How to Create a Gallery Folder on Xiaomi: A Complete Guide

Xiaomi, Redmi and Poco smartphone owners often face the challenge of putting things in order in a growing array of multimedia files. The standard MIUI gallery offers easy-to-use sorting tools, but not always intuitive at first glance. Creating a new folder allows you to organize your images by event, people or projects, which greatly speeds up the search for the desired image in the future.

The process of organizing files on devices with a shell MIUI or HyperOS has its own features, different from pure Android. In this article, we will discuss in detail all the available ways to create albums, including hidden functions and working with system constraints, you will learn not just to create folders, but also to manage them professionally.

It's worth noting that in recent firmware versions, developers periodically change the layout of interface elements, but the basic principles of working with the file system remain unchanged. We will look at current methods that work on most modern models released in 2026-2026.

The basic method of creating an album through the main menu

The easiest and most common way to organize photos is to use the built-in functionality of the Gallery app, which does not require a computer connection or the use of third-party file managers.

To start, you need to open the Gallery app and go to the Albums tab, and you can see all existing folders, including system folders like Camera, Screenshots, or WhatsApp. At the top of the screen, usually in the right corner or in the center (depending on the MIUI version), there is an add button.

⚠️ Note: On some models, the creation button may be hidden in a three-dot drop-down menu «+», Click on the three-point in the corner of the screen.

Once you click on the add button, the system will prompt you to enter a title for a new album, and you can use any characters supported by the Android file system, and the folder name will become its identifier, so choose it carefully so that you can easily navigate the file structure later.

• 📁 Press the button «+» Or “Create an Album” in the Gallery Interface.
• ✍️ Enter a unique name for a new folder using a virtual keyboard.
• ✅ Confirm the action with the “OK” or “Done” button to save the changes.
• 🔄 Check the appearance of a new folder in the overall list of albums.

Once created, the empty folder is ready to fill in, so you can move photos manually into it, or you can set up automatic sorting, and it's important to understand that creating an album in a gallery actually means creating a physical directory in the memory of the device.

Transferring photos to a new folder

Structure is only half the task, and the user's primary goal is to categorize the images they have, and in the HyperOS shell and older versions of MIUI, the file-moving algorithm is almost identical, making navigation easier.

To move, open the All Photos or Camera album, where the original images are stored. With a long press, select one or more photos that you want to move, and after highlighting at the bottom of the screen, a toolbar with different actions will appear.

Select the option "Move" or "Copy", the difference between them is significant: when you move the original will disappear from the current folder, and when you copy, there will be a duplicate, and the system will suggest you select a target directory from the list of available albums, including the one you just created.

If you choose to move, the original files will be physically rewritten to the new directory, which means that the original album (e.g. shared tape) will no longer show these photos, which helps to avoid visual noise.

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When moving a large number of photos (more than 100 pieces), the process can take several seconds.

Working with Hidden Albums for Privacy

One of the most popular features in Xiaomi smartphones is the ability to hide certain folders from prying eyes. This is not just visual concealment, but full-fledged encryption of content, access to which is protected by a password, pattern lock or fingerprint.

To activate this feature, you need to go to the gallery settings or use a special gesture. In some versions of the firmware, you just need to pull the list of albums down until the vibration appears, this action will open the hidden album interface if the function was previously activated in the security settings.

Creating a hidden album is similar to creating a folder, but with the addition of a layer of protection. You can create a separate folder inside a hidden section or move existing albums there. Hidden albums do not appear in the general list until you use a special unlock gesture.

⚠️ Warning: Forgotten password from hidden album is almost impossible to recover without a tied Mi Account. be sure to set up access recovery in advance.

Using hidden folders is especially important for storing documents, passport scans or personal photos, and even if someone picks up your phone, they won’t be able to see the contents of the protected area without authorization.

• 🔒 Hide personal photos from strangers with a password.
• 👁️ Hidden albums not visible in previews and widgets.
• 👆 Use a special gesture (swipe down) to access.
• 🔐 Support for biometric content unlocking.

System restrictions and service folders

Users often wonder why you can't create a folder with a specific name or delete a system album.The Android file system and MIUI shell have the rigid structure necessary for apps and the smartphone itself to work properly.

Many of the folders you see in the gallery are created by automatically installed applications, for example, messengers create their own directories to save the images they receive, and an attempt to delete or rename such folders through the standard gallery interface can be blocked by the system.

And then there are reserved names and paths that you can't use for custom albums, and if you try to name a folder with a system directory name, the system will either prohibit that action or add a digital index to the name, and that's a data integrity protection mechanism.

And you also have to consider that some folders are smart, because they don't contain physical files, they're dynamic samples, like a People album or a Map album, which is based on metadata analysis and geolocation, and you can't create them manually like a regular folder.

Alternative ways to manage files

If the standard gallery interface seems inconvenient or limited, file managers are always available. Xiaomi smartphones have the default Explorer app, which gives you access to the file system at a deeper level.

You can create folders directly into the root of internal memory or on a microSD card through a Explorer, and you just go to the directory you want, click the menu, and select "Create a folder," and then it automatically appears in the gallery if it's placed in the right path (usually a DCIM or Pictures folder).

Using third-party file managers like Total Commander or FX File Explorer opens up even more possibilities: You can create complex nested structures, change file attributes, and perform batch renaming operations, which is not available in a standard gallery.

However, be careful when working with the file system directly. Deleting or moving system files through Explorer can cause the applications that created these folders to malfunction. Always check the contents of the folder before deleting it.

• 📂 Use “Conductor” to create folders in root directories.
• 🔍 Third-party managers allow you to see hidden system files.
• ⚙️ Possibility of batch renaming files in the folder.
• 💾 Support for archives ZIP and RAR folder-structure.

Synchronization of folders with cloud storage

Creating local folders is great, but it's important to keep data safe. Mi Cloud and other cloud storage let you sync your albums, which means that a copy of the folder will be stored on the server.

When gallery sync is enabled, new photos that fall into certain folders (such as Camera) are automatically uploaded to the cloud. User albums can also be synced, allowing access to photos from other devices under your account.

This is especially useful when changing your smartphone, because if you log in to your account on a new Xiaomi device, the entire folder structure will be loaded automatically with the photos, you won't have to manually recreate albums and transfer files over the cable.

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Regularly synchronizing important folders with the cloud is the only way to ensure the safety of photos in case of breakage or loss of a smartphone.

Don’t ignore the download quality settings. You can choose to upload originals (takes up a lot of space in the cloud) or optimized copies. For regular user albums, a compressed format is often enough, whereas for working documents, it is better to save the originals.