 <p>This process is handled by the Android <code>MediaScanner</code>. This is what scans the phone for new media and stores it in the Android media database. I believe the time frame which it runs is device specific. However, you can call it manually:</p> <pre><code> Uri uri = Uri.fromFile(destFileOrFolder); Intent scanFileIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_MEDIA_SCANNER_SCAN_FILE, uri); sendBroadcast(scanFileIntent); </code></pre>