Question Samsung Photo Folders - Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

Hello,
Recently upgraded to S22 Ultra from S22 and have nothing but issues.
Discovered that there were multiple "camera roll" "screenshoot" "dcim" etc.. folders at first I thought it was just folders from older phones but it wasn't. There were photos from 1 day spread throughout all the "camera roll" folders so I combined them. That somehow filled up my storage and has caused duplicates and caused issues with the apps that create their own folders.
So I can undo what I've done and hopefully fix the problem now and for future upgrades, could you please tell me where all the various photo folders should be saved? When I combined the duplicate folders I then moved them all under Samsung Gallery.
Hope that makes sense.

Most items are natively stored in the 'DCIM' folder (e.g., screenshots, or pictures/videos that you took ON the device).
However different applications often use their own folders in which to store media. Some 'may' provide you the option to remap the path to a folder of your choice.
However, if you want to see where a picture is stored by folder name, open 'Gallery' and go to 'Albums'.

AHE_XDA said:
Most items are natively stored in the 'DCIM' folder (e.g., screenshots, or pictures/videos that you took ON the device).
However different applications often use their own folders in which to store media. Some 'may' provide you the option to remap the path to a folder of your choice.
However, if you want to see where a picture is stored by folder name, open 'Gallery' and go to 'Albums'.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, the folders with similar names have been created by the device I'm not referring to any albums within Samsung Gallery I've created. The issue is with what this device is doing, I first located them in Samsung Files on the device and also in OneDrive via the website not the OneDrive app.
There are multiple dcim folders, multiple folders labelled camera, camera roll etc.. at first I thought they were folders from previous devices, but when you take say 20 photos in a day they are spread throughout these various camera roll folders not just in one.

Hi, I only see one DCIM folder in my S22 Ultra. Are you saying that you have multiple folders with the same name? How many of them? Are you using multiple photo applications, like the GCam ported application and the stock one, and others? Are you in stock android? Rooted?

kkvvdd said:
Hi, the folders with similar names have been created by the device I'm not referring to any albums within Samsung Gallery I've created. The issue is with what this device is doing, I first located them in Samsung Files on the device and also in OneDrive via the website not the OneDrive app.
There are multiple dcim folders, multiple folders labelled camera, camera roll etc.. at first I thought they were folders from previous devices, but when you take say 20 photos in a day they are spread throughout these various camera roll folders not just in one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is not normal behavior. The way the S22 Ultra handles images taken by both the default Camera and Expert RAW apps is the same as the S22+ and S22. It creates only one DCIM folder with Camera, Expert RAW, and Screenshot subfolders. Apps like Facebook, Video Editor, AR Emoji camera will also build their own subfolders within DCIM. Google Messages, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, Office Lense, put their respective folders in the Pictures folder which is at the same level as DCIM.
Try resetting the camera app settings.
Camera - > Settings->Reset settings (3rd from the bottom).
If that doesn't work backup all of your important files (documents, photos, videos, etc.) to your computer and factory reset it. Don't restore from a backup. Once you have confirmed that it is working properly, you copy your files back. When reinstalling apps pay attention to the behavior after each installation. There is still the possibility of a third party app may be the cause.
Yes, I know that it's tedious, but it will either fix it, or help you identify what is causing the problem.

Marcelocohenarg said:
Hi, I only see one DCIM folder in my S22 Ultra. Are you saying that you have multiple folders with the same name? How many of them? Are you using multiple photo applications, like the GCam ported application and the stock one, and others? Are you in stock android? Rooted?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, yes so more than one Dcim, more than one camera roll etc.. at first I thought they were from my previous devices but when I take photos, one days worth of photos is spread across the say camera roll folders which just makes it more confusing to workout how to fix.
Nothing out of the ordinary, everything's stock standard that automatically is on the device. I've had nothing but trouble since upgrading so many other issues but would like to sort this one if I can.

