How to completely remove a photo from Viber in the gallery Xiaomi Redmi: hiding, cleaning cache and radical methods

Photos from Viber automatically enter the Xiaomi Redmi gallery, filling memory and creating chaos among personal photos. Even after deleting the chat or media files in the messenger itself, images often remain in the system folders. The problem is compounded by the fact that MIUI aggressively scans all directories for media, including hidden application folders. In this article, 5 proven ways to get rid of unnecessary photos, from simple concealment to complete removal from the device.

Many users mistakenly believe that it is enough to clear the Viber cache or delete files through the file manager. However, Xiaomi uses its own media indexing system (MediaProvider), which can “restore” deleted images on the next scan. We will analyze not only standard methods, but also little-known tricks – for example, how to disable automatic saving in the settings of the messenger or block the gallery from accessing Viber folders via.nomedia.

We will pay special attention to the Redmi models. MIUI 13/14, So the logic of the gallery has changed, and now the system ignores some.nomedia files if they're not created correctly. And we'll also look at a radical way of resetting the gallery settings, which helps you to create a new file. 90% cases where other methods do not work.

Why Viber photos appear in Xiaomi Redmi Gallery

The reason is because of the Android architecture and the MIUI features, and when you receive or send an image to Viber, it's stored in one of three folders:

• 📁 /storage/emulated/0/Android/media/com.viber.voip/ — media storage
• 📁 /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.viber.voip/files/ — cache and temporary files
• 📁 /storage/emulated/0/Viber/Media/ — Outdated location (for versions up to) 2021 year-end)

Xiaomi Gallery (com.miui.gallery) scans all of these directories, as they are not protected by the noindex flag. Moreover, even if you delete a photo directly in Viber, files can remain in folders for up to 30 days - this is due to the mechanism of "soft removal" of the messenger.

Key point: Starting with MIUI 12.5, the system ignores.nomedia files in application root folders (e.g., /Android/media/).This means that the standard method of hiding media stopped working for Redmi Note 11, Redmi 10 and later.

Another trap is cloud backup, and if you have Viber synced with Google Photos or Mi Cloud enabled, deleted locally can be returned the next time you restore data.

Method 1: Hiding a photo via a.nomedia file (works on MIUI up to 12.5)

This method is suitable for devices on MIUI 12 and older (e.g. Redmi 9, Redmi Note 9 Pro) and the idea is to create a special file in the folder with a photo that will prevent the gallery from scanning its contents.

Step-by-step:

1. Open any file manager (e.g., Mi File Manager or Total Commander).
2. Go to the folder with Viber photo: /storage/emulated/0/Android/media/com.viber.voip/Viber/Media/
3. Create a new text file in this folder and call it.nomedia (a point at the beginning is mandatory!).
4. Restart the device or force the gallery to stop: Settings → Applications → Application Management → Gallery → Stop

Important: On MIUI 13+, this method only works for folders outside /Android/media/. For newer versions, use Method 3 or 4.

Enable the display of hidden files in the manager

Check the access rights to the Viber folder

Make sure the file is saved without extension (.txt)

Reboot your phone after creating a file-->

Method 2: Clearing Viber cache and data

If photos remain in the gallery even after they are deleted in the chat, the problem may be in the messenger cache. Clearing the cache will delete all temporary files, but will not affect the chats and media stored in the device’s memory.

How to clear the cache:

• 📱 Go to Settings. → Annexes → Application management.
• 🔍 Find Viber in the list and select it.
• 🧹 Click Clear Cache (not to be confused with Clear Data – this will delete all chats!).
• 🔄 Restart your phone and check the gallery.

If the cache is more than 500MB, it is also recommended to clean the /Android/data/com.viber.voip/cache/ folder manually through the file manager.

Radical: Cleaning the app data (remove all chats and settings!) Use only if other methods have not helped:

Settings → Applications → Viber → Storage → Clear data

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Before clearing your data, export important chats to Viber: Settings → Account → Backup.

Method 3: Disabling auto-save photos in Viber

The easiest way to prevent photos from getting into the gallery is to prevent them from automatically saving them in the messenger settings, which will not delete files already saved, but will stop new ones from appearing.

Instructions:

• 📲 Open Viber and go to More (⋮) → Settings.
• 🖼️ Select Media and Files → Preservation of media.
• ❌ Turn off the options: 📷 Save incoming photos 🎥 Save incoming videos 📤 Keeping Outbound Media

After that, the new photos and videos will not be saved to the phone’s memory, but will remain available inside Viber chats.

⚠️ Attention: On some firmware MIUI (For example, on Redmi Note 10 Pro with global version, the Save Media option may not be available.

Method 4: Delete photo via file manager (manual method)

If previous methods failed, you have to manually delete files, which requires care, because doing the wrong thing can cause you to lose data.

Step-by-step:

1. 📂 Open Mi File Manager (or another root manager if you have one).
2. 🔍 Go to the folders where Viber photos are stored: /storage/emulated/0/Android/media/com.viber.voip/Viber/Media/ /storage/emulated/0/Android/data/com.viber.voip/files/
3. 🗑️ Delete unnecessary files (you can highlight everything and delete it, but be careful – there may be important media here too!).
4. 🔄 Restart your phone and check the gallery.

If the photos don't disappear:

• 🔄 Force the gallery to be renovated: open it and pull it down for an update.
• 📛 Clear the gallery cache: Settings → Annexes → gallery → Clear the cache.
• 🔧 Use an alternative gallery (such as Google Photos) to check if files are left on your device.

⚠️ Note: Do not delete com.viber.voip folders completely - this can cause malfunctions in the messenger,.mp4).

Method 5: Reset Gallery settings (radical method)

If none of these methods work, you have to reset the gallery settings, which will lead to a re-indexing of all media files on the device, often solving the problem of ghost photos from Viber.

How to drop a gallery:

• 📱 Go to Settings. → Annexes → Application management.
• 🖼️ Find the Gallery app (or Mi Gallery app).
• 🔧 Press Warehouse. → Delete data (this won’t delete your photos, just reset the app settings!).
• 🔄 Reboot the phone.

Once reset, the gallery will start to re-scan the device, which can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes depending on the amount of media, and don't interrupt the scan, wait until it's done.

Alternatively, if the reset didn’t work, try disabling the MIUI gallery and using a third-party app (like Simple Gallery or Google Photos).

Settings → Applications → Gallery → Disable

Additional tips: how to avoid reappearing photos

To prevent the problem from returning, follow these recommendations:

• 🔄 Clean Viber cache regularly (once every 1-2 weeks).
• 🚫 Turn off autoload media in mobile data: Viber → Settings → Data and storage → Autoboot media
• ☁️ Use cloud services (like Google Photos) to back up, but disable automatic download from Viber folders.
• 📁 Transfer important photos from Viber to a separate folder (for example, /Pictures/Viber_Important/) and remove originals from chat rooms.

⚠️ Note: If you use Mi Cloud to sync your gallery, locally deleted photos can stay in the cloud and return when you restore them. → Xiaomi account → Mi Cloud → gallery.

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The most reliable way is to switch off auto-save (Method 3) + Manual removal of old photos (Method 4).

FAQ: Frequent questions about removing photos from Viber in Xiaomi Redmi