connect phone to computer and files show up as folder

[Android Central Question]

When I connect my phone to the computer in file transfer mode some of the files show up as folders. For example, on my phone, I have a picture called cat.jpg but on the computer, it shows up as a folder with the name cat.jpg so I can't view the picture. This happens for all kinds of file types such as jpg, png, and pdf.

 

[mustang7757]

When I connect my phone to the computer in file transfer mode some of the files show up as folders. For example, on my phone, I have a picture called cat.jpg but on the computer, it shows up as a folder with the name cat.jpg so I can't view the picture. This happens for all kinds of file types such as jpg, png, and pdf.

Hi, if you can register a account here , me or other members be happy to assist you.
I'll leave a link to register so you can communicate here.
https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! Is that cat.jpg folder a subdirectory of the /DCIM/Camera directory? Are you sure that photo file is still saved locally to the phone's storage, or was it backed up to Google Photos in the cloud (or some other cloud service) and then deleted locally to free up space?

 

[Rukbat]

If it's backed up to Google Photos, the thumbnail will still be on the phone, but you can't see thumbnails in a PC. You'll have to download the photos. The easiest way is to go to photos.google.com in a web browser on your PC, then download the pictures you want. (And connect to drive.google.com to download anything else you may want.)

 

[Emily Reinhart]

On my phone the cat.jpg isn't a folder nor is it a thumbnail, it's a picture that I can view and send to other people without issue. It is saved to the SD card it isn't only in the cloud. I can see it in photo viewers other than google photos.

 

[Emily Reinhart]

This happens with pdf files also, it's not a problem with google cloud backing up pictures and then deleting them.

 

[mustang7757]

Thanks for registering!
What phone you using?

 

[Emily Reinhart]

Motorola G6, it's on android version 8.0

 

[mustang7757]

Motorola G6, it's on android version 8.0

Ok , I let b.diddy handle this one he's more familiar with these things , strange that it won't let you open from computer.

 

[B. Diddy]

On my phone the cat.jpg isn't a folder nor is it a thumbnail, it's a picture that I can view and send to other people without issue. It is saved to the SD card it isn't only in the cloud. I can see it in photo viewers other than google photos.

How are you viewing the cat.jpg file on the phone -- are you using a file manager to locate that file, or are you using a gallery app to view the photo itself? I ask this because if the photo has been backed up to Google Photos in the cloud and subsequently deleted from the phone's local storage, you can still view the photo using Google Photos because it shows all of your cloud photos as well (and a number of stock and 3rd party gallery apps also can show you your cloud photos).

I'm not entirely sure about the details, but I think if you edit a photo in Google Photos, the phone creates a folder with that photo's filename, but the photo itself isn't necessarily in that folder. It may act as a kind of placeholder in case you decide to undo all of the edits and restore the original photo.

 

[Emily Reinhart]

I can view the file in a photo gallery app and the file manager. The gallery app isn't connected to my google cloud account. When I look at my file manager there is no folder with the image name like there is on the computer, the image just shows up in my camera roll folder like all the others. As I said previously this happens with pdf files also, so I don't see how it could possibly be a problem with google photos deleted after backing up.

 

[B. Diddy]

That's some weirdness. This is on a Windows PC using Windows Explorer, and not a Mac, right?

 

[methodman89]

Change the folder manually to end with . jpg

 

[B. Diddy]

Change the folder manually to end with . jpg

Would Windows actually be able to mistake a file for a folder, though?

 

[methodman89]

Would Windows actually be able to mistake a file for a folder, though?

I know it will affect if it will open or not . The op can also check the properties to see if it contains data and how much.

 

[Emily Reinhart]

Yes this is on windows 10.
Changing the folder name manually doesn't change anything, it still is a folder.
When I look at the folder properties the size is 0

 

[B. Diddy]

Are the photos that behave this way all photos that were NOT taken by the Camera app? When you're looking with Windows Explorer, in which directory do these folders with the image names reside? Are they in the /DCIM/Camera directory, or somewhere else?

Another thing to try -- in your Gallery app, select one of those photos and tap Menu>Info/Details, and see what directory the image file itself is saved to. Is it the one where you see the folder only in Windows, or is it different?

 

[Emily Reinhart]

They are photos taken with the phone camera, they show up in the /DCIM/Camera directory. The pdf files are in the Downloads folder.

 

[mustang7757]

They are photos taken with the phone camera, they show up in the /DCIM/Camera directory. The pdf files are in the Downloads folder.

Have you tried restarting your computer and plug phone back in ?

 

[B. Diddy]

I gotta say, this is damned peculiar. Are you able to test this out on another PC?