See also: New Options and Features in Android 4.4.2 Kitkat in the Samsung Galaxy S4 GT-I9500
Among the new features in Android 4.4 Kitkat, there's my favourite one which will allow me to hide or show hidden pictures or videos directly from the Gallery app. For me, it's easier and simpler than if we should renaming the file name through My Files app or another third-party File manager app when we want to hide or show hidden pictures or videos, as we used to do in the previous Android version.
How to hide pictures or videos in Gallery app in Android 4.4 Kitkat?
FYI, this method only works if you're viewing Gallery app by albums. By using this option, you're allowed to hide single or multiple pictures or videos. Here are the steps:
- Open Gallery app. By default, it's viewed by albums.
- Tap the desired albums where the photo you wish to hide is saved.
- Tap the Menu key then select Hide items.
- Select the desired pictures or videos you wish to hide by ticking the box located at the top right corner in each picture.
- Tap Done button.
- The selected pictures or videos will be hidden and won't be shown in Gallery app.
How to show hidden pictures or videos in Gallery app in Android 4.4 Kitkat?
Make sure to view Gallery app by albums to make it works. Well, if you wish to bring back the hidden pictures or videos to the Gallery app, then you can do so by following the steps listed below:
- Open Gallery app. By default, it's viewed by albums.
- Tap the Menu key then select Show hidden items.
- All your hidden pictures or videos will be displayed here.
- Tap the Menu key then select Select items.
- Select the desired hidden pictures or videos you wish to show by ticking the box at the top right corner in each picture.
- Tap the Menu key then select Show items.
- The selected hidden pictures or videos will be shown again in their original albums in Gallery app.
For the record, in Android 4.4 Kitkat, pictures or videos will remain be displayed in Gallery app though you've added (.) in front of the file name through Gallery app or My Files app. Adding (.) in front of the file name will only hide them in My Files app or other third-party File manager app, in condition that you don't enable the Show hidden files option.
The menu "Hide items" only seems to work with items in the phone's memory. It is not available for albums in the SD card.
ReplyDeleteHi Buddy,
DeleteThanks for coming.
I forgot to check it when I wrote this post. And yes, you're right, I've just checked it and I found that Hide items option only available for albums that are saved in phone's memory/internal storage.
4.4.2 (s4) update prevents you using apps to hide videos or pictures. If anyone has found a way to use apps like vaulty or audio manager/hide it on content saved to the SD card, let me know ASAP!
ReplyDeleteHi Myles Mitchinson,
DeleteThanks for coming here.
I've just installed Vaulty app in my S4 with Android 4.4.2. I tried to hide a picture and a video saved in the SD card and it worked. So, if you don't mind, you can try to reinstall Vaulty app on your phone and then see whether it helps :)
Which version of vaulty you use.In my note 3 vaulty 3.10.2 didnt work for sd card storage.
DeleteHi Abhay Mohanty,
DeleteThanks for coming.
I'm using Vaulty version 4.0, I've just looked at the Play Store and seems this is the latest version of this app.
Hey I was curious, how to you unhide the albums you've hidden? I am able to find or show the hidden folder (as you have explained above), but I am trying to get the folder back to normal (prior to hiding it). Thanks
ReplyDeleteHi B Bergdale,
DeleteThanks for coming.
FYI, you can't use this feature (the hide items option in the Gallery app) to hide a folder. It only works to hide photos or videos. You can hide a whole folder through the My Files app by putting "." in front of the folder name and show the hidden folder by removing "." from the folder name. Also, I don't understand with "get the folder back to normal" meaning, so if you don't mind, please tell me more detail about it.
All of the apps that hide files, when used in.4.4.2 put the encrypted files into device storage and when unencrypting put the files in a new folder also in device storage. Google has destroyed the usefulness of all these apps. It's enough to make you buy an Iphone.
DeleteHi Frank Schabel,
DeleteI appreciate your opinion, but everyone has their own choices. Anyway, thanks for coming :)
I'm confused, there's no way to truly hide an album and leave it just in a hidden file? Anyone can just go to the "show hidden items" option and there they are.
ReplyDeleteI don't want my pictures to show up in the gallery at all but rather just view the in my hidden file.
Hi Greg B,
DeleteThanks for coming.
You can hide a folder/album in the Gallery app by renaming the folder and inserting a fullstop (.) in front of the folder name through the My Files app.
Also make sure to disable the "Show hidden files" option in My Files app by tapping the Menu key and then select "Settings" and then clear the checkbox next to the "Show hidden files" option. It'll hide all folders with a fullstop in the My Files app.
I hid a video and screen snap from the video. Now when I go to unhide the only thong there is the video. All the pictures are gone. How do I recover them?
