How to Restore Your Original File
After Hiding Data
Hiding files inside another file does not lock the cover away. The photo still opens. The video still plays. And when you need what is inside, you take it out on any device, through any browser, with nothing uploaded anywhere.
What happens to the cover file
When you hide files inside a cover file using FileVeil, the cover file keeps working exactly as it did before. A photo still opens as a photo. A video still plays. A PDF still reads. There is no visible sign that anything is different.
The hidden files sit inside quietly. Anyone who opens the cover file without FileVeil sees nothing unusual, just the same photo, video, or document they would expect.
When you extract the hidden files, the same thing holds. The cover file stays as it is. Extracting does not remove the hidden files from inside, it produces copies of them on your device. The cover file is unchanged, and the hidden files remain inside it. You can still carry it, share it, or send it, what is inside stays encrypted and invisible to anyone without FileVeil and the correct key.
The cover file works normally before hiding, during, and after extraction. It is the same file throughout, the hidden content is invisible inside it until you choose to take it out.
How to extract your hidden files
Extracting is the reverse of hiding. You open FileVeil, load the cover file, enter the key you used when hiding, and your files come out. Same name, same format, same content, exactly as they went in.
Open FileVeil in your browser
Go to fileveil.com on any device. No installation needed. The same tool you used to hide the files is the same tool you use to get them back.
Switch to Extract mode
FileVeil has two modes, Hide and Extract. Switch to Extract. This tells FileVeil you want to look inside a file, not add to one.
Load the cover file
Select the file that contains your hidden content, the photo, video, PDF, or whatever you used as the cover. This is the file you kept or sent.
Enter your key (Pro & Pro+)
If your hidden files were encrypted with a key, enter it here. This step requires Pro or Pro+. Free users can extract hidden files that were stored without a key, but cannot unlock encrypted content. To extract files that were hidden with a key, you need a Pro or Pro+ plan and the correct key.
Download your files
Your hidden files appear in the Extracted Files section, each one with its original name and format, exactly as they went in. Download them one by one, or use Save all as ZIP to get everything in one download. The cover file is unchanged throughout.
The original file name, format, and content are all preserved. A PDF comes out as a PDF. A photo comes out as that same photo. A spreadsheet opens in your spreadsheet app. Nothing is converted or renamed.
You do not need to extract on the same device you used to hide. FileVeil works in any browser, phone, tablet, computer. The cover file travels with you, and the contents come out wherever you need them.
Remove hidden data without extracting
Sometimes you want to clean a cover file, strip out everything hidden inside it and return it to its original state, without downloading the hidden files at all. Maybe you sent a file and want to make sure the version you keep is clean. Maybe you used a photo as a cover and now want that photo back with nothing inside.
FileVeil Pro+ has a feature called Remove Hidden Data. It strips everything hidden from inside the cover file and gives you back a clean version, just the original cover, nothing else. The cover file still opens normally.
Remove Hidden Data is a FileVeil Pro+ feature. It is the only way to produce a clean copy of the cover file without the hidden content inside.
What if you lost the key
This is the one situation where there is no workaround, and it is worth being direct about it.
If you set a key when hiding files and then lose that key, the hidden files cannot be recovered. Not by you, and not by FileVeil. The encryption is what makes the files private, and it works the same way regardless of who is asking. There is no master key, no support ticket, no way in.
The cover file still opens normally. The hidden files are still inside it. But what is inside stays locked.
Write it down. Store it in a password manager. Keep it somewhere separate from the cover file itself. The key is the only way in, losing it means losing access to what is inside, permanently.
This is not a flaw. It is the same reason the privacy works in the first place. A system that can be unlocked by someone other than you is a system that does not fully belong to you.
Extracting on a different device
The cover file is just a file. It goes wherever files go. You can carry it on a USB drive, send it through any messaging app as a document, email it to yourself, or move it to a new phone.
Wherever it lands, FileVeil can open it. Open a browser, go to fileveil.com, load the file, enter the key, and the hidden files come out. No account needed. No sync required. No cloud involved at any point.
The person receiving it does not need to have been involved in creating it. They just need FileVeil and the key. That is the whole handshake.
Everything stays on your device at every step. The cover file is the only thing that moves, and it moves like any other file, through any channel, to any device.
Frequently asked questions
Hide any file inside another file
Everything stays on your device. No uploads, no cloud.
Upgrade to Pro+ to remove hidden data and restore the original file.