Samsung Galaxy S4: How to Fix Can't Find Hidden Pictures in Gallery app in Android 4.4 Kitkat

Today an insider told me that she couldn't find some pictures that have been hidden by her using the hide items options in the Gallery app. Normally, when you hide a picture in the Gallery app by using the hide items option, then you can find/unhide them easily by using the show hidden items option in the Gallery app. Sadly to say that in some cases, some of hidden pictures are suddenly missing and can't be found both in the show hidden items option in Gallery app or in the default folder where you save the picture files in the My Files app.

See also: How to Hide or Show Hidden Pictures in the Gallery app in the Samsung Galaxy S4 with Android 4.4 Kitkat

I've read somewhere out there and found that in the Android 4.4 Kitkat, all hidden files using that method will be moved to the another hidden folder in the internal storage. That's why you can't find them in their default folder. You have to move them to another unhide folder manually to display them back in the Gallery app.



How to find hidden pictures in Android 4.4 Kitkat?
I realize, a picture can be so meaningful for someone therefor I summarize this method here to help those of you who may be experiencing this problem and want to get those hidden-then-lost pictures back. I've tested this method and it worked. So, here they are:
  1. Open My Files app.
  2. Tap the Menu key and then select Settings.
  3. Check the box besides the Show hidden files option to enable this option.
  4. Tap the Back key.
  5. Tap All files.
  6. Tap Device storage.
  7. Scroll down to find the folder named .hide and then tap it to open it.
  8. Tap Island (I don't know why Samsung used it as the folder name. I think it may be different in other phones so please let me know if your phone has another folder name).
  9. Now you should see all pictures you have hidden by using the hide items option in the Gallery app are displayed here.
  10. Copy/move and then paste the desired hidden pictures to another folder. Use the following steps if you don't know how to do so:
    • Select the desired pictures you want to copy/move.
    • Tap the three horizontal line icon located at the top right corner of the screen and then tap Copy to copy the selected files or tap Move to cut the selected files.
    • Navigate to the required folder you want to paste the files.
    • Tap Paste here.
  11. Once the selected files are copied or moved to another folder, they should be displayed again in the Gallery app.

As a note, this method also can be applied to retrieve hidden video files that you have hidden using the same way from the Gallery app. You can also perform this method by using another third-party File Manager app (e.g: ES File explorer, Astro File Manager, etc).
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33 comments:

  1. reggarcia24 July 2014 at 01:05

    Works! Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rehan24 July 2014 at 14:45

      Hi Reggarcia,
      Thanks for coming.
      I'm happy to know that this post has worked on you :)

      Delete
    2. Mad Muffins2 July 2015 at 01:49

      HI on my phone There is no hidden file to click on.

      Delete
    3. Rehan4 July 2015 at 18:05

      Hi Mad Muffins,
      Thanks for coming.
      While you're in the My Files app, tap the Menu key and then select "Settings" and then check the box next to "Show hidden files" to enable this option and show all hidden folders or files.

      Delete
  2. aashmita26 July 2014 at 08:04

    Thanks a lot.. it worked....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rehan26 July 2014 at 13:18

      Hi Aashmita,
      Thanks for coming and let me know that this post has worked on you. I'm really happy on this :)

      Delete
  3. Unknown2 September 2014 at 03:45

    hello rehan ,
    First , thanks for the post. its really helping to me
    i have another question. Now i can get all my hidden photos coz for ur post. But another thing which i concerned is when i hide my photo again, a message "unable to hide" appears but the photo surely hide.
    Theres the problem is when i try to show my hidden items, it doesnt show any photos except videos in gallery app.
    please guide me how to back to the normal again.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rehan4 September 2014 at 19:45

      Hi Buddy,
      Thanks for coming.
      I'm so happy to know that you can find something useful here.
      Well, back to the case, since I'm not sure what the culprit of your problem is, then try clearing the Gallery app cache and data from the application manager (it won't delete any picture but if you're worry then you can back them up first in your PC before performing clear cache and data).
      If clear cache and data didn't do the trick, try performing reset app preferences by using the following steps:
      1. Go to Settings.
      2. Tap "More" tab.
      3. Tap "Application manager".
      4. Tap the Menu key and then select "Reset app preferences".
      5. Once done, restart the phone and try hiding any picture. See whether it helps :)

