cart that stores deleted files for 30 days (or up to 60 days if you have a Xiaomi Cloud subscription), the first place to look when you lose data.
To access the shopping cart, open the gallery, go to the Albums tab, and scroll to the bottom of the list. There you will find Deleted. Inside, you will find all files deleted in the last month, you can select specific photos and click Restore.
If you don't have files in your local file basket, check cloud sync. Go to your Mi Account settings and select "Xiaomi Cloud" → "Gallery." Your photos may have been saved to the cloud even if they were deleted from your device.
- 🗑️ Open the tab "Albums" and find the item "Remote».
- ⏳ Files are stored here for 30 days without a subscription and longer with a subscription.
- ☁️ Check the Xiaomi Cloud through your browser or account settings.
- 💾 Use third-party recovery apps if files aren't in the recycle bin.
It is important to understand that once you clean the recycle bin, file recovery is impossible, and in such cases, complex root rights and specialized software procedures are required that do not guarantee success. 30 days is a critical period during which you can easily return your data.
What do I do if the basket is empty?
Solving the problems of opening a gallery
There are times when a gallery simply doesn't open, crashes right after launch, or shows a black screen, which can be caused by a crowded cache, a corrupt media database, or a conflict after a system update. The first step should always be to clear the cache.
Go to Settings → Apps → All apps, find Gallery and select Storage. Click Clear Cache. Don't confuse it with Clear All, as the last action will reset the album settings but won't delete the photos themselves. If that doesn't work, try clearing the data.
In more complex cases, you need to reset your media service settings, search the Media Storage app list and clear the data, and then the phone has to rescan the entire memory, which can take anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour, depending on the number of files.
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Cleaning the cache of the Gallery app solves 90% of flight and hover problems without affecting your personal photos and videos.
If the problem persists, check for system updates. Gallery bugs are often known bugs of a particular version of MIUI that are patched with security patches. It's also worth checking if there's a third-party gallery app installed that may have intercepted file associations.