There are hundreds if not millions of file extensions running on our devices each day, some extensions are known due to the nature of the files themselves, while some are hidden. NOMEDIA files is one of them.
NOMEDIA Files: What are they?
Files with NOMEDIA extension are Android No Media files. They are on Android devices or devices connected to Android devices. They usually don’t have a file name, just the extensions and they indicate to other apps not to scan a folder they are placed in to avoid being detected.
If you create a folder and place a NOMEDIA file in it, most of the apps will not read any data from that folder, the folder becomes invisible to the apps on that device.
That’s the primary use of NOMEDIA files, to hide sensitive media files you don’t want anyone else to see.
How to create NOMEDIA files
Use any Android file explorer to create any files including NOMEDIA files.
Type in NOMEDIA as the file extension with no name or rename any existing files to the extension. The entire folder and it’s contents will be hidden .
Then when you rename the file back to its original extension you can now acess the files contents again.
Tip: be careful when creating NOMEDIA files on an Android device, because; once you create the file there is a chance that the same app you used to create it might not be able to access the folder once you are done with the changes.
How to create NOMEDIA on Windows
NOMEDIA files does not work on Windows, however you can create the file here and transfer to your Android device.
- Open Notepad on your Windows and save a blank text file named NOMEDIA.
- Change “Save as type” option to “All files”.
- Remove the text, it should be .nomedia and not .nomedia.txt. Windows usually add txt by default. If the file icon looks like a text file icon, rename it and remove”.txt”.
- It will show Unknown File Type icon. Windows will hide the file extension to show a file extensions in Windows.
- Open a folder, go to Tools menu > Folder options > Click on View tab and uncheck ” Hide Extensions of known file type” .
- It is checked by default > Click [Apply to Folder] at the top. This will apply the change to all folders so you can see extensions on all files.
This also helps you see what types of files you have on your system.
Then connect your Android device to the PC and select Mount Sdcard or Open ad folder or Open as storage or USB connected from the drop down notifications on your phone.
Drag and drop the .NOMEDIA file to your phone and put it in the folder you want other apps to ignore. If there is a folder called WhatsApp photos and there are NOMEDIA files, most apps looking for pictures will understand not to read data from it. The folder will be invisible.
Example of a tool that can help you rename your files to a NOMEDIA file is the File Manager Pro.
How to delete NOMEDIA files
- Select the file and press delete on your keyboard. Or right click the file and select Delete.
- On Android download a file manager app, from there you can create and delete a NOMEDIA file.
Does NOMEDIA files contain virus or dangerous?
No. Even if the file extension is odd and takes up space, that is it’s design. It does not mean there is a virus in the file so you don’t need to worry.
