Help needed, deleting a file not visible on the phone but knowing the path

[Android Central Question]

Hi Guys

Yesterday I was trying to download a file from Facebook, and it would download but then i could not find it anywhere, even plugged my phone to the computer and did a search and nothing. So I kept trying to download it.

Thing is today I used this password storing app and went to open my file where i have stored all my passwords (nothing to do with what happened yesterday).

And in most recent downloads i saw the 10 duplicates of the files i had downloaded yesterday, and this app gives me the paths for example

content://com.android.providers.downloads.documents/document/5412

how can i delete them having the path for each one?

 

[B. Diddy]

Welcome to Android Central! If an app downloads a file to a system-protected app directory (i.e., a non-user-accessible directory), then you can't delete the file using a file manager app. You'd have to root the phone in order to do that. Are you actually able to access that directory with a file manager app, or does it give you an error? Which file manager app are you using?

Please register on this forum, which will allow you to engage in discussion more easily, as well as post images. https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

 

[danielthesea]

Welcome to Android Central! If an app downloads a file to a system-protected app directory (i.e., a non-user-accessible directory), then you can't delete the file using a file manager app. You'd have to root the phone in order to do that. Are you actually able to access that directory with a file manager app, or does it give you an error? Which file manager app are you using?

Please register on this forum, which will allow you to engage in discussion more easily, as well as post images. https://forums.androidcentral.com/ask-question/409154-join-android-central-community.html

Hi B. Diddy, it was a song posted on facebook, a simple mp3 (i downloaded it on the computer without any issues). I kept trying on my phone because it wouldn't appear on downloads so i thought downloading was failing.

Today I was going to use this password admin app called keypass-droid and when i was aboug to go to open my file where i have stored my passwords the app showed me the download folder and i could see all the files (like 10 duplicates), this app tells me they are in downloads, but i cannot see them with the file manager (samsung one and also installed others) or even plugging the phone to my computer ( i searched everywhere as well).

I can only get the paths of the files as posting above this keypass-droid app gives me

 

[B. Diddy]

Many file manager apps group together downloads from various download directories into a single Download category -- it might not be referring to the actual /Download directory.

Use the explore option in your file manager app to look through the actual directories for a specific Facebook download directory. It might be a subdirectory of /Download, or it might be under /Media or /Pictures. You can also look in the /Android directory, keeping in mind that the system name for Facebook is "katana" (FB Messenger is "orca").

 

[danielthesea]

I've already looked and i did a search by the file name, the password admin app tells me the file name (i also verified this when i downloaded it with the computer) and I can't find it :S

 

[B. Diddy]

Are you saving files to an SD card?

FYI, my recommended 3rd party file manager app is Total Commander -- free and ad-free.

 

[danielthesea]

I am not, i downaloded total commander, nothing.

I gave up, ill forget about these duplicate files hiding somewhere :/

 

[mustang7757]

Which phone you using?

 

[danielthesea]

galaxy s9

 

[mustang7757]

I'm moving thread to s9 forum for better visibility.

 

[danielthesea]

Are you saving files to an SD card?

FYI, my recommended 3rd party file manager app is Total Commander -- free and ad-free.

I have a little more info. These mp3 file had a website name on the file name, so it ended .COM so android think its a .com file, not an mp3, thats probably why its not showing.

The multiple downloads also show on whatsapp if i click on send a document and i go to send another document that this blue "file explorer" shows up, shame you can't delete files from there

 

[B. Diddy]

Did it work if you rename those files to remove ".com"?

 

[danielthesea]

i can't rename them or do anything, i can only see them in this "file explorer" android opens when you have to select a file, for example on whatsapp and on that password management app i have, let me try to put a screenshot

 

[danielthesea]

here, this is the only way i can see the files, many apps use the same "file explorer"but its just to open a file, not to rename it or delete it etc

 

[B. Diddy]

Did you also try a different file manager app as I previously suggested (like Files by Google, or Total Commander)?

 

[danielthesea]

yes, all of them, they only show in that android explorer when you have to select a file, on for example whatsapp, outlook, google drive, etc... i think ill have to live with it or do a factory reset but not worth it.

 

[B. Diddy]

Ok, try this -- go to Settings>Apps, tap Menu, then Reset All App Preferences. Now, when you're in one of those apps and you want to select a file, does it give a choice for the file explorer to use?

 

[danielthesea]

Ok, try this -- go to Settings>Apps, tap Menu, then Reset All App Preferences. Now, when you're in one of those apps and you want to select a file, does it give a choice for the file explorer to use?

no, it doesnt give me a choice, it just opens that file explorer from the screenshots, thanks for trying to help me man

 

[Rukbat]

The directory (folder)

/com.android.providers.downloads.documents/document/

is actually

/data/data/com.android.providers.downloads.documents/document/<maybe something else - I don't have Facebook installed, so I don't have that lase /document/ folder>

which isn't accessible unless you're rooted. On a rooted phone, Total Commander gets to it easily. (Preferably in landscape mode, so you can distinguish downloads.documents/ from downloads.documents.ui/)

It does appear, as B. Diddy said, that the phone is lumping in all files in a directory named /downloads/ as being in the system's Downloads folder - which is.just.plain.wrong.

 

[B. Diddy]

It does appear, as B. Diddy said, that the phone is lumping in all files in a directory named /downloads/ as being in the system's Downloads folder - which is.just.plain.wrong.

Yeah, I recall Samsung's stock file manager being the main culprit that does this, but there are probably others that do it as well. They try to dumb things down for the user, but that causes more confusion in some ways.