Google's 'Safe Folder' lets users set a PIN code to keep files away from prying eyes

If you’ve been sharing your smartphone with your kids so they can keep busy during the pandemic, this new feature from Google couldn’t have come soon enough.

Google is rolling out “Safe Folder” for its Files by Google app starting today. The app helps users manage all the files on their Android device. The new feature will allow users to store files in a PIN-protected folder for safe keeping.

The new Safe Folder feature lives in the Collections section of the Files by Google app. Users can tap on this folder, set up a four-digit PIN code, and then start dragging files they want to secure into the Safe Folder. To a view a file in the Safe Folder, users must tap the folder and input the PIN code for each securely stored file that they’d like to view.

As AndroidPolice points out, there’s one issue with the feature that will require users to be very careful. Once a file is dropped into the Safe Folder, it is removed from other apps. Clearing Files by Google data or deleting the app will result in the deletion of your Safe Folder files as well.

According to Google, more than 150 million people use the Files by Google app in order to manage their documents and media files and help free up space on their devices.

In its Safe Folder announcement, Google pointed out how some people might use the feature. For example, women in certain parts of the world are expected to share their devices with children or other family members. The feature makes sure they can keep at least some files private.

The Safe Folder feature is currently rolling out to Android users who have installed the Files 1.0.323 beta, available now in the Google Play Store.