diff --git a/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/activities/MainActivity.kt b/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/activities/MainActivity.kt
index 412d5f768..1a29c1a59 100644
--- a/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/activities/MainActivity.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/activities/MainActivity.kt
@@ -48,6 +48,8 @@ class MainActivity : SimpleActivity(), DirectoryAdapter.DirOperationsListener {
     private var mIsThirdPartyIntent = false
     private var mIsGettingDirs = false
 
+    private var mCurrAsyncTask: GetDirectoriesAsynctask? = null
+
     override fun onCreate(savedInstanceState: Bundle?) {
         super.onCreate(savedInstanceState)
         setContentView(R.layout.activity_main)
@@ -98,6 +100,7 @@ class MainActivity : SimpleActivity(), DirectoryAdapter.DirOperationsListener {
 
     override fun onPause() {
         super.onPause()
+        mCurrAsyncTask?.shouldStop = true
         storeDirectories()
     }
 
@@ -146,9 +149,10 @@ class MainActivity : SimpleActivity(), DirectoryAdapter.DirOperationsListener {
             gotDirectories(dirs)
         }
 
-        GetDirectoriesAsynctask(applicationContext, mIsPickVideoIntent || mIsGetVideoContentIntent, mIsPickImageIntent || mIsGetImageContentIntent) {
+        mCurrAsyncTask = GetDirectoriesAsynctask(applicationContext, mIsPickVideoIntent || mIsGetVideoContentIntent, mIsPickImageIntent || mIsGetImageContentIntent) {
             gotDirectories(it)
-        }.execute()
+        }
+        mCurrAsyncTask!!.execute()
     }
 
     private fun showSortingDialog() {
diff --git a/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/activities/MediaActivity.kt b/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/activities/MediaActivity.kt
index 2dcf02033..bb5174ba1 100644
--- a/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/activities/MediaActivity.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/activities/MediaActivity.kt
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ class MediaActivity : SimpleActivity(), MediaAdapter.MediaOperationsListener {
     private val SAVE_MEDIA_CNT = 40
 
     private var mMedia = ArrayList<Medium>()
+    private var mCurrAsyncTask: GetMediaAsynctask? = null
 
     private var mPath = ""
     private var mIsGetImageIntent = false
@@ -65,6 +66,11 @@ class MediaActivity : SimpleActivity(), MediaAdapter.MediaOperationsListener {
         tryloadGallery()
     }
 
+    override fun onPause() {
+        super.onPause()
+        mCurrAsyncTask?.shouldStop = true
+    }
+
     private fun tryloadGallery() {
         if (hasWriteStoragePermission()) {
             val dirName = getHumanizedFilename(mPath)
@@ -204,9 +210,10 @@ class MediaActivity : SimpleActivity(), MediaAdapter.MediaOperationsListener {
         }
         mLoadedInitialPhotos = true
 
-        GetMediaAsynctask(applicationContext, mPath, mIsGetVideoIntent, mIsGetImageIntent, mShowAll) {
+        mCurrAsyncTask = GetMediaAsynctask(applicationContext, mPath, mIsGetVideoIntent, mIsGetImageIntent, mShowAll) {
             gotMedia(it)
-        }.execute()
+        }
+        mCurrAsyncTask!!.execute()
     }
 
     private fun isDirEmpty(): Boolean {
diff --git a/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/activities/ViewPagerActivity.kt b/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/activities/ViewPagerActivity.kt
index a4b7c910e..e65ee5bec 100644
--- a/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/activities/ViewPagerActivity.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/activities/ViewPagerActivity.kt
@@ -38,11 +38,11 @@ import java.io.FileOutputStream
 import java.io.OutputStream
 import java.util.*
 
-
 class ViewPagerActivity : SimpleActivity(), ViewPager.OnPageChangeListener, ViewPagerFragment.FragmentListener {
     private var mMedia = ArrayList<Medium>()
     private var mPath = ""
     private var mDirectory = ""
+    private var mCurrAsyncTask: GetMediaAsynctask? = null
 
     private var mIsFullScreen = false
     private var mPos = -1
@@ -100,6 +100,11 @@ class ViewPagerActivity : SimpleActivity(), ViewPager.OnPageChangeListener, View
         supportActionBar?.setBackgroundDrawable(resources.getDrawable(R.drawable.actionbar_gradient_background))
     }
 
