Android users, listen up !

Here’s a hidden Android trick that cleaned up my messy gallery - without deleting a single file.

I’m a screenshot person.

The fastest way for me to save something is a quick 45-degree swipe to screenshot.

I use it for everything.

It helps me avoid the context switch from what I am consuming.

The downside?

Seven or eight screenshots a day.

By the end of the month, my gallery is a mess.

I wanted to stop screenshots from showing up in my gallery.

And I found a hidden Android trick:

The .nomedia file.

How to use it?

• Open the folder you want to hide.
• Add a file named .nomedia.
• Done.

How this works?

When you place a blank file called .nomedia in a folder, Android’s media scanner skips it.

It also skips every sub-folder inside it.

Those images, videos, or audio files won’t appear in gallery, music, or video apps that rely on the media database.

The files are not deleted.

You can still find them with My Files, Files by Google, or any file explorer.

Fun fact:

Apps like WhatsApp already use .nomedia to hide stickers, thumbnails, and private folders so they don’t clutter your gallery.

Know any other hidden Android tricks?

Originally shared on LinkedIn