Level 1

21 points

Why SO many random DCIM Folders? I want ONE!

I have an ipone 4s. I have had an iPhone for over 5 years now. Before the DCIM folder would hold 1000 pictures. As soon as I would take another picture (ei 1001) then it would start another folder for those thousand pictures. So by time I got into the 5000+ I had over 5 folders. They are random (ei 851PKYZB, 851XTGOR, 914ELZYG, etc.) Last month or so when I plugged my phone into the computer to copy my photos onto my desktop I had ONE folder. It was glorious not to have to open every folder to figure out where the newest pictures were.

Then today I plug my phone into my computer to copy pictures over and I now have a folder for every 100 pictures. YES TONS and TONS of folders (55 folders to be exact) and no rhythm or reason to the numbering system. Some with only 1 picture in them, as I delete a lot of pictures after transferring to my computer. So when I wanted to find todays pictures I had to open over half of them to find my pictures.

HOW do I get it back to ONE folder? I understand the reason there is a DCIM folder to begin with, but I really think I should be able to have 1 folder or at least have them numbered 100APPLE, 101APPLE, or something that is numeric and I know that the very last folder are the new pictures. Any ideas or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. (I have the newest iOS 8.1.2) Thanks in advance.

iOS 7.1

Posted on Dec 13, 2014 6:24 AM

Top-ranking reply

drume

Level 1

9 points

Posted on Apr 24, 2015 10:15 AM

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

Requirements

Apple mobile device (duh)
PC with Windows 8.1 (though these instructions can be tweaked for earlier versions)
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

Connect your Apple device to your PC (wired connection).
Open File Explorer.
Double-click your Apple device, then "Internal Storage", then "DCIM".
In the upper-right Search window, type * (just the asterisk) and hit enter.
In the top menu, select View > Details (in the Layout section).
Click the arrow next to the "Type" column header. Check all types except "File Folder" and "Local Disk".
In the top menu, select View > Large Icons (in the Layout section).
In the top menu, select View > Sort By > Date modified.
In the top menu, select View > Sort By > Descending. (for most recent first)
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.

View in context

366 replies

Mar 11, 2016 10:00 AM in response to LACAllen

ACtually, I was referring to the use of the word RESTRICTIONS in Csound1's post.... Don't worry! You have made me a believer in Android! I believe this horse is now TRULY dead!! End of posts!

Dec 13, 2014 7:44 AM in response to lisalisabol

There are many reasons why the iPhone will create additional DCIM folders. After a certain number of photos, it may create a new folder. Or if a different app is used to take the photos, it may create a new DCIM folder.

Also, you can sync photos from your computer to your iPhone using iTunes. So after you've cleared up the folders, you can sync selected ones back using iTunes.

lisalisabol Author

Level 1

21 points

Dec 13, 2014 7:50 AM in response to TJBUSMC1973

I know that it creates new folders, it used to be every 1000 pictures, so imagies 1-1000 went into one (even if I only have 2 photos left from 1-1000 they are in their own folder), photos 1001-2000 went into one. But now I have a folder for every set of 100 pictures. It is getting ugly. It wouldn't be bad if they were numbered numerically but they are scattered all over the board and no way to tell which folder is newest vs oldest...I put all this in my original post.

Dec 13, 2014 8:30 AM in response to lisalisabol

I'm well aware of what you put in your post. Did you see that I also stated that "There are many reasons why the iPhone will create additional DCIM folders", and that one other example is a third-party app?

I've given you a reasonable procedure to attempt that will not cause you to lose any data. If you don't want to try it, fine.

drew234

Level 1

0 points

Dec 18, 2014 10:44 AM in response to lisalisabol

hi i also have the same problems here. i have iPhone 4s 8gb, that means i have to empty photos to my computer PC when i have so many now on my iPhone. Problem is when i checked yesterday on my lap top to transfer some photo i could not believe how many folders i had to look into to get the latest photo to my PC. i have 44 folders with photos which is too many to scan for one photo or any latest ones. I tried to to copy the whole DCIM to my pc but it only gave me 12 folders of 44. This is really a problem, not practical and annoying. Apple should reconsider that decision.

