How to view hidden photos in the gallery Xiaomi: all the ways to MIUI 12-14

Have you accidentally hidden important photos in the Xiaomi gallery or suspect that someone hid files from your eyes? MIUI has several built-in mechanisms for hiding media files — from the standard feature “Hidden Album” to system folders that do not appear in normal mode. In this article, we will discuss all the current ways to find and restore access to hidden photos on Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones without using root rights or complex technical manipulation.

It is important to understand that hidden files can be located in different places depending on the version of MIUI (12, 13 or 14) and the device model. For example, on the Xiaomi 13 Pro, the search algorithm will differ from the Redmi Note 10 due to differences in the gallery interface. We will look at the universal methods that work on most devices, and also point out the nuances for specific lines.

If you are trying to find files that are not hidden by you, consider: MIUI Does not provide tools to bypass the password for hidden albums without knowledge PIN-All of the methods described below only work for files hidden through standard system functions or accidentally moved to system folders.

1. Standard Hidden Album at MIUI Gallery

The most obvious way to hide photos in Xiaomi is to use the built-in Hidden Album feature, which is available in all versions of MIUI and does not require installing additional applications, to find files hidden in this way:

1. Open the standard Gallery app (an icon with multi-colored squares).
2. Slip along three horizontal lines (menu) in the lower right corner.
3. Select Hidden Album (may be called Private Safe on global firmware).
4. Enter. PIN-code, pattern lock, or use a fingerprint if the album is protected.

If you haven't set a password for a hidden album, the system can request it to be created the first time you log in, in which case try other ways from this article - maybe the files were hidden differently.

⚠️ Note: On some models (e.g, POCO F4) The hidden album may not be on the gallery menu, due to customized firmware. In this case, use the file manager method (section 3).

In MIUI 14, the hidden album interface has been updated to integrate with the Safe Folder function. If you don't find the old version, check out:

• 📁 Settings → Confidentiality → Safe folder
• 🔒 The album may have been moved to Google Photos → Library → Utilities. → Locked folder (if synchronization is enabled)

2. Search through system folders (without root)

Photos hidden through standard MIUI functions are not physically deleted from the device, but are moved to special system directories. These folders are not displayed in the gallery, but can be accessed through the file manager.

To see these folders:

1. Open Files (the standard file manager of Xiaomi).
2. Slip on three dots in the top right corner → Settings → turn on Show hidden files.
3. Go through one of the above paths (you can copy the path and paste the manager in the search bar).

Enable the display of hidden folders in the file manager

Check for backups in Mi Cloud

Make sure the device has enough charge (minimum 30%)

Download an alternative file manager (e.g. Solid Explorer) without access-->

If the folders are empty or missing, try another method. On some devices (such as Xiaomi 12T), the paths may differ due to the features of the firmware.

3. Use of alternative galleries

The standard MIUI gallery may not display files hidden by third-party applications or system features, and alternative galleries that ignore MIUI limitations will help:

• 📸 Google Photos – shows all media files, including those hidden by the system (but not those that are password protected).
• 🖼️ Simple Gallery – has the function of scanning hidden folders and support for passwords.
• 🔍 A+ Gallery – displays files from system directories not available in the standard gallery.

Instructions for Google Photos:

1. Install an app from the Play Market.
2. Open it and wait for the synchronization to complete.
3. Put it on your avatar → Recycle Bin (sometimes hidden files get there).
4. Go to the Library → Utilities → Locked folder (if synchronization was configured).

⚠️ Note: When the alternative galleries are first launched, they may request permission to access the storage. Grant all the rights requested, otherwise hidden files will not be displayed.

If you use Simple Gallery, check out the Show Hidden Files setting in the app menu, which allows you to see media files from folders that start from a dot (e.g.,.nomedia).

Standard MIUI

Google Photo

Simple Gallery

Another (I will write in the comments)-->

4.Recovery through Mi Cloud backups

If the photos were hidden long ago and you don't remember exactly how it happened, check backups in Mi Cloud. Even if the files were deleted from the device, they could have been saved to the cloud.

1. Open your Settings → Accounts → Mi Cloud
2. Make sure that the gallery sync function is enabled.
3. Go to the Gallery → Albums → Cloud (or Cloud in Russian firmware).
4. Check the hidden or private folders.

If sync is disabled, turn it on and wait for the process to be completed (may take several hours depending on internet speed).Please note that Mi Cloud only provides 5GB of free storage - if the limit is exhausted, old backups could have been deleted.

To recover deleted files:

1. Go to i.mi.com and log in.
2. Select Gallery → Recycle Bin (files are stored there for 30 days).
3. Mark the desired photos and click Restore.

5. Search through ADB (for advanced users)

If standard methods didn't work, you can use Android Debug Bridge (ADB), a low-level file system access tool that doesn't require root rights, but requires command-line work.

• 🖥️ Computer with Windows/macOS/Linux
• 📱 Cable USB (preferably original)
• 🔧 Installed drivers ADB Android platform SDK

Step-by-step:

1. Turn on Developer Mode on your smartphone: go to Settings → About Phone and tap 7 times on the MIUI version.
2. Return to Settings → Additional → For developers and enable USB debugging.
3. Connect your phone to your computer and confirm your trust in the device.
4. Open the command prompt (or Terminal on macOS/Linux) and do:

adb shell


su -c "find /storage/emulated/0/ -name '.jpg' -o -name '.png' | grep -i private"

This command recursively searches for all files with.jpg and.png extensions in folders containing the word "private." If you're looking for a video, add -o-name '*.mp4'.

⚠️ Attention: Teams ADB Do not delete or modify files with.db,.xml or no extensions, this can cause a failure in the gallery.

If the command returns the path to the files, copy them to the computer:

adb pull /path/to/file/on/phone C:\folder\on\computer

adb backup -f backup.ab -apk -obb -shared -all

This will save a copy of all applications and their data on the computer.-->

6. Checking folders with a.nomedia tag

Files named.nomedia tell Android that the folder doesn't need to be scanned for media, and many apps (including messengers and some versions of MIUI) use this mechanism to hide files, and to find folders like this:

1. Open the file manager and enable the display of hidden files.
2. Go to the root directory of internal memory (/storage/emulated/0/).
3. Manually or through search, find files with the name.nomedia.
4. Delete or rename these files (e.g., nomedia), then restart the device.

After the reboot, the standard gallery will scan the folders again and display previously hidden files. Note that some system folders (e.g. /Android/data/) may recreate.nomedia after restarting the relevant applications.

Typical places where.nomedia can be located:

• 📁 /DCIM/.thumbnails/ — photo-picture
• 📁 /Pictures/Screenshots/ — screenshot
• 📁 /WhatsApp/Media/ — media
• 📁 /Telegram/Telegram Images/ — Telegram photo

7. Recovery of deleted hidden photos

If you suspect that files were not just hidden but deleted, try recovering them with specialized utilities. On Xiaomi, you can do this without root rights, but with restrictions:

Instructions for DiskDigger:

1. Install an app from the Play Market.
2. Run a full scan (may take 1-2 hours).
3. Mark the files found and click Restore.
4. Save the restored photos to a new folder (not to the system partition!).

⚠️ Note: Do not save recovered files to the same partition from which they were deleted.This may lead to overwriting of the remaining data fragments and make it impossible to continue recovery.

If files were deleted long ago, the chances of recovery are minimal – Android can overwrite memory sectors with new data, in which case only a backup to Mi Cloud or another device will help.

💡

The faster you start recovering from deletion, the better the chances of returning files, the optimal time is the first 24 hours.

Frequent Questions (FAQ)