Why Can't I See My Pictures in My Gallery, What to Do?

Part 1. Why Android Gallery Not Showing Pictures?

If your Android gallery doesn't show pictures, there might be a number of underlying reasons. Amongst them, below are the top two reasons that can be held responsible for this issue to arise.

The images are saved as .nomedia file

In the Android operating system, a .nomedia file is typically a blank file within a folder with an extension named as “.nomedia.” When the media scanner identifies a .nomedia file, it will not scan that file or folder so the pictures within that folder are not shone in the gallery of the smartphone.

Hence, what users can do is place the images into a folder to tell the media scanner that those images within this folder must not be shown in gallery of the phone. On the other hand, if some of the images cannot be seen in the gallery app, you must ensure that if they are placed with the Nomedia folder and hence the media scanner does not scan the images.

The caches cause the issue

Whenever you download or click images on your smartphone, a certain amount of cache memory is created. The memory that is created at that time is very small. But eventually, if not taken care, it might accumulate and grow in size. These accumulated memory turns out to be a huge cache trash eventually, thereby consuming a huge amount of your phone memory.

In addition to this, the caches also lead to some problems such as the one we are discussing about. Hence, cache can be a reason as to why you are complaining images not showing in gallery Android.

Part 2. What to Do If Android Gallery Doesn't Show Pictures?

Now that you are aware of the reasons as to why downloaded pictures not showing in gallery, below are some solutions that might help you solve this issue.

Method 1. Check if the Album is Hidden

If some of your photos or the albums are hidden, then it is obvious that you might face this issue. All you need to do is follow the below steps to unhide the album.

• On your phone, go to the Gallery app.
• Click on the More options or the three vertical dots.
• Click Hide or unhide albums.

• Next, turn on the toggle for Show hidden albums to make them appear.

  

Method 2. Turn on Show Hidden System Files

You can also try unhiding some of the files that can contain the images you are looking for. Follow the below steps to know as to why downloaded images don't appear in gallery.

• On your phone, go to your file manager.
• Click on the More options or the three vertical dots.

• Go to Settings >> turn on the toggle for Show hidden files.

  

Method 3. Turn off Image Grouping

The gallery app has a feature that can group similar images. Hence, this might be the reason for pictures on SD card not showing in gallery. This feature groups similar images and chances are high that the image that you are looking for might get lost in the group. All you can do is turn off the image grouping feature. This can be done by clicking the grouping icon next to search to disable grouping.

Method 4. Check Downloads Folder for Downloading Pictures

This is one of the common reasons why you cannot see the images in the album. When you download some images from different apps, they do not appear in the gallery app. They get downloaded in the Downloads folders. This folder is not seen in the Gallery app. The folder can be seen in the Gallery >> Albums >> Downloads.

Method 5. Clear the Caches Files of Gallery

Follow the below steps to clear cache.

• Go to Settings >> Application Management >> Gallery.

• Tap on Clear cache and Clear data to remove the useless data from your device.

  

Method 6. Rename the Nomedia Folder

Follow below steps to rename the Nomedia folder.

• Go to your File Manager and find out the location of the images you want to be shown.

• Go to the folder and rename or remove the ".nomedia" file to make them visible.

  

Bonus Tip: How to Recover Disappeared Photos on Android Phone?

If you think that you have lost your images forever and that is the reason for them to not be shown in the gallery, you will need Tenorshare UltData for Android. This tool recovers not only images but almost any type of data. Follow the below steps to know how to use it.

• Install the tool on your PC and connect your phone to the PC.

  

• Allow USB debugging by following the instruction given below in the image.

  

• Begin scanning your phone by clicking Start.

  

• Preview the photos that you need to restore on the next screen.

  

• Lastly, the photos will be restored successfully on your PC.

  

Conclusions

In short, you just had a look at as to why images not showing in gallery Android. We saw at the possible reasons and the solutions, as well. We also saw that Tenorshare UltData for Android is the best choice to recover deleted photos Android internal storage.