DCIM contents missing from both SD card and device storage.

[Prem Suman]

Don't be misleaded by just reading the topic, read my full problem its different from others:

So yesterday I was at a convention and I took lots and lots of photos and videos, both my SD card(8GB) and device memory(16GB) were full. Then I connected it to my laptop running ubuntu 12.04 (elementaryOS) but it showed the DCIM folders of both the storages empty. I went to its properties and it showed empty folder(0 bytes), but the whole storage of SD card and device were full. Then I moved both the DCIM folders to my PC (they were still empty), but then almost around 7GB and 10GB were freed on SD card and device respectively. I again checked the DCIM folders(which were now in my PC's storage) they were still empty!

Then I Moved both the DCIM folders back into SD card and device storage( they were still empty) but this time, the storages of both sd card and device remained same (i.e. around 7GB and 10GB free).

Summary of the whole scenario:
1. Took photos and videos- SD card 97% used and device storage 97% used
2. Moved both DCIM folders to different locations in PC- SD card 13% used and device storage 24% used
3. Moved back both DCIM foldes back to their previous locations- SD card 13% used and device storage 24% used!

So where did all those photos and videos went? Please help as I need those photos and videos badly. Any help in this matter would be heavily appreciated.

My phone: Samsung galaxy note 3 neo running android 4.3

 

[srkmagnus]

Are you able to see the photos from the phone using the Gallery App or file Explorer? If not, I'm going to believe that the files are corrupt and may not be retrieved.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[Prem Suman]

no I am not able to see them anywhere.
But there must be a way to get them back with some data recovery software no?

 

[dbareis]

If there was any possibility of recovery you probably lost it when you moved the data both time.

 

[raptir]

no I am not able to see them anywhere.
But there must be a way to get them back with some data recovery software no?

There are a couple options to try, but they all have low success rates. They also will only work for the SD card, not internal storage.

https://forums.androidcentral.com/e...tails?id=fahrbot.apps.undelete&token=fXJQec4M

Recover Android data, Recover Android SD Card files, professional and fast

It's especially unlikely since you said your SD card was nearly full of pictures. The more free space you have the more likely something is to be recoverable, especially this long after it occurred.

I'd say the best thing you can do is learn the lesson that you don't move files, especially when you're running into an odd issue like you were (the folders showing up as empty in Ubuntu). Always copy the files over, verify they are accessible in the new location, then delete the old files.