ReplyDeleteHi Margie Bradwell,
DeleteThanks for coming.
It's so weird. I personally often use this feature and I never lose any picture.
However, try using the following steps and then see whether it helps you to find your hidden-then-lost pictures:
1. Download install ES File Explorer from the Google Play Store.
2. Once the installation process is completed, open the app.
3. Tap the Menu key(it'll open up some menus that are shown up in the left side of the screen).
4. In the left side menus, tap "Tools".
5. Scroll down to the bottom to find "Show hidden files" and then enable this option.
6. Now, take a look at to the internal storage(it's named with SD card), find the folder named .hide and then open it. All videos and pictures you have hidden by using the hide items option in the Gallery app should be displayed here.
7. Copy and paste the files to another folder and they will be shown up in the Gallery app again.
FYI, I've tested this method on my S4 with Android 4.4 Kitkat and it worked. So, give it a try and then let me know if it works on you :)
I've found that apps like Vaulty will work of you first love the pics to internal storage. You can then hide them in your vault as normal. The regular My Files app will allow you to move them from the SD card to internal memory.
ReplyDeleteHi Jeremy Pretzsch,
DeleteThanks for coming and share your thought here.
Yes, you're right. My Files app allows you to move files between internal memory and SD card. But, some users sometimes don't want to move their files back to internal memory. I personally seldom hide any file in my phone, but from what I've tried I can use Vaulty app to hide images or videos saved on my SD card with no problem.
unfortunately Vaulty saves the hidden compressed file of the things you have hidden on the phones memory which is an emulated SD card not the actual SD card in the slot in the back...
DeleteHi Buddy,
DeleteThanks for coming.
I have to say that I didn't investigate that far. What I have tried only hiding the pictures on my SD card. If that's true that Vaulty app saves hidden photos (from SD card) to the device storage then it'll probably disappoint those who want to secure their hidden photos in SD card.
I just switched phones and all my hidden photos are gone. Are they still on my old phone? And how can I recover them? Thanks
ReplyDeleteHi Tim,
DeleteThanks for coming.
Try the following steps and then see whether it helps:
1. Open My Files app.
2. Tap the Menu key and then select "Settings".
3. Enable "Show hidden files" by ticking the checkbox in the right side of this option.
4. Tap Back button.
5. Tap "All files".
6. Tap "Device storage".
7. Scroll down to find a folder named .hide
8. Under .hide folder, you'll see a folder(mine has a folder named island), tap the folder and your hidden photos should be displayed here.
9. Move or copy the required photos to another folder in the internal storage or SD card.
10. Once done, they will be displayed in Gallery app.
I switched phones because my old screen is dead. Phone still working but no screen!!!
DeleteUgh....trying to find the .hide folder by hooking phone up to my laptop. Trying everything!
Thanks for the fast response!
Problem solved!
DeleteIt has occurred to me that photos downloaded from texts, emails and facebook are downloaded to your phone storage, not your SD card!
This is scary if you are sending your phone back to assurion or some other phone insurance company.
My phone worked but my screen was dead and because I had hidden photos, the only way to un-hide them is with your phone which had a broken screen.
So I took my old phone apart with the nine screws shown on youtube.....Took my new phone apart and pluged the display for my new phone into my old phone. This allowed my to "show hidden photos" in the gallery, select them all and select "show" Once I un-hid the photos it was just a matter of plugging my phone into my laptop to find, copy and paste the photos where I wanted them.
New rule for me........move all photos I want to keep to my SD card!
Thanks for your help!
Tim
Hi Tim,
DeleteSeems I have misunderstood with your question. I thought that the pictures were gone in the same phone(Actually you said that you switched your old phone to the new one. It's purely my mistake. I'm so sorry about that). Well, I also notice that when we hide some pictures in the Gallery app by using "hide items" option, the pictures will be moved to the .hide folder in the phone storage. FYI, all folders with "." in front of the folder name are hidden and they won't be displayed when you browse your phone in the PC (I think it's the culprit of your problem).
Anyway, I'm happy to know that your problem finally can be resolved :)
Hey i hide some pictures and i was able to see them perfectly fine i went to show hidden items nd everything was good so then i went hide more items and when i wanted to see them i had no pictures hidden what can i do to see those pictures
ReplyDeleteHi Selena Campos,
DeleteThanks for coming.
Some hidden pictures are sometimes moved automatically to the .hide folder in the internal storage (to see this folder make sure you have enabled "Show hidden files" option in the My Files app), or you can see the complete steps to do so here:http://inside-galaxy.blogspot.com/2014/05/samsung-galaxy-s4-how-to-fix-cant-find_30.html
My galaxy S4 will not let me delete or even move a hidden picture. I'd like to delete it but it will not delete or move. The trash can is there to push but it shows it will delete but won't. I need help please.
