THE LOCK SCREEN on your smartphone is an essential barrier for anyone looking to gain access to the device by Create a Secure Folder : it prevents people from accessing your data, your social media accounts, your banking apps, and everything else.

However, you may want to add a second barrier to entry for anyone who gets past your lock screen, whether it’s friends or family who have borrowed your phone, or someone more sinister who has managed to figure out how to bypass your lock screen. blocking.

In those situations, a Secure Folder can protect your most important files, such as photos or documents, from prying eyes, which requires another method of authentication, such as a PIN code or a recognized fingerprint before it can be opened.

There are options built into Android and iOS, as well as third-party apps you can turn to if you want to set up a secure folder of some kind on your smartphone.

If you are using an Android phone
The good news if you’re using a mid-range or premium Samsung Galaxy phone is that there’s a built-in Secure Folder feature. To enable it, go to Settings and choose Biometrics & Security, then Secure Folder: You’ll be prompted to create a Samsung account or sign in to an existing one, and then you can choose your lock method. You can protect the folder with a pattern, PIN, password, or fingerprint scan.

Secure Folder appears on the home screen by default, though you can Create a Secure Folder and hide it via the same Secure Folder menu in Settings; no one else will be able to access that folder without the login method you specified. When you are in Secure Folder, you can add files by tapping the + (plus) button.