Why did a .nomedia file get added to my device? Showing 0 Image, Audio or Video Files?

Question

I woke up today and my Gallery was showing 0 Image, Video or Audio files. After seeing this thread Images have disappeared from gallery, but still in "My Files" (Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge, 5.0.2) , I plugged in my device to a laptop and deleted a .nomedia file in the root folder of my device. I deleted this file, which fixed the issue and the device rescanned everything automatically and showed all of my files.



My question is why did this file get added to my device? And if I had been unable to access a laptop how do I delete a .nomedia file from within android?


— patrickzdb | Sources

Answer

I think the file got created by some app on your device.



You can delete the file by using any file explorer. In the My Files app on Samsung devices you first need to go to its settings, and enable 'Show Hidden Files'. Then the file is visible and you can delete it.


— Thomas Vos | Sources

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