Why SO many random DCIM Folders? I want ONE!

Lisa you issue is valid. I have the same one. TJBUSMC1973 has no reason to be a jerk. Great yeah we can copy all the folders to our computer and organize from there. It used to not be that much of a hassle. I just tried to find a picture I took today and it was in its own folder by itself. The folder creation really has no rhyme or reason to it. Last time I plugged in my phone to download a picture I had one folder. What changed and why?

I have a great workaround using a saved search instead of iTunes.

Requirements

1. Apple mobile device (duh)
2. PC with Windows 8.1 (though these instructions can be tweaked for earlier versions)
3. iTunes installed, OR install device support without iTunes by downloading the official iTunes installer, extracting it with 7zip or WinRAR, and then installing AppleApplicationSupport64.msi followed by AppleMobileDeviceSupport6464.msi (assuming a 64-bit version of Windows).

Instructions to create the saved search

1. Connect your Apple device to your PC (wired connection).
2. Open File Explorer.
3. Double-click your Apple device, then "Internal Storage", then "DCIM".
4. In the upper-right Search window, type * (just the asterisk) and hit enter.
5. In the top menu, select View > Details (in the Layout section).
6. Click the arrow next to the "Type" column header. Check all types except "File Folder" and "Local Disk".
7. In the top menu, select View > Large Icons (in the Layout section).
8. In the top menu, select View > Sort By > Date modified.
9. In the top menu, select View > Sort By > Descending. (for most recent first)
10. In the top menu, select Search > Save Search. In File name, type a saved search name. Since you may have more than one Apple device, I strongly suggest using the device name, such as "Bob's iPhone 6 Search". You will have to repeat this process to make an individual saved search for each Apple device.

From now on, when you open File Explorer, the Navigation Pane on the left will list your saved search under both "Favorites" and "This PC". Just select it whenever you want to see your Apple devices contents. Woo hoo!

Note to Apple and everyone who says "just use iTunes"

Pull your head out. Most people use PCs, and not everyone with Apple devices uses iTunes. Stop acting like we should drink your kool-aid. iTunes is far too controlling of my content that I didn't even get from Apple. For example, before being able to do simple drag-and-drop copying, iTunes insists on deleting my Apple device's content if it came from a different iTunes library, even if it's non-DRM, non-Apple, and sometimes the same content in a new installation of iTunes. Control, control, control. No thank you. I don't even use my iPhone's Music app. Anyone can upload 50,000 of their own songs free to Google Play Music, manage their library in the cloud, and stream or download them with the Google Play Music app.

Of course, this isn't Apple Support. I was supporting the OP because many of the subsequent responses were at a tangent. In other words, he wants only one DCIM subfolder, not new ones popping up without any hint as to which one is the latest. Having been on a month-long trip without a PC and posting daily updates to Facebook, I could relate to the need for immediate access to a photo that I just took (out of 4000+ by the end). Telling people to save to a PC isn't appropriate in this instance. The real solution will come if Apple developers reconsider the problem. Folder creation timestamps would be a start.

Anyway, here is how I solved it (partially) since posting:

• I developed an additional issue of my Windows Explorer not seeing the iPhone 5 after trying some of the suggestions such as reinstalling iTunes (and the other things it installs), reconnecting the phone, etc.
• Rebooted PC, reconnected iPhone a few times, but no go.
• Deleted every photo in the DCIM folders after saving to a PC, but the folders still contained the "disk" icons that would not delete and File Explorer would not delete the empty DCIM folders either.
• The solution that worked for me was to delete the "PHONE" entry in Device Manager > Portable Devices, disconnect/reconnect the phone and letting a fresh entry be created. It was actually recreated as "Apple iPhone" but today it has reverted to PHONE. This edit in Device Manager did the magic and all empty DCIM folders disappeared. Reconnecting the phone today created both entries ⚠, but that would be a Windows 7 bug. I have only one phone.
• In other words, I will henceforth save the photos to a PC regularly and keep the number of DCIM folders to a minimum.

I finally found the Windows 8.1 import wizard. While not pretty, it's better than searching random folders or using the bad Photos app importer.

NOTE: If you want to browse your IOS photos through Windows File Explorer without the DCIM folder, see this previous post on how to set up a saved search.