      Delete
    2. Unknown24 January 2016 at 19:34

      I did what u said but no file called .hide shows up and I've looked in every file I really enable hidden items but it still won't give me an option to hide picturea and my hidden ones are still.missing

      Delete
  4. Unknown9 September 2014 at 18:51

    Still can't find my hide file is empty :( pls helppp

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rehan10 September 2014 at 17:41

      Hi Melissa Figueroa,
      Thanks for coming.
      The pictures you have hidden using the "hide items" option usually can be found in the .hide/island folder when they can't be found by using the "show hidden items" option in Gallery app.
      However, did you make any change before realizing that the .hide folder is empty(e.g: factory reset, update OS, etc)?

      Delete
  5. Unknown29 September 2014 at 07:43

    what if you dont have a .hide folder. I tried uploading the pitures to drop box so i made a folder in gallery and then selected the share to dropbox option. Dropbox stalled during the upload so i restarted the phone. Now i have the folder in dropbox with nothing in and my pictures are missing. HELP!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rehan1 October 2014 at 21:25

      Hi Jordan Derby,
      Thanks for coming.
      1. Don't have .hide folder
      FYI, the phone will create .hide folder once you hide a picture/video using the "hide items" option in Gallery app. And, you have to enable the "Show hidden files" option in the My Files app settings in order to be able to view .hide folder and other hidden folders.
      2. Pictures are missing after restarting the phone
      CMIIW, when you perform hard reset (force the phone to be restarted while it's still processing something) then it may cause the files can go corrupt or (even)missing. However, if you sync your photos with Google account, Facebook, etc then you can try retrieving those photos from there.

      Delete
  6. indigo22 October 2014 at 18:19

    I can't unhide or delete the hidden pic in my gallery. Did the above prompts but there are no pics under the island file. I want to get rid of this pic and can't

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rehan23 October 2014 at 20:27

      Hi Indigo,
      Thanks for coming.
      When you unhide or delete that hidden pic, do you get any error message or notification?
      If you don't mind, can you please send me a screenshot of your hidden pic that can't be deleted. You can send them to: rehanp2001@gmail.com

      Delete
  7. Chockey27 October 2014 at 05:20

    Hi, just like the person above, I can't unhide or delete a pic in my hidden gallery. And items in said gallery keep vanishing. Except for this one picture! And I also can't find the .hide ext folder in "my files". Please help. Thanks is advance.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rehan30 October 2014 at 19:38

      Hi Chockey,
      Thanks for coming.
      1. Can't delete or unhide hidden pics
      I don't know the exact reason why you can't unhide or delete those hidden pictures. CMIIW, only synced pictures that can't be deleted. But, you have to make sure that there's no corrupted picture or video on your Gallery(if any, delete the corrupted pic). Also, you can try performing clear cache and data for your Gallery app (it won't delete any picture but if you're worried you can backup your pictures to your PC first before doing this step).

      2. No .hide folder in My Files app
      Make sure the "Show hidden files" option in My Files app settings is enabled. .hide folder will be created automatically in the internal storage if you have hidden a picture or video using the "hide items" option in Gallery app.

      Delete
  8. Unknown11 March 2015 at 00:28

    Thankyou so much for these information! i couldnt be happier.. those pictures meant a lot to me :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rehan12 March 2015 at 00:02

      Hi Sayyida Asyifaa,
      Thanks for coming.
      Glad to know that this post has helped you :)

      Delete
  9. Anonymous17 May 2015 at 12:52

    No .hide folder!! Help me please!

