How To Lock Pictures And Apps On Your Samsung Phone With Secure Folder

Smartphones typically come with a plethora of security features that attempt to do everything from discouraging unwanted use, to preventing outright theft — or at least making recovery a little more possible. What can you do if you don't want someone who has access to your phone (whether intentional or not) to dig through your photos and videos, or access certain apps?

Samsung's Secure Folder feature allows you to create a special folder that you can lock with your method of choice, then tuck away most of the apps and files you don't want anyone else messing with. Though some apps, like Settings, can't be moved and locked up in this manner. However, as long as you have a Galaxy S20 and newer, Z Flip, Fold, or any new Samsung phone really, the option is there.

The catch to using Secure Folder is that all of the items you decide to protect won't be accessible if you don't unlock and open the folder first. While it protects potentially sensitive things from prying eyes, it does add an extra step to day-to-day use of those same items.

Before you can start using Secure Folder to protect the items on your phone you want kept private, you have to create one. Though, if you do already have Secure Folder set up on your phone for any other reason, you can skip this section.

1. Open your Samsung phone's Settings app.
2. Scroll through the menu and select Biometrics and security.
3. Tap the Secure Folder option.
4. Sign into your Samsung account when prompted (or create one if you don't have one already), then select either "Continue" or "Agree" (whichever pops up for you).
5. Enter the requested Samsung account info and tap "Sign in" or "OK" (again, whichever pops up).
6. Read over the permissions required to use Secure Folder, then select "Continue" if you're okay with them.
7. Select the kind of lock you want to use for your Secure Folder (Pattern, PIN, or Password). You can also turn on the toggle for Fingerprints for an added layer of biometric security.
8. Enter the pattern, PIN, or password you want to use for the Secure Folder and select "Continue." Enter it a second time when prompted, and tap "Confirm."

Once your Secure Folder is all set up, you should see an icon for it appear on your phone's home screen, which you can access by tapping on it (and entering the password, PIN, or pattern you set) at any time.

Now that you have a Secure Folder, it's time to start filing away any of the photos and apps you want to guard a bit more thoroughly.

1. To move files, unlock and open your Secure Folder.
2. Tap the three horizontal dots in the top-right corner of the folder window, then select "Add Files."
3. Choose the file format you want to add: Audio, Documents, Images, My Files, or Videos.
4. Select all of the files you want to put in your Secure Folder, then tap "Done" when you're finished.
5. When prompted, choose whether to copy the files (this will leave the original files outside of the Secure Folder, and create duplicates inside of it), or move them (this will move them out of their non-protected location and into the Secure Folder).
6. Alternatively, you can transfer files from official Samsung apps to your Secure Folder by opening the app, selecting the files, then tapping the three vertical dots icon in the bottom-right corner and selecting "Move to Secure Folder."
7. To move apps, unlock and open the Secure Folder, then tap the Plus (+) symbol in the top-right corner of the window.
8. Select the apps you want to add from the provided list, then tap Add.
9. You can also tap "Download from Play Store" or "Download from Galaxy Store" to open the respective app store and download apps directly into the Secure Folder.

Now you can access your private files and apps by unlocking and opening the Secure Folder, then selecting what you want.