gernerttl said:
That is not normal behavior. The way the S22 Ultra handles images taken by both the default Camera and Expert RAW apps is the same as the S22+ and S22. It creates only one DCIM folder with Camera, Expert RAW, and Screenshot subfolders. Apps like Facebook, Video Editor, AR Emoji camera will also build their own subfolders within DCIM. Google Messages, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, Office Lense, put their respective folders in the Pictures folder which is at the same level as DCIM.
Try resetting the camera app settings.
Camera - > Settings->Reset settings (3rd from the bottom).
If that doesn't work backup all of your important files (documents, photos, videos, etc.) to your computer and factory reset it. Don't restore from a backup. Once you have confirmed that it is working properly, you copy your files back. When reinstalling apps pay attention to the behavior after each installation. There is still the possibility of a third party app may be the cause.
Yes, I know that it's tedious, but it will either fix it, or help you identify what is causing the problem.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi, I've had to factory reset over 30 times as I have so many issues, not just this photo folder issue. When I first got the device and setting it up as per usual encountered errors.
Did a factory reset via the settings and when the phone was turned back on it wasn't completely reset, tried again and a few more things were reset but again not all.
Had to do a black screen reset (sorry dont know what thats called) and that helped a lot more but it was still not a completly reset device.
I've tried not signing into anything and setting up as a new user, didn't solve anything, I've signed in as you go and that hasn't worked either. I've installed all apps manually, not from backup, and still have issues (I only have like 20 apps most are just standard or the bank). I've had an authorised technician remove and reinstall the software, and that didn't solve anything. They were stumped as they can replicate all of my issues but weren't able to fix them.
I've been battling with this since I got it and have had to make do but it's basically an expensive piece of plastic/glass at this point.
I haven't tried specifically what you've suggested about the camera, so I will give that a go.

kkvvdd said:
Hi, I've had to factory reset over 30 times as I have so many issues, not just this photo folder issue. When I first got the device and setting it up as per usual encountered errors.
Did a factory reset via the settings and when the phone was turned back on it wasn't completely reset, tried again and a few more things were reset but again not all.
Had to do a black screen reset (sorry dont know what thats called) and that helped a lot more but it was still not a completly reset device.
I've tried not signing into anything and setting up as a new user, didn't solve anything, I've signed in as you go and that hasn't worked either. I've installed all apps manually, not from backup, and still have issues (I only have like 20 apps most are just standard or the bank). I've had an authorised technician remove and reinstall the software, and that didn't solve anything. They were stumped as they can replicate all of my issues but weren't able to fix them.
I've been battling with this since I got it and have had to make do but it's basically an expensive piece of plastic/glass at this point.
I haven't tried specifically what you've suggested about the camera, so I will give that a go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If a factory reset is not working, it sounds like the recovery partition is corrupted. Have you attempted a factory reset using the power on, volume up method?
1. Completely power the phone off.
2. Simultaneously press and hold the power and volume up buttons until you see the Samsung logo. This will put you into Recovery mode.
3. Using the volume down button, scroll down to select Wipe data/factory reset and press the power button.
4. Select yes to confirm your choice.
It will may ask you for your Google account password. If it does, enter it. It should then run you through the reset process. The difference with using this method instead of doing from settings, is that it should download a fresh image.

Hi,
Apologies for the delay. I did a hard reset last night and still had so much trouble, there is definitely something off with this phone.
However it didn't reset the photo folders.
It currently looks like this Onedrive: Files: Pictures: Samsung Gallery: all folders created by the device, by apps, by me.
I had moved all folders into Samsung Gallery as I didn't understand why some folders where in "Pictures" and some were in "Samsung Gallery" as that's were the duplicate DCIM, Camera roll etc.. were.
Do you happen to know the correct file path for:
- folders created by the device
- folders created by apps that use Photos
- folders created by me
Then I will manually go into OneDrive on my Laptop and move them around, hopefully that will solve the problem.
Thank you,

