How to hide albums in the Xiaomi gallery: hidden folders, password and MIUI-chips

Have you ever faced a situation where someone asks you to show photos on your Xiaomi and you have to frantically scroll through the gallery to avoid accidentally getting personal photos? Or maybe you just want to clean up the chaotic flow of screenshots, memes and important documents? Hiding albums in the MIUI gallery is a task that is solved in several ways, but not all of them are obvious.

In this article, we will discuss 5 proven methods to hide albums on Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco, from the standard features of MIUI 14/15 to the little-known tricks with the file system. Importantly, some methods work only on certain versions of the firmware, while others may require additional actions (for example, creating a backup).

If you're looking for a way to hide your photos from prying eyes without installing third-party apps, you're in the right place, and if you're willing to do little tricks for security, we're going to show you how to encrypt folders so that no one else can find them through the file manager.

1. Hiding albums through the standard MIUI gallery

Starting with MIUI 12, the standard Xiaomi gallery has a built-in hide-album feature that doesn't encrypt files, but removes them from the general flow and hides them behind an extra gesture. Here's how it works:

Open the Gallery app → click on the three dots in the top right corner → select Hidden Albums. Here you will see two sections:

• 🔒 Blocked albums – require a password or fingerprint.
• 👁️ Hidden albums are simply hidden from the main view, but not protected.

To hide the album:

1. Press your finger on any album in the gallery → choose Hide.
2. Confirm the action. The album will disappear from the main view, but will remain available under the Hidden Albums section.

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If you have MIUI 14+, you can hide albums for multiple accounts at once (for example, if you use Double Apps or Second Space). To do this, go to Gallery Settings → Accounts → Sync and disable unnecessary profiles.

⚠️ Attention: Hidden albums are not password protected by default! anyone who knows about the feature can find them.To add protection, go to Gallery Settings → Confidentiality → Block the albums and install them. PIN graphical.

2 Password protection through "Blocked Albums"

If you need to block access to photos and videos, use the Blocked Albums feature. It is available on all Xiaomi with MIUI 11 and newer, but the settings vary depending on the version:

For MIUI 14/15:

1. Open Gallery → Albums → Click on three dots → Block albums.
2. Select albums to block → click Block.
3. Set a password (if not previously set) or use a fingerprint.

For MIUI 12/13:

• 🔐 Go to Settings. → Annexes → gallery → Confidentiality.
• 📁 Enable the option Blocked Albums and select folders.
• 🔑 Set a password (it should be different from unlocking the screen!).

⚠️ Warning: If you reset your phone to factory settings without a backup, blocked albums will be permanently deleted. MIUI It does not save them in the Mi Cloud by default!

3. Hiding through the file manager (no password)

If you don't need password protection, but you just want to remove albums from the gallery, you can use a system file manager, which works for all Xiaomi, including older models on MIUI 10 and later.

Instructions:

1. Open the File Manager (or File Manager) application.
2. Go to the Inner Memory → DCIM (Here are all the photos and videos).
3. Find the folder with the album you want to hide (e.g. Camera, Screenshots).
4. Press your finger on the folder → Rename → add a dot at the beginning of the title (for example,.Camera).

After that, the album will disappear from the gallery, but will remain accessible through the file manager. To bring it back, just delete the dot from the title.

Duplicate important photos to the cloud | Make sure the folder is not used by system applications (such as WhatsApp or Telegram) | Remember the new folder name | Check if it contains files from other applications (such as.thumbnails)

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⚠️ Note: Do not rename system folders like Android, MIUI Or Pictures, which can cause camera and gallery malfunctions, and avoid dots in folder names that sync to the cloud (e.g. Google Photos may ignore them).

4. Encrypting folders with the “Secure Folder” (MIUI 14+)

In MIUI 14 and later, the Safe Folder feature, similar to Samsung's Secure Folder, is introduced, which allows you not only to hide, but also to encrypt files, making them inaccessible even through connecting your phone to a PC.

How to set up:

1. Open Settings → Privacy → Secure folder.
2. Create a folder by setting a password (it should contain at least 6 characters).
3. Return to Files, select the photos or folders you want to use → Move to Secure Folder.

Advantages of the method:

• 🔐 Files are encrypted at the system level (even when connected to a PC, they are not visible).
• 📱 Access only through password or biometrics.
• 🔄 Automatic synchronization with Mi Cloud (optional).

Disadvantages:

• ⚠️ When you reset your phone, files will be deleted if you don’t make a backup.
• 📱 Not working. MIUI 13 and older.
• 🔧 You can not hide the system folders (for example, DCIM/Camera).

5. Hiding through third-party applications (for advanced users)

If standard MIUI methods don't suit you, you can use third-party apps, and we only recommend proven solutions that don't steal data or show ads:

How to hide the album through GalleryVault:

1. Install the app from Google Play.
2. Open it and set the password.
3. Click Import → Select photo/video → Hide.
4. Turn on the option to Remove from the gallery so that files disappear from the standard viewer.

⚠️ Note: Some applications (e.g. Clean Master or DU Speed Booster) can delete hidden files when you "optimize" memory. Before using such utilities, disable their access to storage in Settings → Annexes → Permits.

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The app side is convenient but risky: always check reviews and permissions before installing it, and it is better to use open source software (such as Open Vault).

6. Hiding albums via.nomedia (for power users)

This is a method used by developers and advanced users, and it's based on creating a special.nomedia file that prevents Android from scanning the folder for media, and the gallery and other applications will stop seeing photos and videos in this directory.

Instructions:

1. Install a file manager with access to root folders (such as Solid Explorer or FX File Explorer).
2. Go to the folder you want to hide (for example, DCIM/Secret).
3. Create a new file called.nomedia (no extension!).
4. Restart your phone or update the gallery data (pull down in the Gallery app).

To regain visibility:

• Delete the.nomedia file.
• Update the gallery or reboot the device.

⚠️ Note: The.nomedia file hides the contents of the folder for all applications, including WhatsApp, Telegram and Google Photos. If you want photos to be visible in only one application (for example, in Vault), this method will not work.

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If you work with.nomedia often, create a file template on your PC and copy it to your phone as needed.

Frequent Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Even when following instructions, users often encounter problems, and here are the most common mistakes and solutions:

• 🔄 Albums don't hide: Make sure you use a standard gallery MIUI, It's not Google Photos or some other app. Some firmware (e.g. Xiaomi.eu) may block this feature -- check the version. MIUI In Settings → The phone.
• 🔑 Forgot the password from the blocked albums: If you haven't tied Mi Account, you can't restore access. The only way out is to reset your phone, but it will delete all the data!
• 📁 Hidden folders reappear: This happens due to automatic media scanning. disable it in Settings → Annexes → gallery → Auto-update.
• 🔧.nomedia does not work: Make sure the file does not have an extension (e.g..nomedia.txt will not work). Also check that the folder is not system (e.g., nomedia.txt will not work, Android/data).

If none of the methods worked, try clearing the gallery cache:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Gallery → Storage.
2. Click Clear Cache and Clear Data (Warning: This will delete temporary files, but not the photos themselves!).
3. Reboot the phone.

FAQ: Answers to popular questions