As much as we love WhatsApp it has one huge caveat, all the images sent to us through the hundreds of groups that we were forcefully added to and direct messages are visible for everyone and anyone to see. Some images may be a bit too graphic, kinky or something you would rather not have people know you look at. Unfortunately, you might not always remember to delete them so here is a way to hide all WhatsApp images from snoopy eyes that may be scouting your gallery:
- Download a file explorer app that will allow you to show hidden files. If your current explorer does not support such a function, I recommend File Manager by Asus.
- Enable show hidden files from your file explorer’s settings.
- Navigate to WhatsApp folder on your internal storage.
- Select Media then WhatsApp Images then tap on the Sent folder.
- Scroll all the way down until and you should see a file with a question mark icon titled .nomedia
- Copy this file and paste it on the main WhatsApp Images folder.
- Go to your gallery app and you should no longer see any WhatsApp images in your gallery.
Before After
This method is simple and effective but there is no way of just selecting which images you want to hide. However, the best part is that it works on all folders including hiding audio files (voice notes included) from your music app. To hide any folder from appearing either on your gallery or music app, simply paste the .nomedia file in that folder and the problem is solved.
How this works is that the .nomedia file tricks your device that a specific folder has no media content and thus the gallery and music app do not access these folders looking for content to display. This is why you never see your sent images show up on your gallery despite them being accessible through your file explorer.
Oh, and share this, you might just save someone’s relationship.