kkvvdd said:
Hi,
Apologies for the delay. I did a hard reset last night and still had so much trouble, there is definitely something off with this phone.
However it didn't reset the photo folders.
It currently looks like this Onedrive: Files: Pictures: Samsung Gallery: all folders created by the device, by apps, by me.
I had moved all folders into Samsung Gallery as I didn't understand why some folders where in "Pictures" and some were in "Samsung Gallery" as that's were the duplicate DCIM, Camera roll etc.. were.
Do you happen to know the correct file path for:
- folders created by the device
- folders created by apps that use Photos
- folders created by me
Then I will manually go into OneDrive on my Laptop and move them around, hopefully that will solve the problem.
Thank you,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There is absolutely nothing wrong with your phone.
Have you enabled Sync between OneDrive and Samsung Gallery?
If so, turn it OFF.
There is only one DCIM folder in a phone, and the Camera folder is inside of it. On Samsung phones, even the Screenshot folder is inside DCIM by default, but you have the choice of changing its location.

Hi, there is actually a lot wrong with the phone not just this. Which has all been proven by an authorised Samsung technician who has been able to replicate bit not fix any of the issues, unfortunately it's been like this since day one and I'm not getting very far with Samsung so I am trying to fix what I can so it's more usable than an expensive piece of plastic/glass.
But thank you for being so polite and helpful, it makes joining a forum and asking for help so much less daunting.

gernerttl said:
If a factory reset is not working, it sounds like the recovery partition is corrupted. Have you attempted a factory reset using the power on, volume up method?
1. Completely power the phone off.
2. Simultaneously press and hold the power and volume up buttons until you see the Samsung logo. This will put you into Recovery mode.
3. Using the volume down button, scroll down to select Wipe data/factory reset and press the power button.
4. Select yes to confirm your choice.
It will may ask you for your Google account password. If it does, enter it. It should then run you through the reset process. The difference with using this method instead of doing from settings, is that it should download a fresh image.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hi,
Apologies for the delay. I did a hard reset last night and still had so much trouble, there is definitely something off with this phone.
However it didn't reset the photo folders.
It currently looks like this Onedrive: Files: Pictures: Samsung Gallery: all folders created by the device, by apps, by me.
I had moved all folders into Samsung Gallery as I didn't understand why some folders where in "Pictures" and some were in "Samsung Gallery" as that's were the duplicate DCIM, Camera roll etc.. were.
Do you happen to know the correct file path for:
- folders created by the device
- folders created by apps that use Photos
- folders created by me
Then I will manually go into OneDrive on my Laptop and move them around, hopefully that will solve the problem.
Thank you,

kkvvdd said:
Hi,
Apologies for the delay. I did a hard reset last night and still had so much trouble, there is definitely something off with this phone.
However it didn't reset the photo folders.
It currently looks like this Onedrive: Files: Pictures: Samsung Gallery: all folders created by the device, by apps, by me.
I had moved all folders into Samsung Gallery as I didn't understand why some folders where in "Pictures" and some were in "Samsung Gallery" as that's were the duplicate DCIM, Camera roll etc.. were.
Do you happen to know the correct file path for:
- folders created by the device
- folders created by apps that use Photos
- folders created by me
Then I will manually go into OneDrive on my Laptop and move them around, hopefully that will solve the problem.
Thank you,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Some apps do put folders in the Pictures folder.
Just to be clear. When you open My Files and go to the Internal storage, how many DCIM folders are there? There should only be one. If there is, then your phone is working as designed. You cannot have two folders with the same name on the same level. No OS that I know of does allows that.
If you are seeing more than one DCIM folder in OneDrive, then something happened with the syncing. Are you syncing any other devices (tablets or phones) with OneDrive?

Related

[Q] Photos keep deleting themselves?

my photos have been disappearing into thin air, and yes i've been checking to see if it is actually gone through connecting to the computer... is anyone else having this glitch?
is there anyway to fix?
Same problem. I haven't found answer yet...
If you use a file manager (Root explorer) can you see the files? Make sure you can see hidden files. If a dot is placed infront of the file name then it is hidden and cannot be seen in the gallery. If that is the case, delete the dot as that makes it a hidden file.
Or if a .nomedia file is placed somewhere in the folder, delete it.
Where does this photos came from?
Downloaded from web?
Have you deleted this photos from the download list without changing their name or location?
Try this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=14813409&postcount=9
this used to happen to me when I connected my phone to my PC via USB. my phone ringtones also used to reset. this no longer happens to me when i use gingerbread 2.3.4
i suggest you update if you havent already. also as an extra precaution now, i always backup my photos on Picasa.
I don't think they are deleting, they are just taking a long time to load. This has been discussed many times and the conclusion is that because the CPU is "busy" it takes a long time for the photos to load and if you wait long enough they will appear. I think there is a fix, but I am not sure.