+    override fun onPause() {
+        super.onPause()
+        mCurrAsyncTask?.shouldStop = true
+    }
+
     override fun onCreateOptionsMenu(menu: Menu): Boolean {
         menuInflater.inflate(R.menu.menu_viewpager, menu)
         if (getCurrentMedium() == null)
@@ -357,7 +362,7 @@ class ViewPagerActivity : SimpleActivity(), ViewPager.OnPageChangeListener, View
     }
 
     private fun reloadViewPager() {
-        GetMediaAsynctask(applicationContext, mDirectory, false, false, mShowAll) {
+        mCurrAsyncTask = GetMediaAsynctask(applicationContext, mDirectory, false, false, mShowAll) {
             mMedia = it
             if (isDirEmpty())
                 return@GetMediaAsynctask
@@ -371,7 +376,8 @@ class ViewPagerActivity : SimpleActivity(), ViewPager.OnPageChangeListener, View
             updateActionbarTitle()
             updatePagerItems()
             invalidateOptionsMenu()
-        }.execute()
+        }
+        mCurrAsyncTask!!.execute()
     }
 
     private fun getProperPosition(): Int {
diff --git a/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/asynctasks/GetDirectoriesAsynctask.kt b/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/asynctasks/GetDirectoriesAsynctask.kt
index 49229ce96..04188f1fe 100644
--- a/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/asynctasks/GetDirectoriesAsynctask.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/asynctasks/GetDirectoriesAsynctask.kt
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ import java.util.*
 class GetDirectoriesAsynctask(val context: Context, val isPickVideo: Boolean, val isPickImage: Boolean,
                               val callback: (dirs: ArrayList<Directory>) -> Unit) : AsyncTask<Void, Void, ArrayList<Directory>>() {
     var config = context.config
+    var shouldStop = false
 
     override fun doInBackground(vararg params: Void): ArrayList<Directory> {
         val media = ArrayList<Medium>()
@@ -29,6 +30,9 @@ class GetDirectoriesAsynctask(val context: Context, val isPickVideo: Boolean, va
             val filenames = File(it).list()
             if (filenames?.size ?: 0 > 0) {
                 for (filename in filenames) {
+                    if (shouldStop)
+                        cancel(true)
+
                     val isImage = filename.isImageFast() || filename.isGif()
                     val isVideo = if (isImage) false else filename.isVideoFast()
 
@@ -68,6 +72,9 @@ class GetDirectoriesAsynctask(val context: Context, val isPickVideo: Boolean, va
         val hidden = context.resources.getString(R.string.hidden)
         val directories = LinkedHashMap<String, Directory>()
         for ((name, path, isVideo, dateModified, dateTaken, size) in media) {
+            if (shouldStop)
+                cancel(true)
+
             val parentDir = File(path).parent ?: continue
             if (directories.containsKey(parentDir)) {
                 val directory = directories[parentDir]!!
diff --git a/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/asynctasks/GetMediaAsynctask.kt b/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/asynctasks/GetMediaAsynctask.kt
index c6483cce1..50d8c8020 100644
--- a/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/asynctasks/GetMediaAsynctask.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/kotlin/com/simplemobiletools/gallery/asynctasks/GetMediaAsynctask.kt
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ class GetMediaAsynctask(val context: Context, val mPath: String, val isPickVideo
     var config = context.config
     var showMedia = IMAGES_AND_VIDEOS
     var fileSorting = 0
+    var shouldStop = false
 
     override fun onPreExecute() {
         super.onPreExecute()
@@ -49,6 +50,9 @@ class GetMediaAsynctask(val context: Context, val mPath: String, val isPickVideo
         val dir = File(path)
         val filenames = dir.list() ?: return media
         for (filename in filenames) {
+            if (shouldStop)
+                cancel(true)
+
             val isImage = filename.isImageFast() || filename.isGif()
             val isVideo = if (isImage) false else filename.isVideoFast()