Photo issues

[Android Central Question]

I have a Moto Z Force and I'm having issues with my photos. I like to have my photos organized by folder as I've done with previous devices, but since I've gotten this phone, I will sort my photos into folders or albums, and a short time later everything will be in disarray again. It's not that the photos are missing, as I can find them in the gallery, but they wont stay in the folders I put them in. For example, I made a folder for GIFs in it that I like to insert in from the messaging app. Well, the GIFs wont stay in the GIF folder and when I try to open that folder via the messaging app, they're not there and I have to search through my hundreds of photos to find what I'm looking for.

It appears that the photos backing up to the cloud may have something to do with this, but I'd like keep everything backed up, so I don't want to really shut that off. But I've noticed once my photos vanish from the folder/album they were in, they are no longer on the device but instead on the cloud, and I have to re-download them in order to be able to attach them via messaging. I want to keep them on my device so I can access and send them, and I want them to stay in the folders I put them in.

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Are you creating new directories to act as these folders/albums? Or are you using Google Photos to create albums?

 

[s2adams]

It is through Google photos. I'm looking for 3 things: to be able to keep them organized in folders, to be able to keep a copy on my phone so I can attach them to a text message, and to also keep a copy backed up somewhere like the cloud so they can transfer to my next phone.

I've put them in folders in Google photos at least 3 times. Then I look later and almost all are missing from the folder. I can usually find them in my photos elsewhere, but then I have to download device copies of all of them again so I can attach to text message, because somehow they all got pushed back to the cloud. I'd like them to stay in both places. Thanks for the reply.

 

[B. Diddy]

Ok, can you still clarify "folders" vs "albums"? In Google Photos, "folder" refers to "Device Folder" (which you can see in the slide-out menu). This is an actual directory on the phone, and may or may not be automatically backed up to your Google Photos in the cloud -- you have to toggle backup for each individual folder (except for the Camera folder, which is automatically turned on if you have Backup & Sync turned on in the first place). "Album" is a virtual album in the cloud.

Do you have any "device cleaner" features or apps turned on? Some phones have a feature that will automatically delete files in the /Download directory after a set amount of time.

 

[s2adams]

I have been very confused with folder vs album ordeal when trying to organize this, but I just checked and they are device folders. With one particular folder in question, I have the backup turned off for that folder, which I believe I did while the photos were all saved in there. Yet only 4 photos remain in there out of the 75+, so it appears they've moved with backup turned off. It looks like most are still in my photo library, but are no longer in the folder i put them in, and are no longer device copies.

I do not have any device cleaner apps.

I noticed, it appears photos in other folders have stayed put for the most part. This one folder giving me the most trouble has GIFs in it...if that has anything to do with it.

 

[Rukbat]

Being .gif files has nothing to do with it, but they may have been scheduled for backup before you marked them to bot be backed up. Or something might have gone wrong in the phone. (Computers are never going to be perfect. Or "which I believe I did while the photos were all saved" may not be correct - you could have turned backup for that folder off after they'd already been backed up.)

You could just download them into the phone again - then back up all your photos to a PC.

 

[B. Diddy]

Is this folder on Internal Storage or the SD card? If the latter, it's likely a problem with the card -- try using a different one.

 

[s2adams]

Internal.

So I went ahead and once again downloaded all the files from the cloud and put them in a device folder, which was set ahead of time to NOT backup. I guess not backing up to the cloud is my only option at this point? We will see if they vanish again.

When I go to move the files into the folders, a few of the files throw an error saying "trouble moving 1 item." I cant copy or move them to an existing folder, but they will move to a newly created folder. Any ideas on that?

 

[B. Diddy]

What are the names of the device folders that are giving you trouble? Did you create them, or did they exist on the phone to begin with?

When you're moving the files into the folders, are you using the stock file manager app, or some other file manager? Or is this while connected to your PC via USB, using Windows Explorer?

 

[s2adams]

They are just folders I created to organize the files.

I'm just selecting the photos in the Google Photos app on my phone and moving them to a folder. It typically works for most files, but the "trouble moving 1 item" error is one I've seen in the past as well, for random files. Just now I went back and tried to move one of the problematic files and now it moved without issue. But I have 2 other problem files doing the same thing. Cant gather a rhyme or reason.

The files I moved into the folders last week have not yet disappeared, so I'd assume it worked. I guess all backups for that are manual now.

 

[B. Diddy]

It might also be some glitch with the Google Photos app copying or moving the photo files to the different directories. Does the same problem also happen if you use a file manager app to move the actual photo files to the desired directory?

 

[s2adams]

When using file manager, the problem photos move successfully.