I want to delete from my DCIM/Photo Library folder

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Level 1

8 points

I want to delete from my DCIM/Photo Library folder

I want to delete either individual photos or the entire DCIM & Photo Library folders, is this possible? When I purchased my iPhone the attendant transferred photos from my old phone over (1,877 to each of those folders), which I already had saved elsewhere, and it is using valuable memory space and they need to be deleted. I can't even update my software because I don't have enough storage! I do have a lot of apps for my kids on my phone but I don't think I should have to delete those because they are used all the time. The DCIM/Photo Library folders need to go pronto....Any help would be greatly appreciated!

iPhone 5, iOS 6.1.4

Posted on Nov 9, 2013 7:18 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

quixote2017

Level 1

4 points

Nov 20, 2017 8:02 PM in response to Evanish1

1. Connect your iPhone to your PC using a USB cable.

2. Open Windows Explorer and open your device main folder

3. Double click on DCMI folder, and you'll see all folders there.

4. Open one of those folders, select all images, and click Delete on your keyboard. If a message pops-up saying something cannot be deleted, click on Skip and move on.

5. Repeat step 4 with all folders into DCMI folder. Don't attempt to delete those empty folders for now.

6. When all images have been deleted, and only the initial folders and some undeletable files are left, then unplug your iPhone and plug it back again. No folders and images are found 🙂

You cannot delete the DCMI folder

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Answer 2

Nov 9, 2013 7:44 AM in response to Evanish1

Hmm...those could be synced photos from your computer to your iPhone. You can verify this in iTunes > iPhone > Photos tab and make sure that it only syncs the correct photos folder.

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Answer 3

Nov 9, 2013 7:33 AM in response to Evanish1

If you have a Windows computer, use Windows Explorer. If you have a Mac computer, use Image Capture. Additionally, see this support article - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4083. Cheers! 😉

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Answer 4

roaminggnome

Level 10

106,401 points

Nov 9, 2013 7:46 AM in response to Evanish1

Open itunes, connect iphone, select only the albums/folders you want on your iphone, sync.

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Answer 5

Evanish1 Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 9, 2013 7:30 AM in response to iOS -08-__

So how do I delete the subfolders inside it? Are the DCIM and Photo Library folders the same? I can't delete from either one of them but they have the same pics in them (1,877 each). I wish they wouldn't have transferred them & I wouldn't even be having this problem!

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Answer 6

Evanish1 Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 9, 2013 7:40 AM in response to iOS -08-__

This only imorts photos from the camera roll, which i've already done. I need the DCIM & Photo Library folders emptied. I can get to the DCIM folder with it plugged into my Windows 7 computer but the 3 sub-folders that show up (823WGTMA, 860OKMZO, 965YOKDJ) under it show nothing when I double click on them.

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Answer 7

Chris CA

Level 10

82,513 points

Nov 9, 2013 8:05 AM in response to Evanish1

Evanish1 wrote:

This only imorts photos from the camera roll, which i've already done. I need the DCIM & Photo Library folders emptied. I can get to the DCIM folder with it plugged into my Windows 7 computer but the 3 sub-folders that show up (823WGTMA, 860OKMZO, 965YOKDJ) under it show nothing when I double click on them.

Select them in Windows Explorer & delete the three folders 823WGTMA, 860OKMZO, 965YOKDJ.

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Answer 8

Evanish1 Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 9, 2013 8:07 AM in response to roaminggnome

I have never synced any pictures from my computer to my iphone or from my iphone to the computer. These photos aren't even on my computer, they were on an old phone that the attendant transferred over when I purchased my iphone.

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Answer 9

Evanish1 Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 9, 2013 8:10 AM in response to Chris CA

Well that was what I was thinking but since I can't see what is in those 3 subfolders I was afraid to do so. What if deleting those removes something from the internal storage that I shouldn't have, not just the DCIM/Photo Library folders that I want to address?

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Answer 10

Jun 5, 2017 7:43 AM in response to Chris CA

doesn't work, when I try and move pone I get a message the the device has either stopped responding or has been disconnected...

its in neither state, as I have tried this, oh, 10 times over 15 minute spans, making sure it was NOT disconnected and the device was still responding etc...

so, its been literally years, has apple fixed this yet, or not?

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Answer 11

Nov 9, 2013 7:22 AM in response to Evanish1

You CANNOT delete the DCIM folder but you CAN delete the subfolders inside it. DCIM folder needs to be there for new photos taken to be saved.

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Answer 12

Chris CA

Level 10

82,513 points

Nov 9, 2013 7:37 AM in response to Evanish1

Which OS are you using on your computer you sync the phone with?

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Answer 13

Evanish1 Author

Level 1

8 points

Nov 9, 2013 7:50 AM in response to iOS -08-__

I have never synced any pictures from my computer to my iphone. These photos aren't even on my computer, they were on an old phone that the attendant transferred over.

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Answer 14

Chris CA

Level 10

82,513 points

Nov 9, 2013 9:13 AM in response to Evanish1

Drag them to the desktop then delete them.

The only thing that should be in the DCIM folder is photos in your Camera roll.

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Answer 15

Jul 21, 2017 2:07 PM in response to carleton11

you need to download itunes on your pc to do it

heres a link https://www.apple.com/itunes/download/

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