ExpressBasics: How to create ‘hidden’ folders on your Android smartphone
Smartphones are the most personal devices we own today. They revolve around our personal life as well as work, studies and other aspects. However, with smartphones becoming so personal, privacy has become an increasing concern.
While privacy with respect to apps is something the Android operating system has come to appreciate over the years, other users who may have access to your phone may not be so kind with your personal data. That said, Android does offer to let you create secret folders on your phone that do not show up in other apps.
These folders let you store photos, videos and other media without these files showing up in other apps like Twitter or WhatsApp. Here’s how to do that.
Step 1: Get a good file manager
Download and install any file manager that lets you access your Android phone’s internal storage. You can use your phone’s in-built file explorer as well if it allows you to create new files and folders.
If not, you can try something like Solid Explorer File Manager, which is one of the more feature-packed file explorer options out there.
Step 2: Create a new folder
Use your file explorer to create a new folder anywhere in your phone’s Internal Storage. This can be directly in the Root storage (Internal Storage/ Folder) or inside another folder (Internal Storage/ Downloads/ Folder).
Step 3: Making the folder private
Once your folder is created, create a new file in the folder. If you are asked to choose between a type of file in your file explorer app, choose blank file. You will then be asked to create a name for the file. In the text field, set the name to ‘.nomedia’ (that’s a blank name and a .txt extension).
Step 4: Using the folder
Once the folder is created, you can now place any media files in this folder and it will not show up in any other app. The only way to access contents of this folder is by opening it through a file explorer application or via a connected PC while exploring files.
Gloss