Delete files .Thumbdata3 - 19xxxx (710MB!)

Inside the folder DCIM /.thumbnails there is a file .Thumbdata3 of 710MB!
I tried to delete it but it always returns the same size.
I also tried to delete all the photos from the DCIM folder but nothing has changed!
How is it that the file has a size so big?
MarkAndroid said:
Inside the folder DCIM /.thumbnails there is a file .Thumbdata3 of 710MB!
I tried to delete it but it always returns the same size.
I also tried to delete all the photos from the DCIM folder but nothing has changed!
How is it that the file has a size so big?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's probably the thumbnail data for your pictures. I'm assuming you have quite a few...?
I deleted all the images.
The folder .thumbnails no contains preview as I deleted everything.
There remains only the file to 711 MB
MarkAndroid said:
I deleted all the images.
The folder .thumbnails no contains preview as I deleted everything.
There remains only the file to 711 MB
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As the first reply already stated, this is a thumbnail file that is generated on the basis of all pictures on your device. Deleting all thumbnails doesn't really help, because the thumbnail cache will regenerate itself. If you want to diminish it in terms of size, you'll have to remove the actual pictures on your device (be it wallpapers, family pictures, Reddit downloads or porn). Only that will lessen the numbers of thumbnails generated and thus the size of this file.
As I said I deleted all the real pictures and not just the thumbnails!
When I open the gallery there is no picture or video!
I also raised the MicroSD to make sure there were no photographs or video to generate thumbnails.
Yes, I see what you mean. I have two, each about 600 Mb, one from 08/07/2012 and one from 19/10/2012. These appear to be the Thumbnail files from the media players.. So until you clear the librarycache from those, they'll keep reappearing.
I also had two files, then deleting all reappeared only one from 711MB!
You have lots of photos and videos?
MarkAndroid said:
I also had two files, then deleting all reappeared only one from 711MB!
You have lots of photos and videos?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
About 40gb internal, and another 40ish on SD's.
We are different!
My internal memory 45GB free!
MicroSD removed
Yes, quite obviously, you are different. Won't get you a Nobel Prize.
Did you clear the media player's data yet? I have device pretty chock full with all kinds of graphics and videos, and on the MicroSD, the thumbnails file is only slightly less than 12 MB.
ShadowLea probably has a lot more.....errrmmm...shadowy material than me, so I dare not compare us directly.
It seems likely though that you just had a lot of material to be indexed previously, and those caches are never emptied, neither are they touched upon a reinstall. You'll need to empty them by hand yourself.
Yes, obviously we're different. :cyclops:
MartyHulskemper said:
ShadowLea probably has a lot more.....errrmmm...shadowy material than me, so I dare not compare us directly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well... I'm not paying for my Eweka payserver in the spirit of charity.
MartyHulskemper said:
Yes, quite obviously, you are different. Won't get you a Nobel Prize.
Did you clear the media player's data yet? I have device pretty chock full with all kinds of graphics and videos, and on the MicroSD, the thumbnails file is only slightly less than 12 MB.
ShadowLea probably has a lot more.....errrmmm...shadowy material than me, so I dare not compare us directly.
It seems likely though that you just had a lot of material to be indexed previously, and those caches are never emptied, neither are they touched upon a reinstall. You'll need to empty them by hand yourself.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How can I manually clear the cache?
Usually through the settings in the apps themselves.
OK. So what application should I see? Gallery app or all photos and videos app? (Example QuickPic, Mxplayer)
All of them.
MarkAndroid said:
Inside the folder DCIM /.thumbnails there is a file .Thumbdata3 of 710MB!
I tried to delete it but it always returns the same size.
I also tried to delete all the photos from the DCIM folder but nothing has changed!
How is it that the file has a size so big?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had the same problem...my files was 1.6GB. I believe it has to do with thumbnails database off all pictues that have been on your phone or gallery, and even if you delete it, they keep track of the all and then recreates the thumbnails file.
My solution was to create a empty folder with the exact same name of the file, in the same location (after deleting the big file first)...did not need to change permissions or anything, just an plain empty folder with the same name replacing the file. I´ve rebooted several times/took lots of pictures and seems to prevent the file to re-create. Has worked so far.
Hope that helps
It seems to work!
Since I created two folders with the name of the file .thumbdata are no longer created the two large files and does not create even the thumbnails!
THANKS
MarkAndroid said:
It seems to work!
Since I created two folders with the name of the file .thumbdata are no longer created the two large files and does not create even the thumbnails!
THANKS
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Any abnormalities with your device since? Like opening the camera app, taking photos, accessing Gallery, and FCs?
I noticed this type of behavior back with my Motorola DROID. I realized that when I performed Factory resets it would not delete these files off of the SDCard, an I had 4 or 5 of them (when I was trying every ROM under the sun before CM7 was released).
I finally figured out that just deleting them would allow the apps to recreate what they needed - but yeah, some photos that I had moved to a 'hidden' location still had thumbnails showing. I finally figured out what ShadowLea is saying - you have to clear the cache components of the applications themselves and then let them rebuild. From there it is a piece of cake.
solved for Galaxy S3
Hello,
I had the same problem on my Samsung S3. The file was allways created with 1,74 GB and growed. when i deleted it by hand it was created a few minutes later again.
Here the solution that worked for me
1) copy file name
2) delte the file
3) create a folder with the filename (not a file!) *
4) take away all possible permissions for this folder (with total commander for andriod for example)
After that my camera and my picture viewer still works fine. the only "problem" i have is that i dont see a preview of my old pictures in the down left corner of the camera app.
*I also tried to create a file with the name and took the permissions from it but it was overwriten by the camera anyway.
cheers!

