Photos are split between multiple DCIM folders in Windows

I have approx 120 photos on my iphone. They have now been split into 49!!! different folders in DCIM! Even trying to sort by created by date for the folders doesn't work and I can't bloody well find the photos I now want to import to my PC before deleting them from the phone.

It used to be 1 folder. Then it became 3, one for each year I believe, but 49 different folders?!?

What kind of joke is this?!?

You don't NEED to sort them on the phone before importing them! You import them FIRST, then you sort them. Simple.

Harremraik, I am having the exact same issue. 38 folders all of a sudden. This ISN'T due to any photo organizing software I have installed. This happened with the last iOS update on my 5S. I can manage 3 or 4 folders, but not 38. I need a fix. And, not someone telling me to import photos to my computer then delete them from my iPhone. I use them on the iPhone for sending and sharing as well. Does anyone have a fix for this, or will I be forced to call Apple to get this fixed (and try to avoid having to pay for an issue that I am sure is caused by the iPhone firmware and nothing I have done - does not seem fair to make me pay for Apple's glitch.)

Apple is not going to "fix" this because it's not broken. These folders are not intended to be browsed and sent from or shared by the user in the way you are doing. Use the other tools provided to you to do these tasks. The fact that you don't want to be told to do it that way is irrelevant; that is the correct way. Import the photos to your computer; then send and share from those folders.

Actually, that is not true, AmishCake. I spent over an hour on the phone with AJ, an Apple Customer Service Supervisor, yesterday. I had an 8.2.2 iOS update that just popped up on my phone that day, we updated the phone, but it didn't fix the issue. I had to ask to be transferred to a supervisor, as the first level CS person was trying to tell me that this wasn't a problem, and to just delete the folders (which you really can't do, and was told later by the supervisor not to try or you might lose data). This IS a known issue, it IS an Apple problem, and the engineers are working on a fix. Apple says you SHOULD certainly be able to browse photos from your iPhone via your pc's Windows Explorer (now called File Explorer in Windows 8). So, not sure where you're getting your info, but it is not correct. And, I would encourage anyone with this issue to contact Apple Support and ask to be moved up to a supervisor to report the issue. The more reports, the higher the priority.

Why are you trolling like this AmishCake?!? The "Correct way"?!? People like you give Apple a bad name!

I have pictures on my phone for various reasons. Personal, business, security whatever. They stay there and I like it that way. If I take 3 more pics of my daughter tomorrow and want to transfer them to my PC I should NOT have to import 243 pictures, then delete 240 of them just to copy the 3 I took last, period!

Any normal person should be able to follow the logic so drop the sect like "correct way" rubbish and contribute something helpful instead.

I'm not "giving Apple a bad name," since I'm not an Apple employee - I'm a user just like you. Don't you ever import your photos to your computer? What happens to your photos if your phone is lost, stolen, or destroyed? What I am saying is not rubbish, regardless of your opinion.

Actually you are giving them a bad name by trolling posts on a support forums and replying (wrongly) that people are using the phone in an "incorrect way". No other support forum that I've ever visited have self proclaimed forum police like yourself and it chimes well in with the consensus that Apple users are elitist and unhelpful.

As for your response above it's clear that you haven't read my post but I'll try to make it even simpler:

I have all my photos saved on my PC, that's not the issue. The issue is that now, since an IOS upgrade, if I take 3 more pics today and then want to transfer them over to my PC for image editing or just to store them in the folder structure I've been using for umpteen years, I can't actually find those 3 photos when I plug the phone into the USB port. Instead of having 1 folder with all the iphone pictures in, which it used to be at least for the last 4 years or so, I now have 49 randomly named folders, all created the same time so impossible to find my 3 new photos unless I go through each and every folder (the 3 photo's won't even be in the same one). So rather than copying the 3 photos which I could in the past, you're saying that the "correct" way of doing things is to import ALL photos (250 odd) to some temp folder, then delete 247 of them and copy the 3 new photos into the location I have for my photos?

Instead of a 3 second process it should be a 5 minute one?

