How to hide photos on Xiaomi from the gallery: all the ways from standard to secret

Have you ever faced a situation where you urgently need to hand over your phone to a colleague, but the gallery stores personal photos? Or want to protect intimate photos from prying eyes? On Xiaomi smartphones (including Redmi and POCO) there are several ways to hide photos from the standard gallery — from built-in features to secret folders with a password. In this article, we will analyze all the current methods, including those that are not written in the official instructions.

It is important to understand that simply removing the files from the gallery does not solve the problem – the files remain in the device’s memory and can be restored by special programs, and we will show you how to completely hide the photos so that they do not appear in standard applications and do not catch the eye of random users. The methods work on all modern versions. MIUI (12–14) and relevant for 2020–2026 models.

1. Built-in Hidden Albums feature in MIUI

The easiest way is to use Xiaomi’s standard tool, which requires no additional apps and works on all devices with MIUI 12 and later, and the photos will remain on the phone, but disappear from the main gallery.

How it works:

• 📁 Files are not deleted, but are simply excluded from the gallery indexing.
• 🔒 Access to hidden albums is protected by password or fingerprint.
• 🔄 When resetting, hidden albums can become visible again.

Step-by-step:

1. Open the Gallery app.
2. Select the right photo, click More → Hide.
3. Confirm the creation of a hidden album (at first use).
4. Set a password or use biometrics to protect you.

Where to look for hidden photos:

• 🔍 In the gallery: Albums → Hidden.
• 📂 File Manager: Internal Storage → MIUI → Gallery → cloud →.hidden (folder hidden).

💡

If the hidden album is not displayed, check the settings of the gallery: Settings → Show hidden albums (should be turned off).

2. Hiding through a file manager: folder.nomedia

This method is suitable for users who want to hide photos not only from the gallery, but also from other applications (for example, Google Photos).

How to create a hidden folder:

1. Open Files (Standard Xiaomi Manager)
2. Go to the internal memory or to the SD-map.
3. Create a new folder with any name (for example, Private).
4. Inside the folder, create a text file called.nomedia (no extension!).
5. Transfer the necessary photos to this folder.

Advantages of the method:

• 🛡️ The photo is not visible in any gallery.
• 🔄 It works even after the reboot.
• 📱 Doesn't require root rights.

Where the hidden photos are stored:

3. Archiving photo in ZIP with password

If you need to encrypt photos, not just hide them, the best option is to file them with a password, which is more reliable than.nomedia, because without a password, files can not even be seen in the file manager.

Instructions:

1. Install an archiver (such as RAR or ZArchiver).
2. Select a photo in the file manager, click Compress.
3. Select the ZIP or RAR format.
4. Set the tick Encrypt and enter the password.
5. Delete the original photos (optional).

Pros of the method:

• 🔐 Files protected AES-encryption.
• 📦 The archive can be moved to the cloud or to the PC.
• 🚫 Without a password, the photo cannot be restored.

💡

Password Archive is the only way to protect your photo even when you steal your phone or reset your settings.

Cons:

• ⚠️ Remember your password (when lost, data is lost forever).
• 📱 Unpacking is required for viewing.

⚠️ Warning: Don't use simple passwords like "123456" or dates of birth. For strong protection, come up with a combination of 12.+ symbols with letters, numbers and special signs.

4. Third-party applications for hiding photos

If the standard means MIUI It's not enough, you can use specialized software, and it offers additional features, like calculator masking, false calculator. PIN-code, cloud backup.

Top.-3 apps:

How to set up KeepSafe:

1. Download the app from Google Play.
2. Give me the lead. PIN-code.
3. Import photos from the gallery.
4. Turn on the option to Remove from the gallery.

⚠️ Note: Some applications (such as Vaulty) may conflict with MIUI Optimizer. If after installation the phone started to brake, add the application to the exceptions: Settings → Special permits → Optimizing the battery → All applications → Find a vault app → Turn off optimization.

5. Hiding through private cloud services

If you use Mi Cloud or Google Photos, you can hide photos by uploading them to private albums, which is convenient for backup, but has nuances with privacy.

How to hide photos in Google Photos:

1. Open the Google Photos app.
2. Pick a photo, click. ⋮ → Move it to the archives.
3. For complete concealment: Albums → Utilities → Archived (remove from there).
4. Create a shared album for yourself with limited access.

The advantages of the cloud method:

• 🌐 Access from any device.
• 🔄 Automatic backup.
• 📱 Doesn't take up space on the phone.

Cons:

• 👁️ Google can scan photos (even in the archive).
• 🔓 When you lose access to your account, photos are lost.

6 Advanced methods: encryption and root access

For maximum protection, you can use disk encryption or special folders that are accessible only through root, which require technical skills, but give 100% privacy.

Method 1: Encrypting a folder with Cryptomator

• 🔐 Creates an encrypted container (supports) AES-256).
• 📁 The folder looks like a collection of random files.
• 📱 It works without root, but requires manual adjustment.

Method 2: Hidden folder via TWRP (root only)

1. Install TWRP Recovery.
2. Create a folder in /data/media/0/.secret.
3. Configure access rights: chmod 700 /data/media/0/.secret.

⚠️ Note: Using root methods risks losing warranty on Xiaomi. TWRP This can cause complete loss of data on the device.

Comparison of all methods of hiding photos

FAQ: Frequent questions about hiding photos on Xiaomi