Google Files app gets 4-digit PIN encrypted 'Safe Folder' to safeguard data

The company said that the 'Safe Folder' feature will start rolling out in beta for Files by Google, and will gradually expand over the following weeks

Google Files app gets a ‘Safe Folder’ to help you keep personal content safe. It is a 4-digit PIN encrypted folder to safeguard important documents, images, videos and audio files from being opened or accessed by others.

Google said that the folder is securely locked as soon as you switch away from the Files app, so none of its contents can be accessed when the app is in the background.

"As a security assurance, it will ask for your PIN again on re-entry. Even people that don't share devices can benefit from keeping the most important files safe," the company said in a statement on Tuesday.

Google launched the Files app in 2017 to help people who live in countries such as India, Nigeria and Brazil and often run out of space on a daily basis.

The app is now being used by over 150 million people globally each month.

Since launch, the app has deleted over 1 trillion files of digital clutter, which would take over 30,000 years "if you were to manually remove a duplicate, old meme or junk file every second".

It has helped save over 400 petabytes of space on people's phones - around 1,400 years of nonstop HD video recording.

The Files app has freed about 12GB of space every second, equivalent to 5,000 photos per second.

The company said that the 'Safe Folder' feature will start rolling out in beta for Files by Google now and will gradually expand over the following weeks.