When you lend your mobile to a loved one or to a colleague, even a trusted one, you potentially give access to your sensitive files. The solution is to keep confidential data in a secure file.
By default, Android does not offer a tool that allows you to lock access to certain folders on the phone. Your salvation therefore goes through a dedicated app (there are a multitude of them on the Play Store) or the solution developed by the manufacturer of your device. Thus, certain models, in particular those of Samsung, integrate a digital safe whose contents are visible only to you.
If you have a Samsung smartphone
Once the Samsung Cloud account has been created (Settings, Cloud and accounts), go to the Lock screen / Security section, Secure settings folder. Activate the Secure folder view option and define a locking mode (PIN code, fingerprints, etc.). Place your sensitive files in this encrypted and locked folder.
Install the ES File Explorer app
If you have another smartphone, you can protect your data using the ES File Explorer file manager, available on the Play Store. In addition to document management (copy, delete, move, access to an external storage medium or to a network location from the mobile), this tool gives the possibility of protecting a folder using a password.
Open the app and tap the Local label in the navigation pane on the left of the screen. Press on Peripheral to review the folders saved on the device. Make a long press on the location which contains the data to be protected. A toolbar appears at the bottom of the screen. Touch the icon More symbolized by three superimposed squares and activate the command Encrypt.
You must now define and confirm the password that will be used to unlock the folder. As a precaution, check the box Email me password. Then validate by OK. A padlock icon makes it easy to locate protected folders and files. To access protected content, you will now have to enter the password.