Use the Windows 8.1 "Import Pictures and Videos" wizard as follows (screenshot below):

1. Connect your IOS device to the PC.
2. Open "This PC" and look for your IOS device. It should be under the "This PC" tree in the left-most navigation pane, and under "Devices and drives" in the main pane. (If you don't see your IOS device, check my previous post for how to install drivers for IOS devices).
3. Right-click on your IOS device and select "Import pictures and videos". It will scan the photos.
4. Select "Review, organize, and group items to import" and click Next.
5. A grouped preview of your media will show, sorted by date taken. You can expand or collapse groups to see individual photos. You can "Adjust groups" by dragging the bar in the lower-right (goes from 0.5 hours to 30 days, or "All items in one group")
6. Click "More options" in the lower-left. You can change the import file names to be "Date Taken + Name" if you want your photo library to make any sense. You can also change the import folders and enable "Rotate pictures on import". When done changing options, click OK.
7. Select the groups and/or individual photos and videos you want to import and click "Import".

All the work arounds are bandages won't change anything until Apple get it's head out of it's %^% and fixes the way files are stored. It's a poor planned storage system and the customer has to pay the price. I have a iPhone 6+ with 128 gb. I got it with 128 gb because I want to store pictures, videos and music on it.

I still think IOS is be the best operating system but sure wish Apple would listen to it's customers. 😠

Lawrence Finch wrote:

drume wrote:

And please stop referencing a non-existent "windows Camera Wizard". It hasn't existed since Windows XP.

It's still there; it's just been improved and renamed. But it works the same way.

No, actually, it doesn't work the same way, and you can't find it the same way. It works quite differently than the non-existent tool you condescendingly referenced dozens of times without actually providing any guidance or instructions. You just kept ripping on inquirers for using the "wrong tool"... while ironically referring them to the "wrong tool."

Here's what actually helping looks like:

• If you want to browse your IOS photos through Windows File Explorer without the DCIM subfolders, see this previous post on how to set up a saved search.
• If you want to import, use the Windows 8.1 "Import Pictures and Videos" wizard that I explained in my previous post.

drume wrote:

No, actually, it doesn't work the same way, and you can't find it the same way. It works quite differently than the non-existent tool you condescendingly referenced dozens of times without actually providing any guidance or instructions. You just kept ripping on inquirers for using the "wrong tool"... while ironically referring them to the "wrong tool."

Here's what actually helping looks like:

• If you want to browse your IOS photos through Windows File Explorer without the DCIM subfolders, see this previous post on how to set up a saved search.
• If you want to import, use the Windows 8.1 "Import Pictures and Videos" wizard that I explained in my previous post.

It's not worth it anymore. They have no logical reason to keep returning to this thread, yet they do. One tells everyone to buy a Mac or switch to Android. He has offered zero help. The other attempts to offer alternate solutions, but does so in such a condescending manner that it completely negates any advice being given. One of them even told us to, "Do what you want," but keeps coming back to say we're doing it wrong. I can't call it what it is because I'll get reported and my post will be deleted. I've been going to internet forums and message boards for many, many years. It's always the same. The ones who have been there the longest always end up with a "holier than thou" complex. Add to that the points & level system of the Apple forums and it gets worse. Plus the fact that, being a tech help forum, some users are more knowledgeable of the subject matter than others, and that's a recipe for some very large egos. And they're all going to stick together. It's like an online version of high school. As I said in an earlier post, I don't care how many points a user has or what level they're on. It's all meaningless fluff as far as I'm concerned. How a person carries themselves when they're helping others is more important to me.

The fact of the matter is, Windows Explorer worked perfectly in the past, not only to browse our iPhone photos, but to transfer them to a Windows PC as well. I realize updates to iOS changed that and we may not get the complete functionality that we had before, but changes can be made to make it a better user experience for us and to return it back to, partially at least, what it was. And yes, I've submitted feedback and encourage everyone else to as well. Many people like the ease of use of using Windows Explorer. Many people simply aren't that tech savvy and are more comfortable with it than other software. Many people, including myself, will continue to use it. That doesn't make us wrong. Anyone who feels that way doesn't have to come back to this thread. I'm more than happy to help make it a little easier for anyone who comes here.

The answer has been posted many times in this thread. To summarize it:

Note that NONE of these require you to know anything about DCIM folders.

If you have a Mac, don't use Finder. Instead use one of the following apps: Image Transfer, iPhoto or Aperture to view and import your pictures.

If you have Windows, don't use Windows Explorer. For XP use the Camera and Scanner Wizard, for Windows 7 and later, use Import pictures and videos. Here are the full instructions from Windows Help:

How do I get pictures from my camera to my computer?

Here's one common way to copy pictures and video clips from your digital camera to your computer:

1. Connect the camera to your computer by using the camera's USB cable.
2. Turn on the camera.
3. In the AutoPlay dialog box that appears, click Import pictures and videos using Windows.
4. (Optional) To tag the pictures, type a tag name in the Tag these pictures (optional) box.
5. By default, the folder name includes the date the pictures and videos are imported and the tag name.
6. Click Import.
7. A new window opens and shows the imported pictures and videos.

