Help Warning: photos disappear if you rename/delete folders from within Files

[connorhawke]

Pixel, Android 12

I had photos downloaded that were showing up in Photos. I wanted to rename one of the folders they were in but it said name already taken, as there was an empty folder of the same name that I created in the past that no longer appeared in Photos. So I opened the Files app, went to Internal Storage / Pictures and deleted the empty folder there, then again from within Files renamed the folder I was trying to rename before. I reopen Photos, bam, my custom folders are gone, even one I did not touch from within Files. I check Files and see the folders are still there but they're now empty; the photos are gone. Not in Trash. Luckily I had the photos backed up somewhere else so I grabbed the filename of one of the photos that went missing, did a search in Total Commander, and confirmed it was nowhere to be found on my device or Cloud. Disappeared into thin air. So based on this, I would not advise renaming or deleting photo folders from within Files.

TLDR: thread title

 

[Milo Williamson]

Did you usb it to your comp and try to search for them that way?

 

[connorhawke]

Did you usb it to your comp and try to search for them that way?

I didn't try that yet because I had the photos on hand at another source and I figured if they weren't showing up in the Files app or Total Commander then they wouldn't show up on a PC either. Also since the photos disappeared I took the opportunity to delete all custom photo folders and recreate custom folders as needed from scratch from within Photos, so if I deleted the original folders that contained the photos that disappeared I'm not sure where the photos would be found. I guess if anything a data recovery app would be needed, but I already have the photos. I can take a note to do a search of my device next time I connect it but I doubt I'll find the copies of the photos that went missing.

 

[svim]

.... So based on this, I would not advise renaming or deleting photo folders from within Files.

I would advise others to not follow your advice and instead just pay closer attention to the various messages that pop up when you're renaming files and folders. When seeing a message that there's already a similarly named file/folder, that's a pretty clear indicator to opt to use a different name. The My Files app nor any file manager app will delete files on their own, they are not some kind of mysterious artificial intelligence that auto-magically and randomly create duplicate files/folders, that's something that happens when a person is involved.

 

[connorhawke]

I would advise others to not follow your advice and instead just pay closer attention to the various messages that pop up when you're renaming files and folders. When seeing a message that there's already a similarly named file/folder, that's a pretty clear indicator to opt to use a different name. The My Files app nor any file manager app will delete files on their own, they are not some kind of mysterious artificial intelligence that auto-magically and randomly create duplicate files/folders, that's something that happens when a person is involved.

It was a name of a folder that I had created but could no longer use as (apparently due to another bug) it was no longer appearing in the list of available folders to move photos to although still present in the Pictures folder in Files. So it was reasonable to try to first rename or delete the existing empty folder with the name I wanted to use via Files. What wasn't reasonable was Android removing photos in another folder from plain sight without warning simply because I renamed or deleted the first folder.

 

[Milo Williamson]

It was a name of a folder that I had created but could no longer use as (apparently due to another bug) it was no longer appearing in the list of available folders to move photos to although still present in the Pictures folder in Files. So it was reasonable to try to first rename or delete the existing empty folder with the name I wanted to use via Files. What wasn't reasonable was Android removing photos in another folder from plain sight without warning simply because I renamed or deleted the first folder.

Did you have them sent over to a cloud server without gobbling them up, G. Photos is ultra conversative with that.

 

[connorhawke]

Did you have them sent over to a cloud server without gobbling them up, G. Photos is ultra conversative with that.

Yep they were no longer there.

 

[Milo Williamson]

Yep they were no longer there.

Okay now we are getting somewhere. Did you uncover like a safe in the cloud programing, my cloud one does have one.

 

[connorhawke]

Okay now we are getting somewhere. Did you uncover like a safe in the cloud programing, my cloud one does have one.

Not sure what you're referring to but I looked in the Trash too and they weren't there.

 

[Milo Williamson]

Not sure what you're referring to but I looked in the Trash too and they weren't there.

Archive folder?

 

[connorhawke]

Archive folder?

No they weren't in Archive.

 

[Milo Williamson]

No they weren't in Archive.

Did you post anything online, meaning do you have a back up copy like that?

 

[connorhawke]

Did you post anything online, meaning do you have a back up copy like that?

I had downloaded them from a source where I was able to re-download them after they had disappeared. Otherwise, as per the issue, they'd be lost.

 

[Milo Williamson]

I had downloaded them from a source where I was able to re-download them after they had disappeared. Otherwise, as per the issue, they'd be lost.

Hmmm.... Did you double check the source? Make sure it was open again?

 

[connorhawke]

Hmmm.... Did you double check the source? Make sure it was open again?

Like I said, I was able to retrieve the originals from the source. But it was only a workaround to the issue (which I've reported to Google).

 

[Milo Williamson]

Like I said, I was able to retrieve the originals from the source. But it was only a workaround to the issue (which I've reported to Google).

Ah thanks for keeping us in the loop.

 

[puppykickr]

Stock apps are only there to get the user by until something better is found.

Stock utility apps are hard to use, slow, convoluted, and often contain unnecessary permissions (why does a calculator need internet, and why does a clock need contacts?)

Get better apps, and disable the stock junk that you can.

https://www.simplemobiletools.com/