[Q] how recreate gallery thumbnails

I had to reset my phone. I then reloaded the camera photos I had taken before into dcim/camera. When I look in the gallery there are no thumbnails of these photos.
How can I get the phone to recreate the thumbnails?
Thanks.
Hal
halteach said:
I had to reset my phone. I then reloaded the camera photos I had taken before into dcim/camera. When I look in the gallery there are no thumbnails of these photos.
How can I get the phone to recreate the thumbnails?
Thanks.
Hal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Probably just takes some time to generate them, if it's a TON of photos.
halteach said:
I had to reset my phone. I then reloaded the camera photos I had taken before into dcim/camera. When I look in the gallery there are no thumbnails of these photos.
How can I get the phone to recreate the thumbnails?
Thanks.
Hal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have you tried restarting your phone?
Japultra said:
Have you tried restarting your phone?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes. did nothing.
hal
ingenious247 said:
Probably just takes some time to generate them, if it's a TON of photos.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
not a ton, a few hundred. several days on no thumbnails.
hal
halteach said:
I had to reset my phone. I then reloaded the camera photos I had taken before into dcim/camera. When I look in the gallery there are no thumbnails of these photos.
How can I get the phone to recreate the thumbnails?
Thanks.
Hal
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You could try this Settings > Applications > Application Manager> All. Look for Media Storage and go into and hit Clear Data. It should rebuild the database, you may have to restart to trigger the database rebuild.
The Gallery not refreshing seems to be a common problem across devices and Android versions, to some extent. I assume this is more Android version related that device specific.
My situation: I am on a Samsung Note 4 with ~stock (MODestRom X), Android 6.0.1. The Gallery app (and Snap Gallery) would only show me a few folders and pictures from within my <SDcard>/DCIM/<many folders including Camera>. New pictures would go into the Camera folder and show up in the Gallery, but existing pictures in the Camera folder, and most all the other folders, would not show up. I find no new posts on this issue in the last year or so.
The fix that worked for me: On the SD card, rename DCIM to DCIM1. At that point, DCIM1 started to get indexed properly. I renamed it back to DCIM so that new camera shots would go into their proper default home (<SDcard>/DCIM/Camera) and I didn't end up with a parallel Camera folder.
Other stuff I tied that DID NOT HELP:
Reboot
Applications Manager > Gallery > Clear cache and data
I found a .nomedia file at the top of the SD card. Deleting it did not help. No .nomedia files within the DCIM tree.
Hooked it up to my computer and synched in a new .mp3 file, hoping this would trigger a media scan. No help.
Looked for media scanner apps in the App store. Did not try, but most reviews said Fail, and none I found specified what Android versions they were said to work on.
Waited a few days.
Swore.
Googled XDA and found almost no recent postings, so I responded to this one.
I did NOT try moving the pictures off and back onto the SD card.
May this post help someone else!