    ReplyDelete
  10. hanamichi001617 May 2015 at 18:22

    Hi!
    Im able to unhide everything from my hidden gallery files but i seem to be missing a few important pictures- specifically the ones in the camera folder (pictures i actually took with my phone: galaxy note 3)- everything is lost except for the video.
    i looked for it in ALL the folders..i even tried recovery softwares like remo..but i couldnt see it.
    Im just wondering whether you know what might have happened and how ill be able to recover the pictures. Theyre really important.
    Thanks in advance! ^-^

    ReplyDelete
  11. gdmark22 May 2015 at 08:00

    I have a Galaxy S4 tab with Kitkat 4.4.2. and my Gallery app lost the "hide picture" option and also the "show hidden items" option. I can see all hidden items in the .hidden/.island folder but the Gallery app has lost the hide and display hidden items function. Help......

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rehan22 May 2015 at 22:09

      Hi Gdmark,
      Thanks for coming.
      This feature (hide or show hidden items) can be found in the stock Gallery app in Samsung Galaxy S4, either with Android 4.4.2 Kitkat or Android 5.0.1 Lollipop. You can try to fix your issue by performing clear cache and data for your Gallery app. Theoretically, it won't delete any picture from your phone, but some users have reported that they lost some pics after performing clear data. So, it'd better if you backup your pics first to your PC before performing clear data for your Gallery app.

      Delete
  12. Unknown2 June 2015 at 22:21

    Hi there i upgraded to 4.4 last night and I had all my photos on my sd card. Now when I go into my gallery there is none. Please help me

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rehan4 July 2015 at 17:53

      Hi Matt Fawcett,
      Thanks for coming.
      From what I know, upgrading Android system won't delete any file in the SD card.
      However, have you tried to remove your SD card from your phone and then read it in your PC or other device just to make sure that the SD card is not corrupted or broken?

      Delete
  13. Unknown11 August 2015 at 10:43

    Tried everything you said step by step and yes I hit menu and clicked the "show hidden items" but I still don't see the .hide file. I even opened up every other folder to see if it's hiding in any of those, nothing.

    ReplyDelete
  14. erna29 November 2015 at 06:33

    there is no "hide picture" option between my options in the gallery, i am using android 4.4.2

    ReplyDelete
  15. Devlin20 January 2016 at 04:56

    So if the pictures don't show up in island is there no other way to retrieve them and they're gone forever?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rehan20 January 2016 at 21:33

      Hi Devlin,
      Thanks for coming.
      There's maybe another way to retrieve those pictures, but I have not discovered it yet. However, you can consider to sync or backup your photos to another storage, e.g., your Google account, your PC, Dropbox, etc., to avoid the same thing happens. When you lost photos in your phone, you can still retrieve them from other places.

      Delete
  16. Unknown21 January 2016 at 19:36

    Hi

    I left my galaxy tab4 running 5.1.1 on the counter came back 2 min and my daughter had it in her hands playing with it. I now had one whole screen that had my shortcuts and apps (aldiko, camera, utorrent etc) all disappear. I looked and all my files located under download, pictures etc have all disappeared. I think she may have held the screen and drag to the trash can, but I can not find it anywhere. I do not have an SD card. What do I so, PLEASE HELP. Lots of pics on my daughters are there.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Unknown18 September 2016 at 05:05

    I went to see my family after 9 years and took many pictures. Some I placed in a hidden file as I didn't want to show to everybody. Now they are gone. When I follow this steps I can't find The Island folder. I tried everything I think those pics are truly gone :-(

    ReplyDelete
  18. Kat28 October 2016 at 01:23

    Help!! My Samsung galaxy 5s screen is broken, and I cant get to my picture that are in private mode. Samsung told me it's on my SD card as that is where I told it to store my pics... But the folder private had no pics. Help please!!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Unknown20 May 2018 at 09:14

    Hi....I got my hidden files but the content is empty....a window pops up saying..no app can perform this action.....why?
    How do i get my pics back?

    ReplyDelete

Hi the insiders,
Thanks for coming and I hope you can get something useful here.
Before submitting your comment to ask about an issue, please make sure to provide information as much as possible (at least write your model number and Android version) and describe the problem clearly.
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The last, if you have a question and can't find the relevant article, please feel free to reach me through the Contact us page. I'll be more than happy to reply the email and answer the question :)

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