Confused about Internal Storage

[jacquesd]

After I updated my Sprint Galaxy S3 to the stock rooted 4.3 rom a couple days ago, I noticed that there was another folder in my phone, called "emulated," that I had never noticed before. Within that folder were two more folders named "0" and "Legacy." I searched this folder to see what it was for, but I didn't really comprehend what I read. So out of curiosity, I downloaded a song with an app that I know usually saves it's downloads in the "sd card0" folder, just to see where it would save. It turned out that it still saved it in the "sdcard0" folder, but also in both the "0" and the "Legacy" folder. Does this mean that everything that I download will save in three separate locations of my phone? If so, how do I disable this? I am simply concerned that my internal memory will fill up three times as fast now, with these two new folders that I've discovered. Any suggestions or explanations?

Thanks in advance!

P.S.- I googled this issue and searched this forum for an explanation; this is what I found:
internal storage - Confused by the many locations of the virtual /sdcard/ - Android Enthusiasts Stack Exchange

 

[someguy01234]

You're in for a surprise, your actual data doesn't exist in any of those folders either. They are not multiple copies, but symbolic links or mount points, which are shortcuts in linux to the actual files located elsewhere.

Since JellyBean, Android support multiple users. Your actual data is located in "/data/media/0". "0" denote the main user, if you created another user, there would be a "1" folder. (more below on multi-users) You can't get access to "/data/media/" without root. If you use ES File Explorer, it will show a shortcut icon next to the folders that are symbolic links. "/storage/emulated/0" is a mount point, pointing back to the "/data/media/0" folder.

However, unlike Windows, don't go and delete these links or mount points, if you delete "/storage/emulated/0" or "/mnt/sdcard" it will still wipe out your files. A more proper method would be to go into the terminal and unlink or unmount, which is not recommended since it would probably mess up your phone functionalities. Another reason Google keep these symbolic links are probably it's more easily understood and organized, mounting them all in "/mnt" folder for easy access. Google does their own things a little different from regular linux folders structure.

There is also the "/sdcard/android/obb/" or /mnt/obb" folder, which points to "/data/media/obb/". It contains "opaque binary blob" files for certain apps you downloaded, which are large files that contain smaller files within for apps, but only the app related can read and decrypt.

Info below are decrepit, new version of Android now have multiple users:
About multiple users, Android tablets have multiple users, this features is available but disabled on Android phones possibly due to Nokia patent, however, based on this article, Nokia abandoned it. So I'm not sure it has something to do with Microsoft as well or Google being safe, Google does a lot of things to make sure it's not under patent attacks or have to pay royalties.

 

[jacquesd]

Wow, that was a lot to take in, but it makes a lot more sense now. Thanks for the explanation!

 

[someguy01234]

Well it look like with Android L, Google is going to bring back multiusers for phones.

 

[Monit Rathore]

I deleted Storage folder fully and everything is gone. How do I recover it back?

 

[Plummerdc88]

You can't unfortunately unless you made a titan backup or something simialr

 

[polharut]

Hello!! Thank you for your explanation.

I have accidentally deleted the "/storage/emulated/0" symlink on my Nexus 5 running Android 6.0.
After a reboot the folder and links are recreated but all data is lost..

Can anybody advise me what I can do to recover the files(in my case I care only about photos). The device is not rooted, which makes it a bit difficult to get things done but I hope there is a solution for my problem.

If you can share some links or any other resources to get info on this matter I would greatly appreciate.
Thank you.

 

[Ramesh V]

Even I did the same mistake. Please let me know if you found any useful info.

 

[Barrett Jasper]

you CAN use a disk utility on a PC for anything you delete from your MicroSD or SD external card and so.etimes get things back but if you deleted the internal storage folder it's gone for good unless you have a titanium backup to recover from or a smart switch image you can recover your entire phone from but it'll revert the entire phone back to the date of the smart switch backup if you even have one. I make one bi- monthly and store them in my external card and also a copy on my PC and they've been a lifesaver

 

[Barrett Jasper]

Nothing you can do unless you made a smart switch backup to restore from.Im afraid you're screwed. And no root means obviously no titanium backup probably so unless you know you made a backup somewhere somehow the info is gone for good.

 

[Doctor K]

I know this sounds very basic but as a prior power user for PCs I noticed that on the phone, photos as well as videos were backed up under my Google account which appeared in ES explorer. Is it possible these files were backed up? I did originally have my files on the internal drive and manually moved them to the SD card.

 

[Momchi]

If Google backed these photos (which it does unless you un-check the box under Google accounts) -- you may find them in the Google/photos cloud online (visit with a PC).... but they are gone from the "internal memory" and wouldn't be synced down (downloaded) unless you manually do so from Google...