Deleted a whole album of photos by accident.

I thought I was deleting only one photo but deleted a whole album which was kind of frustrating. I was in album mode in the gallery and selected the album which only shows the first picture. That, and the fact that the confirmation dialog for both deleting an album and a single photo says "are you sure you want to delete this item?" make it confusing.
They should make it clearer that you are deleting a whole album by saying in the dialog "are you sure you want to delete this album of n pictures?" and making the album thumbnail look different than an individual picture.
I am not sure if this is an Alcatel thing or an Android thing but two small changes to the ui could prevent loss of important photos. They could also offer a recycle bin feature that you could turn on or off which would be nice.
Otherwise I love this phone. Truly an amazing device for $250.
Try another photo manager app. Made the same mistake myself. Luckily at the time I did it, I had the photos already copied to a PC and there wasn't many photos involved, maybe a dozen in the album. I no longer use the stock gallery. I now use Google Photos. There were a couple others I tried to use, but they wouldn't offer the capability to delete off the SD card, couldn't get privilege to delete.
If its that much of an annoyance. I always use 'quickpic', its the best gallery app for android IMO.
If you have a windows PC and the folder was on an external card, get the card connected somehow to the PC (not in the phone, but in an adapter so it can get a drive letter). Install the free version of Recuva and do a scan on the card. It should be able to recover most if not all files if nothing was written on top of them.

S7 Edge crashes caused by Google Photos Collage

I have been using my S7 Edge for about a year, and it has been updated to the latest firmware and apps.
The first crash of the S7 Edge happened more than a month ago. It happened when I was viewing my photos with Google Photos. It went completely dead. Even the boot loader had some error. So I had to have it flashed with a new firmware. A couple days ago, the same thing happened again. But this time I tried with some force starts and cache wipe-outs, it came back. But still it kept crashing when I use Google Photos or even Gallery to access my photos. I deleted the caches and the data of the two apps, but it still wouldn't eliminate the crashes.
What did I do before the crashes happened? The only thing major is that I copied all of my photos to my Mac, and removed the Camera folder thereafter, both with Android File Transfer program on the Mac.
But I had done the same before and had not had any problems. So what's been different during these couple of months? The only thing I did that I hadn't done before is that I had some collages created with Google Photos. These collage files resided in the Google Photos folder. Deleting Google Photos' data does not get them deleted. Of course another thing different is that the firmware got updated.
How to get rid of the crashes? I manually removed the Google Photos folder (that contained the collage files), and the phone becomes stable.
I don't know why it happens, but it appears the collage files are linked with the original photos that no longer exist, so memory becomes corrupted which then causes the system to crash.
I think this is more of a bug of Samsung's firmware. I hope this brings their attention to fix it.
The way to re-created the problem is as follows: (This is basically what happened in my cases, but I am not going to further test this on my phone. I hope someone with a spare phone or some QA engineer at Samsung could test this.)
1) Create some collages with Google Photos.
2) Remove the Camera folder with Android File Transfer. (I can't say whether removing the folder with My Files app would cause the same problem).
3) Start Google Photos or Gallery and review or edit some photos. Note that the crash does not happen immediately after removing the Camera folder. The odds of a crash may be larger, I guess, when the folder contained a lot of photos.

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