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My boyfriend was kidding with me, setting my private photo as wallpaper.

I deleted the photo but the wallpaper still remains there...

After browsing through some information on the net, I found out that the wallpaper is saved to a folder which only can be accessed after rooting.

If I change the wallpaper, will the previous wallpaper automatically be deleted?

If not, since it is saving in a folder which only can be accessed after rooting, is it safe? Or does it still have a possibility of being hacked by others?

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  • Deleting the photo doesn't remove the wallpaper, that's correct. If you change it, the cache gets overwritten and the cached file will be deleted. Also, I don't think this is even worth such a complex question ;)
    – GiantTree
    Commented Jan 27, 2015 at 14:55

4 Answers 4

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As New-To-IT said, if you want to be 100% sure all traces of the photo are removed, you should wipe the cache.

However, to answer your first question, whether changing the wallpaper automatically deletes the previous wallpaper from the location where the system stores the current wallpaper:

Yes. Or, more accurately, the previous wallpaper is overwritten with the new one, because the same filename is always used. The current wallpaper is stored in an image file that's actually named "wallpaper". When you select a new wallpaper, the image file you select is copied to the standard location (either /data/system/users/<userid> or /data/data/com.android.settings/files, depending on which version) and given the same filename, so the previous "wallpaper" file is overwritten. (Of course, that doesn't delete the image from the original location, but you've already deleted it from there.)

Regarding your second question, it's not entirely clear what you mean by "possibility of being hacked". If you want to know whether anyone else who has physical access to the phone can access the file, the answer is that as long as the phone is not rooted, there's no way to browse to the current wallpaper file. But yes, there is a possibility of accessing the file by hacking, of course: it's possible to root the phone and then access the file. But the answer to the first question makes this question moot, because as long as the image is present in that system location, anyone who has the phone can plainly see it as the home screen background, and if you change the wallpaper then the image is no longer stored there.

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If you'd like to be safe, you could always wipe the cache of the phone:

1. Turn off your Galaxy S3.
2. Hold down the Home and Volume Up keys.
3. Press and hold the Power button while still holding the other keys
4. As soon as you see the Samsung logo, release all keys/buttons.
5. Press on the Volume Down key to tab down to “wipe cache partition”
6. Once it is highlighted, press the Power button to select it.
7. On the next page, Press the Volume down button to highlight "yes" and press the
   Power button to select it.
8. Wait for a few seconds for the phone to clear the data.
9. Press the Power button on the next page to select “reboot system now.”
10.Wait for your phone to reboot.

*This will not wipe any of your information stored on phone, pictures, video's, apps, contacts, etc. will all be safe

Source

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Settings-> Advanced-> Storage-> Cached-data-> "Clear cached data?" Click OK

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Just navigate to below app in settings menu and click clear data button...viola it works....

Settings → Apps → All → search com.android.wallpapercropper

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