Want to lock certain files or folder on Samsung mobile phone so others can use your mobile phone but without access to the locked files and folder on it? The file or folder lock on cell phone is very useful. For example, you may want to show some pictures with family and friends on the phone, but you have some sensitive or private photos you do not want them to know. In this case, you can simply lock the selected photo or other data on the phone. In this article, we will talk about how you can lock files on Samsung mobile phone for free with My Files app which is pre-installed on all Samsung Galaxy phones, no third party file manager or protection app required.
Please note that the specific steps and options may vary depending on your phone model and the software version your devices are running on.
How to lock files on Samsung mobile phone?
From the home screen of your Samsung galaxy phone, tap to run My Files app. Browse to files and folders on your smartphone using this file manager for Samsung, then long press on the file to select one or multiple files you like to protect with a password. Tap on the More button (three vertical dots) at the top right corner of your mobile phone. You will see a drop-down menu list with options like Move, Copy, Rename, Zip, Lock, Details. Choose Lock to start locking your selected files and data on Samsung mobile phone.
You will then get a prompt message saying: Lock. You can protect your files using a PIN. Locked files can’t be accessed by third party apps or other devices.
Conform to lock files, then a “PIN lock” screen pops up on Samsung mobile. You can set a PN here to lock files on the phone. Your PIN must contain at least 4 numbers.
Type in the PIN code again to confirm PIN.
Now you have added a passcode to protect files and data on Samsung mobile phone.
Samsung phone file lock FAQs
The My Files app is the default file manager comes with all Samsung Galaxy phones and models. If you use a different Samsung model, you may find some difference in both appearance and features as specified in above guide. My Files app is built with lots of useful features. Lock files on Samsung phone is just one of them.
It can help protect files and documents with password. However we also find several things need to be improved.
For example, it can’t help you lock a folder on Samsung mobile. In order to lock a directory or folder, you need to zip the folder first, then lock the zipped folder on Samsung phone. Zipping files on the phone requires more time especially when you want to protect and lock media files, such as videos, photos, music, etc. An easier solution is to use a app locker to lock the whole app, such as My Files, Gallery, with a password or pattern, check out this guide to lock apps on Samsung phones.
It can’t help you encrypt file names. The encrypted files will be named based on their original names. For instance, if you try to lock a photo named “jay.jpg’, it will be locked and saved as ‘jay.jpg.enc’. To prevent others see the real file name you can either rename the files or add them to a folder, then zip and lock the folder instead.
Another problem with the locked files and folder on Samsung phone using the My Files manager is that the encrypted files can still be copied, transferred, cut, renamed, deleted.
in my Samsung a8 not showing lock option, then how I protect my files
make sure to select the files first in My Files app, otherwise you can’t find the LOCK option. If still no luck, you can download and use a third party file manager app, check out this guide to lock files on Android phone using ES explorer. If you like to password protect all media files, such as photos and videos in Gallery app, you can also use an app locker to lock the Gallery app on the phone. see this tutorial to lock apps on Samsung phone.