Android lacks a native file manager to organize and find things like saved screenshots, PDF documents, videos, and what not quickly and easily. As a result, there are hundreds, if not thousands, of third-party file manager (also called file explorer) apps for Android on the Google Play store to choose from. If you are the type of person that wants to organize and find stuff on your smartphone or tablet like you do on your laptop or desktop, you’ve likely installed one or two of these over the years.

You’ll be happy to know that Android 6.0 Marshmallow now includes a secret native file manager. Why do we say secret? Google hasn’t touted the feature at all and it’s not switched on by default. To top it off, it’s a little bit hidden away in the Android settings.

How to find and turn on the file manager in Android Marshmallow

Go to the Settings app, scroll down to the Device section and tap on Storage and USB. The next screen details your device’s Internal storage, scroll to the bottom and tap Explore. You’ll now see a screen with all the files and folders on your device.

How to use Android Marshmallows built-in file manager

Although the file manager in Android 6.0 Marshmallow is not a standalone app, you’ll still be able to perform most of the actions you’d expect from a file manager app.

Tap a folder to view the contents, tap a file you open it or press and hold a file/folder icon to launch familiar options like Delete, Copy, Cut, and Share. You can also bulk select files and folders, share them to an app or Dropbox and Google Drive, or search for a specific file.

In addition to the basic search function, you can also view files and folders in a grid or list, including sorting files and folders by name, modified date, and size to make it easier to find specific items.

To view files and folders in a grid, tap Options (three dots in the top right corner) and switch between List and Grid. The grid view will show larger icons and file previews, making it easy to spot just what you need.

To change the sort order of files and folders, tap the View button (three horizontal lines in the toolbar) and sort by items by name, size, or date.

As mentioned, this is not a standalone file manager app for Android and, as a result, you cannot add it to your Home screen. Instead, to access the file manager you’ll have to come back to Settings every time.

Image credit: C_osett via Flickr