How to create a folder for photos on your phone Xiaomi: 5 ways + tips for sorting

Why You Need Photo Folders on Xiaomi and How to Organize Them

Xiaomi, Redmi and POCO smartphones are getting more advanced cameras every year, and users are taking thousands of snapshots, from family photos to document screenshots. Without a storage system, files quickly turn into chaos: finding the right photo among hundreds of images becomes almost impossible. Creating folders is a simple but effective way to structure the media library, speed up search and even save space on the device.

In this article, you will learn not only how to create a folder for photos on Xiaomi with standard MIUI tools, but also how to automate sorting with built-in tools. We will look at all the current ways from manual creation through the Gallery to using Explorer and third-party applications.

Important: The instructions in this article are valid for MIUI 14/15 (including HyperOS), but most of the methods work on older versions of the shell, too. If you have a different firmware, check compatibility in the appropriate section.

Method 1: Create a folder through the standard Xiaomi Gallery

The most obvious and quickest method is to use the built-in Gallery app, which is pre-installed on all Xiaomi smartphones and supports basic album management functions.

1. Open the Gallery app (an icon with multi-colored squares on the home screen or in the app menu).
2. Slip the Albums icon** in the lower menu (usually located on the right).
3. Press three points. ⋮ In the upper right corner and select Create an album.
4. Enter the folder name (such as Vacation 2026 or Documents) and click Ready.
5. Now you can move the photo to the new album: highlight the desired pictures with a long tap, click Add to the album and select the folder created.

⚠️ Warning: Albums created through the Gallery are virtual — they don't appear in Explorer as physical folders. Files remain in the original directory (usually DCIM/Camera), but are grouped by tags. This is convenient for quick sorting, but not suitable if you need a physical folder for backup.

Is there enough space on the device (minimum 10% free space)

Photos are not password protected (otherwise they cannot be moved)

Sync with Mi Cloud enabled (if you want to save your album in the cloud)

The album title does not contain any forbidden characters (/, \,:, *,?, ", <, >, |)-->

If you need to physically move a photo to a new folder (for example, to transfer to a PC or flash drive), use Method 2 through Explorer.

Method 2: Create a physical folder through File Manager

To create a real folder in your phone’s memory (internal or microSD card), use a standard File Manager, which is suitable if you want to:

• 📁 Store photos separately from system folders (e.g., for backups).
• 🔄 Sync with the folder with cloud services (Google Drive, Mi Cloud).
• 📱 Move files between devices via Mi Share or cable.

Step instructions:

1. Open the Explorer app (blue folder icon).
2. Go to the Internal Memory section (or SD- card if you use an external drive).
3. Click on the + (or Create) button in the lower right corner and select Folder.
4. Enter the title (e.g. Photo Work) and click OK.
5. To move photos, find them in the DCIM/Camera folder, select long tap, click Cut (or Copy), then open a new folder and select Insert.

🔹 Tip: If you move photos between folders often, add Explorer to the Quick Action Panel (swipe down from the top edge of the screen → Edit → add Explorer shortcut).

Method 3: Automatic sorting of photos by folders (without manual movement)

Manually moving hundreds of photos is a tedious exercise, and fortunately, MIUI offers tools for automatic sorting by:

• 📅 Date of shooting (by year/month).
• 🏷️ Tagam (persons, places, events).
• 📍 Location (if geotag is included).

How to set up automatic sorting:

1. Open the → Album Gallery → three dots ⋮ → Settings.
2. Enable the option of Auto-Sort by Album.
3. Select criteria: 📌 By date, create 2026-05 albums. 📌 By location, group the photos by city/country. 📌 By people, distribute the images to the faces identified (requires recognition permission).

Apply

⚠️ Warning: Self-sorting only works for photos taken after the feature is turned on. Old images will have to be distributed manually or using third-party applications (see Method 5).

Hand-sorted folder-by-folder

Automatic sorting by date/place

I use cloud services (Google Photos, Mi Cloud)

I don't, I'm just keeping it all in one folder.

Another option-->

Method 4: Create a folder through Google Photos (for cloud storage)

If you use Google Photos to back up, you can create albums right in the cloud.

• ☁️ You want to access photos from any device.
• 🔒 You need protection against data loss (e.g., when resetting your phone).
• 🤝 You share albums with friends or co-workers.

Instructions:

1. Install Google Photos (if not already installed).
2. Open the app and log in to your Google account.
3. Slip on the profile icon in the upper right corner → Photo albums → Create an album.
4. Give the album a title (like Ani's Wedding) and click Ready.
5. Select a photo to add (you can download new ones or add them from the phone gallery).

Important: Albums in Google Photos don't create physical folders on your phone -- they only exist in the cloud. To download the album back to your device, open it → three dots ⋮ → Download.

💡

If you share a photo often, turn on the “Sharing” option in Google Photos. To do this, open the album → click on the person icon with a plus → select contacts or generate a link to access.

Method 5: Third-Party Applications for Advanced Photo Sorting

If built-in MIUI tools aren't enough, use specialized applications that offer:

• 🤖 AI sorting by content (e.g., "beach," "food," "documents").
• 🔍 Text recognition in a photo (OCR) to automatically create folders for keywords.
• 🗑️ Removal of duplicates and fuzzy images.

Top.-3 apps:

⚠️ Warning: When using third-party apps, disable autosynchronization with Mi Cloud or Google Photos to avoid duplicate photos. Also check permissions: some programs request access to Contacts or Messages without needing.

💡

Third-party galleries (such as Simple Gallery) often run faster than standard Xiaomi Gallery, especially on phones with a lot of photos (10,000+ files).

Frequent problems and their solutions

When working with folders for photos on Xiaomi, users encounter typical errors.

1.The folder disappeared after the MIUI update

After major updates (e.g. from MIUI 13 to MIUI 14), the system may reset the Gallery settings to return the albums:

• Open the → Album Gallery → three dots ⋮ → Restore Hidden Albums.
• Check the DCIM/.thumbnails folder in Explorer – sometimes thumbnails of albums are stored there.
• Restart your phone and wait for the media files to be re-indexed (it can take up to 10 minutes).

2. photos are duplicated in different folders

It's because of:

• 🔄 Sync with Mi Cloud and Google Photos at the same time.
• 📱 Use of two galleries (standard and third-party).
• 📁 Manual copying instead of moving.

Solution: Use Explorer to find duplicates on the Internal Memory → DCIM path. Delete extra copies or use the Files by Google app (built-in duplicate cleaning feature).

3. You can't create a folder on a SD- card.

If the Create folder button is inactive when selecting a microSD:

• Check that the card is formatted as internal memory (in Settings → Memory).
• Update MIUI to the latest version (old firmware had bugs with SD access rights).
• Try creating a folder via PC (plug your phone as a USB- drive).

FAQ: Answers to popular questions