Happily Apple support acknowledge that there's a bug so hopefully it won't stay this way for too long but maybe next time instead of saying:

"You're doing it the incorrect way moron, stop being stupid"

you could try

1. Understanding the problem first.

2. Then if you don't have anything constructive to add to it, stay silent or read the Steve Jobs memoirs or something.

AmishCake, just so you know - I certainly import my photos to my computer as well as to secure cloud storage. Three places in fact: To my Mac (I have both a Mac and a PC laptop), to the iCloud and to Carbonite. I manually move my photos as well to my hard drive of my pc. That isn't the issue at hand, here, and we are not miusing our devices. You SHOULD be able to browse your photos from your iPhone through your computer. I do it all the time on my Mac through iPhoto, which is the Mac's way of what we can do with Windows (File) Explorer on a pc. I am not sure why you think this is a wrong thing to do. And, we're not at all talking about backing up the photos, another topic entirely, which anyone who has had a peripheral device including portable media devices and computers with hard drives knows - to secure any file, including photos, you should be doing redundant backups. I work all day on computers. That is moot. The point I am making with this thread is the bizarre change in how the iPhone's photos are now being displayed on my pc after the last iOS 8.1.1 update, from 4 folders to 38 folders. Apple has identified to me that this is a known issue, and the Apple engineers are working on a fix. Harremraik is having the same issue. Many iPhone users are experiencing this issue, even after installing the very most recent 8.1.2 update. So, if you don't have anything to add to assist Haremraik and I, I would ask that you drop out of this thread, please.

Harremraik wrote:

Happily Apple support acknowledge that there's a bug so hopefully it won't stay this way for too long but maybe next time instead of saying:

"You're doing it the incorrect way moron, stop being stupid"

you could try

1. Understanding the problem first.

2. Then if you don't have anything constructive to add to it, stay silent or read the Steve Jobs memoirs or something.

Please point out in my post where I called anyone a "moron" or "stupid." I will wait here.

You have the nerve to call me the "forum police," then you tell me to stay silent. Take your own advice. Unless you are the moderator here, you do not have the right to tell me how to post.

No I don't have a right to tell you how to post but since you're not adding anything, maybe you could find something better to do with your time. Unless of course you have the same problem and also want to express this but it doesn't seem that way. At the moment you just come across as the perfect Android advert. Over and out

I have the same exact issue with this!! In order to transfer the photos off my IPhone 6 (and all others in the past) you have to plug it in via USB to a PC or MAC. Browser to the Internal storage and copy the photo's I want to the directory I want. I could deal with the 3-5 folders in the past but now all of a sudden I have 38 folders on the Phones Internal Storage. And there is no rhyme or reason to their order!! They all have the same date and the folder names are randomly generated. This is horse crap! I can't find the photo's I took yesterday without blind luck or 10 min searching each folder. And this whole talk of Digitical cameras..... my digital camera save the photos all in one folder. When I plug it into the USB I see one folder with all photos. That's how the IPhone should work!!!! I can't even browse the photo's on my Iphone through Itunes!!!

Timmy, please contact Apple Customer Care. Don't let a first-line customer service person dismiss your issue. Request to speak to a supervisor. Point them back to their own User Support Forums and this (and many other) message threads regarding this bizarre issue. Here's what I had to do, to find the newest photo folder: I had to open about 1/2 of the folders until I found the newest folder. I then put up a little Post IT note on my desktop with the name of the folder, so I can go to it, and take off the photos from my iPhone, and save them to my computer. This will work until the stupid phone creates the next "new" folder. I will then repeat the process and add the new, "newest" folder to my Post It Note on my desktop. We need to let Apple Customer Care know first-hand this is an issue, or it will never get fixed.

I agree I should contact them. Once I have time. I'm at work right now and can't be on the phone for hours! Too bad they don't have forum tech's like other company's do!! I'll try out your idea to with noting the folder with the most recent pics. Thanks!

I too have this problem. Seriously Apple...yall need to pull your collective head out! This is the most FUBAR'ED filing system ever conceived. It makes no sense and causes grief among your clientele. Not making the Photo Folders respond to Windows 8 commands is Bull Crapp and it looks like the road apples I saw at the Fort Worth Cattle Drive.