For either Mac or Windows, use a 3rd party photo manager, such as Google Picasa or Nikon ViewNX. Both are free. There are also tools that are not free but work well.

If you have iOS 8.3 or later, go to Settings/iCloud and turn on iCloud photos. Pictures will be transferred to iCloud as soon as they are taken. The can be viewed and managed by logging in to https://icloud.com. If you have a Mac you can also see them in Yosemite's Photos app.

For yet another option, you can use apps from Google and Shutterfly to upload them to Picasa or Shutterfly.

For yet another option, you can save them to dropbox or box.com.

To help further, Apple provides the following tech tip: Import photos and videos from your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch to your Mac or Windows PC - Apple Support

can128 wrote:

See, in my situation, I use more than one computer. My personal computer at my house is set up with PhotoStream, and it works half decently (sometimes takes a while for pictures to load). On my computer at my office, I would much rather prefer to simply plug my phone in, extract whichever photos I have taken earlier that day, place them in the folders I need them in, delete them off my phone, and carry on with my day...

😕

And you can do just that. As I posted above a few days ago:

If you have Windows, don't use Windows Explorer. For XP use the Camera and Scanner Wizard, for Windows 7 and later, use Import pictures and videos. Here are the full instructions from Windows Help:

How do I get pictures from my camera to my computer?

Here's one common way to copy pictures and video clips from your digital camera to your computer:

1. Connect the camera to your computer by using the camera's USB cable.
2. Turn on the camera.
3. In the AutoPlay dialog box that appears, click Import pictures and videos using Windows.
4. (Optional) To tag the pictures, type a tag name in the Tag these pictures (optional) box.
5. By default, the folder name includes the date the pictures and videos are imported and the tag name.
6. Click Import.
7. A new window opens and shows the imported pictures and videos.

Please tell me someone has an actual answer here. I want to delete the extra DCIM folders. I want ONE! 1! Uno! I've taken all the photos off my phone, but some phantom ones I am unable to delete and I can not delete these Fing extra folders. This is annoying.

So ℹ1. can someone who knows something please let us know how to get rid of these folders without completely wiping the phone and starting with a fresh install? If not, ℹ2. can someone tell me how to delete all these phantom files? They're coming through with no file extension - they just say file and can't be opened by anything but notepad and they're just a bunch of gibberish. I'm assuming I can't delete the extra files in dcim because of these phantoms.

Hi Desmadona,

I have the same issue with too many folders, and not being able to find my most recent photos. I can't get rid of the folders yet, but have found a decent temporary solution to finding my most recent photos (until Apple corrects this problem, that used to not be a problem). Open your DCIM folder in Windows Explorer (WE). You should now see all of the folders that your iPhone has created. In the search box at the top right corner of the window, type in an asterisk: * (no punctuation before or after it), and hit enter. WE will now show you a list of everything in the DCIM folder. All of the folders your iPhone created will be listed first (yes, the same folders that are causing all of us headaches). Scroll down to the bottom of the folder list, and immediately after that you will see all of your photos. Your most recent photos should be listed first (immediately following all of the DCIM folders). Once you see the image you are looking for, right click on it, and you will have the option to go to the containing folder ("open file location"). Once at that location, you should see all of your most recent images.

Hope this helps. Not sure what Apple is trying to accomplish, other than turning us all into Mac users, haha!

Are your phantom files the 'Local Disk' type? I have a bunch of those, and they are tied to photo stream. If you have photo stream turned on on your iPhone, your phone stores image files that can only be accessed through iCloud. If you try to access them through WE, they only show up as 'local disk' file type. If you turn photo stream off under 'Settings' on your phone, your phone wont create any more of those types of files (though the old ones still show up on my phone).

T

I really surprised no one has offered up the quick fix help for this..... For all of you out there who like to use explorer to view the pictures but don't like have to "look thru" each of the folders, why are you not using the search tool in the top right corner of explorer?

In explorer go to the top right corner and type "*.jpg" without the quotes. the * key denotes a wildcard which means that it will search for any filename that ends in a ".jpg". This quickly and painlessly finds your images, you can even sort by date if you wanted to find the new pictures!

See pictures below:

Before Search, notice the folders? --- Look under the "red X" for search option

After search, there's your files!!

You can highlight and "drag to copy" these over to your desktop or any other folder as if they were in the same location. Windows explorer search is powerful, use it!!!