While the most accessible place to find downloaded files on your Samsung Galaxy phone is in the Downloads folder of your phone, this isn’t always the case. Depending on how you download files, they may be in different places.

We’ll help you locate downloads on any Samsung Galaxy device, including tablets and the top Samsung phones. Once you’ve found the file you’re looking for, we recommend exploring the best file manager apps on Android to keep your files organized.

Where Samsung Galaxy phones and tablets store downloads by default

The download location for files from a browser like Google Chrome or the Google app is set to the Downloads folder in your internal storage by default. However, depending on how you download files and your Samsung device’s settings, your files may end up in another storage location.

Files downloaded within apps are stored inside a sub-folder they create in the Android folder. This directory is not user-accessible, and you must grant the file manager special permission to access and modify the files and folders inside it. Similarly, movies and TV shows downloaded from Netflix or Prime Video for offline viewing are not accessible outside those apps.

In some instances, apps can create a folder in the root directory of the phone’s internal storage to store downloaded data. Apps like WhatsApp can automatically download files to your phone. Check your WhatsApp settings to find out where.

If you use an SD card, you can prioritize that for downloads instead of your phone’s internal storage. However, this isn’t activated by default. So, if you’ve recently added an SD card to your mobile phone or tablet, your downloads probably aren’t there.

APKs eventually end up on your homescreen, but only after you’ve run the installation process.

In most cases, you can access downloaded files on your Samsung Galaxy smartphone phone using a file manager, either the built-in app or a third-party one. Most file manager apps offer a search bar, so you won’t waste time.

How to access your downloaded files

Samsung’s My Files app is preinstalled on all Galaxy phones and tablets, so using that is the most straightforward approach. The file manager categorizes files based on type, making them quicker to access.

1. Open the My Files app.
2. If you’re looking for a recently downloaded file, you’ll see it in the Recent files section at the top of the screen.

3. Select the category for the downloaded file that you are looking for. For example, tap Images if you’re looking for a photo. The images stored here are from different apps, including photos taken using the camera and screenshots.
4. Sort the results based on Name, Date, Type, or Size.
5. Go to the Downloads category to find downloads from Chrome, including pages for offline viewing.
6. APKs downloaded from third-party sources can be found in the Installation files category. Tap an APK file from here to start the installation process.
7. If you know the file name, tap the Search icon in the upper-right corner of the My Files app.
8. Enter the file name. You can also file the results based on the time and file type.

You can manually review the files stored on your Galaxy phone’s internal storage by tapping Internal storage under the Storage section. If your phone supports external storage, it shows up there. Tap its name to access the files stored on it.

When accessing your phone’s internal storage, your My Files app only shows the Essentials folders. These folders include the Download, Music, Pictures, and DCIM (where the camera shots are saved) categories. To view all folders on your phone’s internal storage, tap the drop-down menu below Internal storage and select the All option.

How to find your cloud-based files in Google Drive or OneDrive

You can use Samsung’s My Files app to access files uploaded on Google Drive or OneDrive.

1. Open the My Files app.
2. Scroll down and select Google Drive or OneDrive, depending on your cloud storage solution.
3. Log in to your Google or Microsoft account. For Google Drive, My Files shows the Google accounts via which you have already logged in to your account.

4. After a few seconds, the list of files and folders synced to Google Drive or OneDrive appears.
5. You can access the files and then delete, copy, or move them. You can also copy content from your phone’s internal storage to Google Drive or OneDrive using the My Files app.

Try out other file manager apps

If you’re struggling to find files on other Android phones, we have a universal guide for locating files on Android devices.