Viewing photograps in internal storage ?

Megalomando

Member
May 3, 2016
6
0
0
Hi,

Just upgraded from a Galaxy S7 to Pixel 4A 5G & am just getting familiar with the Pixel, where functions are located & googling to find answers. Something I'm having trouble with is viewing camera footage in the Pixel from my Win 10 PC.

In the Samsung, I would attach the phone to the PC, go to the DCIM > CAMERA folder in the phone and would see all the photos in the phone as thumbnails, same look as in any folder in the PC. If I wanted to select a particular photo to transfer to the computer it was simply select the desired photo, then copy & paste to a PC folder. However, in the Pixel I can see nothing except a generic icon looking like 2 mountains & a moon in shades of blue for each photograph. Zero indication of what any of the photographs are except for the unique name of each photo.

If I copy and paste an icon (photo) from the Pixel to the computer it now becomes a normal & viewable .jpg. However, if I move any .jpg in the computer into the Pixel's Camera folder, it becomes that same blue toned generic thumbnail. So apparently it's a characteristic of the Pixel's CAMERA folder that the PC can't view its contents as photographs.

This is incredibly unwieldy, I can not tell from the computer what anything is I'm looking at and if I want to leave any photographs permanently in the camera, I can only select & choose those from within the camera itself. As I often take dozens of photos and want to only keep a few in the phone, editing will become nearly impossible if I can't view the camera's folder from the PC.

I've tried viewing the INTERNAL STORAGE > DCIM > CAMERA folder with two computers and have the same problem in each. Is there something I've missed? As no manual came with this unlocked phone (running on Straight Talk), I'm in the dark.

Suggestions?
 

Rukbat

Retired Moderator
Feb 12, 2012
44,528
32
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It sounds as if you're syncing the files to Google Photos. Go there with your Windows PC and see if they're there. (If that's what's happening, you don't have the picture in the pixel, you have a thumbnail - the picture is in the cloud [Google's server]. The phone knows how to handle that, the PC doesn't.)
 

Megalomando

Member
May 3, 2016
6
0
0
Hi Ruk, Perhaps I am, I didn't intend to do that. I've avoided using the cloud for anything. I've never trusted the privacy of the cloud & likely never will. I'll try and find where to check those settings.

Thanks!
 

Megalomando

Member
May 3, 2016
6
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I've been looking and I can't seem to find anywhere to turn off syncing the files to the cloud, I'd appreciate a pointer how to do that.

I've been at this all day & half of yesterday trying to see those photos in the PC with no luck. If I can't use the PC to view the camera files, it'll be a deal breaker & I'll have to RMA the phone, pay the restocking and go for the Galaxy S21.

Suggestions?
 

gebco

Well-known member
Nov 27, 2015
373
0
0
In the photos app, tap on your name icon on the upper right hand side, choose photo settings.

My question though is whether you're looking for photos you would have transferred from your previous phone or new photos? New photos should stay on your phone as far as I know.


I've been looking and I can't seem to find anywhere to turn off syncing the files to the cloud, I'd appreciate a pointer how to do that.

I've been at this all day & half of yesterday trying to see those photos in the PC with no luck. If I can't use the PC to view the camera files, it'll be a deal breaker & I'll have to RMA the phone, pay the restocking and go for the Galaxy S21.

Suggestions?
 

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Megalomando

Member
May 3, 2016
6
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Hi Gebco,

Odd, I don't see my name icon in the photos app, I'm using the Pixel 4A 5G. I'll look for those settings though. As to the photos, I'm talking about new ones. I transferred all my old Samsung photos into a folder on my hard drive. I did pass a couple back into the Pixel, but no photo in the pixel from any source is viewable by me from the computer when connected by USB. A query to google came back as if it's a known bug and they're working on it. Not an official answer, but one that's making me think. There's a $200 gift voucher for pre-ordering the Samsung S21 Ultra expiring today. If this is a bug with the Pixel with no good work-around, I'm going to have to not lose that $200 off and go back to Samsung.

The other part of the equation is I absolutely love the speech to text in the Pixel, it sucked in the Samsung, I hated it every day. I'd hate to find their flagship phone has translation issues like their Galaxy S7 does. If I can find a work around today, I'll keep the Pixel, other than this hiccup, it's a great phone.
 

gebco

Well-known member
Nov 27, 2015
373
0
0
interestingly I just attached my 4a 5g to my windows 10 computer and had the same thing, only icons appear, not thumbnails. So I did the same with my 2XL which is also Android 11 and there the thumbnails appeared. Must be a bug on the 4a 5g. I'll try later with our 4a and our 5 and update.
 

Megalomando

Member
May 3, 2016
6
0
0
Timing just ran out unfortunately. I Really like the Pixel very much, it's a fine camera and the speech to text is more than excellent. The distance I get with Bluetooth is amazing, I can leave the phone in the kitchen and walk around the entire house and be connected. The S7 never came close to that with the Bose headsets. Problem is I can't chance Google not attending to this bug, & Samsung's new S21 Ultra promo ends today, so I ordered the S21 5G Ultra & got $50 off for trading the S7 in with a cracked screen, $70 for being a first responder, & the $200 pre-order coupon for goods, & promo code for $50, making $250 worth of merch & 130 off the price of the phone.

All that to say, I would have been very happy with the Pixel but for that bug, & that would be an issue daily, most days, and been a source of consternation till resolved.
 

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