.nomedia

How to Open a .nomedia File

A .nomedia file isn't a document, image or archive — it's not something you "open" at all. It's a zero-byte marker that tells Android's media scanner to skip a folder, hiding its photos, videos and audio from gallery apps without touching the files themselves. Here's exactly what it does, and a tool to inspect or generate one.

Written & tested by the File-Extension.com team — see our testing methodology.

Category: Marker / convention file, not a format Developer: Android Open Source Project MIME type: none (filename-only convention) Native support: Android only

Inspect & Create a .nomedia File Online

A real .nomedia file has no content to parse — its filename alone is the whole point, and it's normally empty. So this tool does two genuinely useful things: drop a file below and it will compute its real size and SHA-256 hash, tell you honestly whether it's empty (correct) or contains unexpected data, and preview that data if it does. Or skip straight to generating a real, byte-exact empty .nomedia file ready to use.

🔒 Nothing is uploaded — your file never leaves this device

Just need a working .nomedia file? This generates a genuine, empty (0-byte) file ready to move into any folder.

Heads up: most browsers strip the leading dot from downloaded filenames, saving it as nomedia instead of .nomedia. If that happens, just rename the downloaded file back to .nomedia before moving it onto your device — the content (0 bytes) is already correct either way.

On this page

  1. Inspect / create a .nomedia file (tool)
  2. Quick answer
  3. What is a .nomedia file?
  4. Create one on Android
  5. Create one from a PC or Mac
  6. Common problems & fixes
  7. Related file extensions
  8. Technical references
  9. FAQ
Fastest answer: A .nomedia file isn't opened — it's placed. Create an empty file named exactly .nomedia (use the generator above, or any file manager app) and put it inside the folder whose photos or videos you want hidden from your gallery app. That's the entire mechanism — no content, no settings, no app required.

What is a .nomedia file?

.nomedia isn't a file format in any normal sense — there's no structure, header or content to speak of. It's a convention built into Android's MediaScanner (later MediaStore) subsystem: whenever the scanner walks the storage looking for photos, videos and audio to index, it checks each folder for a file named exactly .nomedia. If one is found, the scanner skips that folder and every subfolder beneath it entirely — it won't add any of that media to the index gallery, Photos, and music apps read from.

Crucially, this only affects the media index. The actual files are never touched, moved, renamed, hidden from file managers, or deleted — they're just invisible to apps that browse media through Android's shared index rather than the raw filesystem. It's commonly used by chat apps (to keep received stickers and thumbnails out of your gallery), download managers, and anyone organizing personal folders (like screenshots or app caches) they don't want cluttering their photo grid.

How to create a .nomedia file on Android

  1. Open a file manager app that lets you create new files (the built-in "Files" app on most phones, or a third-party one like Solid Explorer or Total Commander).
  2. Navigate into the folder you want hidden from your gallery.
  3. Create a new, empty file and name it exactly .nomedia — some file managers require typing the leading dot explicitly, since names starting with a dot are normally hidden.
  4. Restart your gallery app (or the whole device) if the media doesn't disappear immediately — the index is sometimes cached until the next scan.

How to create a .nomedia file from a PC or Mac

  1. Use the generator on this page to download a real, empty .nomedia file directly — the fastest option, no phone app required.
  2. On Windows, renaming a file to start with a dot and nothing after it can be finicky in File Explorer; typing .nomedia. (with a trailing dot) in the rename box often works around this, since Windows silently strips the trailing dot.
  3. On Mac or Linux, just use touch .nomedia in a terminal inside the target folder, or rename any empty file to .nomedia in Finder/a file manager.
  4. Copy the resulting file onto your Android device's storage, into the folder you want hidden, via USB, cloud storage, or a file-transfer app.

Common .nomedia problems and how to fix them

The photos are still showing up in my gallery

Double-check the exact filename with the tool on this page — it must be .nomedia precisely, not nomedia, .nomedia.txt, or with any trailing characters. Then force-stop your gallery app (Settings > Apps) or restart the device, since the media index isn't always rescanned instantly.

I can't create a file starting with a dot

Many stock file managers hide dotfiles and won't let you type a leading dot directly. Use a file manager with an explicit "create new file" option that accepts any name (Solid Explorer, Total Commander, or similar), or generate one on this page and transfer it over.

Deleting the .nomedia file didn't bring the media back instantly

This is normal — the media scanner re-indexes on its own schedule (or after a reboot). You can force it sooner from Settings > Storage > "scan storage" on many Android versions, or by using a file manager's built-in "rescan media" option.

Technical references

.nomedia isn't a file format with contents — it's a marker Android's own media indexer looks for, documented in Google's Android API reference.

Frequently asked questions

What does a .nomedia file do?

It tells Android's media scanner to skip the folder it's placed in — and every subfolder inside it — when indexing photos, videos and audio for gallery, Photos and music apps. The files themselves aren't touched, moved, hidden from file managers, or deleted; they simply stop appearing in apps that rely on the media index.

What program opens a .nomedia file?

None — there's nothing to open. A .nomedia file is normally 0 bytes; its filename alone is the entire instruction. Android's media scanner never reads its content. If you want to inspect one to confirm it's set up correctly, use the tool on this page.

Why isn't my .nomedia file working?

The most common cause is the filename: it must be exactly ".nomedia" with the leading dot and nothing after it — not "nomedia.txt" or ".nomedia.txt". The second most common cause is that the gallery app cached its index before the file was added; force-closing the gallery app or restarting the device usually fixes it.

Is a .nomedia file safe?

Yes — it's a completely standard, built-in Android convention (part of the platform's media scanner behavior), not a virus or hidden risk. It only affects whether media appears in gallery-style apps; it never deletes, encrypts or moves anything.

Last updated September 21, 2026.