Android: how to secure your documents in a locked folder

Storing important files on your smartphone can be as useful as it is risky. If on the one hand these documents remain accessible at any time as long as you keep your smartphone with you, on the other hand, ensuring their security is not always easy.

For this reason, more and more Android smartphone manufacturers are natively integrating an option to create a secure storage directory to store your most sensitive documents. This is the case, for example, on Samsung terminals.
The Korean manufacturer allows you to create an encrypted directory locked using a code by going to the Settings > Biometrics and Securitywhere you will find the option Secure Folder.

Unfortunately, not all smartphones offer such a feature. However, you can turn to a third-party solution that will fill this gap. This is what Files by Google, Google’s file manager, which offers a Secure Folder option. Here’s how to set it up to protect your precious documents.

1. Download Files by Google

If you haven’t already, download the app Files by Google on your Android smartphone. This well-known file manager offers a multitude of features, in particular to clean up your device’s storage, in addition to integrating an option to create a secure folder.

Download Files by Google for Android (Free)

2. Configure the app

If you use Files by Google for the first time, you will first need to authorize the application to access your smartphone data. To do this, open Files by Google and press the button Continue displayed in the opening pop-up.

Then choose toTo allow access to your files, then in the page dedicated to Access permissions to all files, activate the button attached to Files by Google to grant the app permission to access files stored on your smartphone, then return to the app’s home page

3. Create your Secure Folder

Back to the main page of Files by Googlescroll through the categories shown, then under the Collections heading, tap Secure Folder.

In the page Choose a lock that appears select the lock mode you want to use for your Secure Folder: Coded Where plan. Depending on what you have chosen, set your lock code or pattern, redo it a second time and validate it.

No matter which lock mode you choose, in both cases your files will be lost if you forget your lock code or pattern.

4. Move your important documents

Return to the home page of Files by Google and explore the different directories where your documents are stored. To move a document to your Secure Folder, press the option button (represented by three small dots) displayed on the line of your file, then choose to Move it to the Secure Folder. Then enter your lock code or pattern to confirm the move of your document.

Repeat the operation as many times as necessary for all the documents you wish to protect by storing them in the secure folder.
WARNINGkeep in mind that deleting the application Files by Google of your smartphone will result in the deletion of the documents stored in the secure folder, without the possibility of recovering them.