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How to create a .nomedia file?



Earlier I posted a tutorial on how to hide any android files without any third-party software. There I hid folders and files just by adding a dot (.) in front of the folder or file name. That process, however doesn’t seem to work on all devices (especially on few kitkat handsets). Hence for those devices, I’m publishing an alternative procedure to hide folders or files from gallery.

The process is nothing but simply adding a .nomedia file in the folder where we're hiding the files. The contents (pics, vids etc.) of any folder that contains a .nomedia file will be hidden from the gallery. But what is that .nomedia file?

A .nomedia file is simply a file, which has an extension of nomedia. Just like .mp3 for an audio song. This is mainly used to hide system media files from gallery. But how to create such type of file?

So today in this tutorial I’m gonna show you how to create a .nomedia file to prevent certain pictures, videos or audios from coming into gallery and players. As far as my knowledge this procedure works for most of the KitKat, IS, Jellybean devices including Samsung, Micromax, Xiaomi, LG etc. popular handsets.

What you’ll need during the process is a useless file (and a working android smartphone, obiously). So let's get started.

How to create a .nomedia file in your phone or tab?


1. First of all, move all the files you wanna hide to a specific folder. Or if you want to hide an existing folder then move on to the next step.

2. Pick a useless file, any file. If you don’t have one, just open the camera and snap a photo of your nasty cousin. We’re gonna use it as a useless file. For the sake of this tutorial, let’s name it techabrel.jpg.

3. Now move that file (techabrel.jpg) to the folder, where you kept the to-be-hidden stuffs.

4. After that, rename that file. Erase the full name along with the extension, i.e. erase techabrel.jpg and type down .nomedia in place of that. Save it.

Okay, so you’re done. Go and check your galley, it’s completely hidden from there. If files are still visible there, reboot your device and recheck gallery.

Creating .nomedia file on PC:


You can also create this .nomedia file in your computer and then transfer it to your mobile via USB cable or Bluetooth. This is helpful, in case your phone doesn’t let you create a .nomedia file.

To make such a file on pc, just follow the easy step mentioned below.

  • Open any random folder. Right click on the blank area and create a new text file.
  • Name it anything, say Techabrel.txt. Now notice carefully whether you can see the file extension or not (.txt). If you can see it, its fine, you can skip this step. And if you can’t see it, then you need to switch it on. To do that, in Windows 8 go to View panel and tick on the File Name Extensions box. For other windows version you’ll find this option in Folder Options > View > Hide Extensions for Known File Types (un-tick it).
  • Now right click on the newly created file and click on rename. After that erase everything including the extension and type down techabrel.nomedia and then press enter. Then your computer will ask you whether you really want to change the extension or not, say yes.
  • After all the steps are done simply copy that file to your mobile via data cable. Alternatively you can also send this file to mobile by Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.
  • Then in your file manager locate the file and erase the techabrel by renaming it. And simply save it.

To unhide the files:


If you want to unhide the hidden files again so that you can see them on gallery, just delete the .nomedia file or rename it back to anything adding its previous extension.

Troubleshooting:


In some devices, even after deleting the .nomedia file, the hidden files do not show up on gallery. In those cases, restart your device or rescan media library. And if rebooting doesn’t work, follow the steps below.
  • At first, create a new folder.
  •  Move all the files from the hidden folder to this new folder.
  • Delete the hidden folder.
  • That’s it, now rename it with the previous folder’s name.

Lastly,


I hope it helps. If you found this guide helpful or interesting, please do share it. Sharing is caring.
Facing problems?? Write it down in the comments, I’ll reply you within a few hours. Have a good time :)

Comments

  1. parantheses2/25/2015

    Its not working in lollipop... I am using androzip file manager... It does not let me create or rename a file as .nomedia... It says "renaming error" please help

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hey there. I never used Androzip. Try any other file explorer like ES File Explorer, it'll do the job.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Dariya3/11/2015

    Its not working in Gionee E7 mini.Using Android 4.2.2 and default file manager. Renaming error

    ReplyDelete
  4. May be you should try any other thirdparty file manager app like ES or Astro :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. It simply did not work. I moved a file into directory and renamed it to .nomedia and the contents were still in the galleries. Then tried to change it to a.nomedia and the contents still showed in the galleries.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Did you reboot your device after moving the .nomedia file??

    ReplyDelete

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