ReplyDeleteHi Angela Thomas,
DeleteThanks for coming.
FYI, you're allowed to delete pictures on your devices(those you save in the internal storage or SD card), but you are not allowed to delete synced pictures (e.g: Facebook photos, Picasa album, etc). So, try to take a look the pictures you want to delete. If those are synced pictures, then you have to disabled sync photo option in the related account and then do clear data for your Gallery app. As the example, you can see the complete steps to remove Picasa album from Gallery app here:http://inside-galaxy.blogspot.com/2014/04/samsung-galaxy-s4-how-to-fix-cant_11.html
I am having the same problem. I can not delete a hidden picture. After I press delete, the picture is still there. The photo is not synced. Please help!
ReplyDeleteHi Nelly Barajas,
DeleteThanks for coming.
Theoretically, you should be able to delete any picture you have saved in your phone(either those in the internal storage or in the SD card).
I'm not sure what the culprit of your problem is. But, if the picture is hidden, try to unhide it first and then delete the picture. Other way, you can try deleting the picture from My Files app.
Hi I have hide some images using the hidden functions, now my phone screen is cracked and I would like to retreive it back, is there other ways like connecting my phone to my pc to get it back? Pls advice thank you
ReplyDeleteHi Jeremy Lim,
DeleteThanks for coming.
CMIIW, try the following steps to retrieve your hidden photos:
1. Connect your phone to the Linux PC (FYI, Windows PC won't display all folders with "." in front of the folder name) and then explore your phone folders(you can use nautilus).
2. Go to your internal storage phone and then find .hide folder (there's a folder named island inside .hide folder which is used by phone to save all hidden photos you have hidden using the hide items option in Gallery app).
3. Now, copy all photos from .hide/island to your PC.
Hi! i.have the same problem, cracked screen and wanting to recover hidden fotos. Is there no way to do it on windows? cause i don't know anybody with a linux...
DeleteHi Maxim Dek,
DeleteThanks for coming.
Sadly to say that I don't know how to open folders with "." in front of the folder name in Windows PC. I have tried finding a software that can handle it in Windows PC but found nothing.
If there's no one around you with Linux, you can do it by yourself. You can run Linux on your PC using Live CD or live USB. It allows you to run Linux without having to install it in your PC. There are a lot of steps-by-steps tutorial to run Linux with live USB out there, pick one of them. Once you're managed to run Linux in your Windows PC, you can use Nautilus to explore folders and navigate to the .hide folder in the internal storage of your phone and then copy all pictures files inside this folder to your PC.
To hide files on your S4 4.4 Follow this steps:
ReplyDelete1.Install Es File Explorer
2.Make a folder .hidden - on CARD or Internal
3.Copy everything you want to hide into the folder
4.Make sure you enabled to see hidden files in Es File Explorer.
5.Disable the view hidden files in My Folders .
6. That's it.
Cheers
Hi Buddy,
DeleteThanks for coming and share your useful experience here. I really appreciate it :)
Actually, placing "." in front of the folder name using any File manager app(including the stock one) can be used to hide that folder. When the "show hidden files" option in the File manager app is disabled, all folders with "." in front of the folder name will not be shown(it's because Android will identify that the folder with "." in front of the name as a hidden folder).
Can a random picture appear on the samsung 4 phone if not actually taken by a person?
ReplyDeleteHi Tinker,
DeleteThanks for coming.
What kind of pictures can appear randomly on your phone? Have you ever seen them in other apps?
If you don't mind, you can send the screenshot of that picture to: rehanp2001@gmail.com so that I can directly see the problem and try finding the best answer/solution.
However, the pictures from other sources (e.g: Facebook, Picasa, etc) can be displayed automatically in Gallery app when they're synced. To remove synced pictures from Gallery app, turn the sync option off and then perform clear data for the Gallery app.
Hi, I had some photos hidden on my S4. Recently i started using Google Drive and I copied all photos using select all function. When photos were copied I deleted 90% stuff from my phone. Now I have NO hidden photos what so ever and I do not know why. Also the photos I hid can not be found in my phone nor Google Drive. What happened and how can I retrieve my photos? or how to reverse the whole process so I can copy them manually. I really need those pics any help will be appreciated!
ReplyDeleteI also had a proble simlular...Got the internal SD card..moved all photos to that for back up..now can not find hidden pics what so ever..Also replaced Sim card..but SIm card does not store pics, right? So where my hidden files used to be stored if I did not have internal SD card?
ReplyDelete