.nomedia file
Also known as: nomedia, hide folder from gallery, nomedia Android
A .nomedia file is an empty marker file that tells Android’s media scanner to skip a folder, so its photos, videos, and audio do not appear in the Gallery or music apps. It hides media from view but does not delete it or free any storage.
- Empty marker that hides a folder from media apps
- Hides media without deleting it — no space is freed
- Visible only with "show hidden files" enabled
What it does
When Android’s media scanner finds an empty file named .nomedia in a folder, it excludes that folder (and often its subfolders) from the media index. The files stay on disk and still count toward used storage — they just stop showing up in Gallery, Photos, and music players.
Apps use this to keep their working files out of your camera roll. A messaging app, for example, may drop a .nomedia file into its cache or sticker folders so those images do not flood the Gallery.
Why it matters for cleanup
A .nomedia file can hide large amounts of media you forgot about, making a phone look fuller than the Gallery suggests. To find it, enable "show hidden files" in a file manager like Files by Google and browse the folder directly.
Deleting the .nomedia file makes the folder’s media reappear after the next scan; the files themselves are unaffected. To actually reclaim space you still have to delete the media inside.