Dec 24, 2014 5:48 PM in response to Desmadona

Desmadona: found a solution yet? I have the same problem, when I connect my iPhone to my computer, the photo library appears as 41 randomly named folders where there used to be just two, one for videos and one for photos. The photos are almost sorted into the folders by image number, but not quite: one folder contains photos more than 1000 picture numbers apart. Some folders have only 1 photo, the largest I've found so far has 108. Some folders have only photos, where others have both photos and one or more mysterious items called "Local Disk", which can't be opened. One folder has 59 photos and 26 "Local Disk" items. Worst of all, I can't find the pictures I took 5 minutes ago; there's no way to tell which randomly-named folder has the most recent photos. This makes the phone's camera almost useless because if I can't find pictures I've just taken, I can't copy them onto the computer to edit, crop, resize and e-mail. I think this problem started with iOS 8.1.2.

Dec 25, 2014 6:49 PM in response to lisalisabol

I have this same issue. Don't understand why no one has answered this question! It's ridiculous that we have to open every single DCIM folder to find out what is in it. There is no method to what is stored there. There are not full, not in numerical or date sequence. Impossible to sort out photos so you can download older photos to free up space. TJBUSMC1973 does not get it!

Dec 27, 2014 7:55 AM in response to Knyght

Knyght wrote:

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?

Where, exactly, was I a jerk? Please, show me.

Dec 27, 2014 7:56 AM in response to raySaginaw

raySaginaw wrote:

I have this same issue. Don't understand why no one has answered this question! It's ridiculous that we have to open every single DCIM folder to find out what is in it. There is no method to what is stored there. There are not full, not in numerical or date sequence. Impossible to sort out photos so you can download older photos to free up space. TJBUSMC1973 does not get it!

I do get it. There's a very simple solution.

1) You import all the photos to your computer.

2) You delete the photos from the iPhone. This frees up plenty of space.

3) Then, if you want specific photos back on your iPhone, use iTunes to sync them.

Dec 27, 2014 8:05 AM in response to TJBUSMC1973

@TJ

That would work if it wasn't creating ghost files in all of these folders that I am unable to view, much less delete. They are not visie on my phone, but in the files when viewing on my computer. Thank you for your answer, though, as it may help people who haven't already tried that.

Dec 27, 2014 8:13 AM in response to T-Minator

@Tminator - the files have no extension - they just say file and can't be opened by any app other than notepad, which just spits out a bunch of ninsensical symbols. Also tried that 😟. My husband is having a ball with this though, because it's the first time he can throw his droid in my face with relative success.

Dec 27, 2014 8:16 AM in response to TJBUSMC1973

@TJ

I can see them when i'm viewinf from my computer, trying to delete all my files and folders - same as everyone else, I assume. Family obligations taking me on a tour of DC, so hopefully I'll come back to a helpful reply!

THanks!

MacPC13

Level 1

0 points

Dec 28, 2014 8:39 PM in response to TJBUSMC1973

I'm with Desmadona. All I want to do is plug in my iPhone, grab a few pictures, and be on my way.

Why in the heck would I want to open iTunes (takes forever to open) sync up my iPhone to my computer (which takes 4 times forever to do), then again have to go search for the picture that I want. (my iPhone is a 5S with 64G of storage). I have a lot of pictures, songs, videos, etc. I want to be able to keep the pictures I want on my phone, get rid of the ones I don't want and be on to the next task in less than 45 minutes. If I need something off my laptop (Toshiba), I can get it in less than a minute.

I guess you have lots more time on your hands than the rest of us. At work, I'm used to handling thousands of files and I like to be able to go get what I need when I need it. I'm on a PC now, I have a PC at work, and I guess I'm just used to having things at my fingertips without having to open up applications (like iTunes) and go through the time consuming process of syncing things up just to get one picture (that should be readily available).

I used to like Apple, but they've gotten too fancy with their operating systems to make things easy for those of us that just want to "Get the job done" and go on with our lives.

One week ago, I had 4 folders in the DCIM folder. Now after upgrading to version 8.1.2 just 4 days ago, I have 34 folders. All of them with random names and random numbers of pictures. And why do all of them have the same creation date? I can't even tell which folder is the latest folder.

And again, neither me or the others on here with the same concern want to go through the sync method when we should be able to open, grab and copy. Less than a minute should do!

Dec 28, 2014 9:05 PM in response to MacPC13

An alternative to syncing photos back via iTunes is to create a Shared Photo Stream (which is not the same as your "My Photo Stream"). For pictures you want to keep on your phone you send them to the Shared Stream, where they remain with no time limit. After sending photos or videos to the shared stream, you can archive the ones you want to keep on your computer using whatever photo manager software you prefer, and/or delete them from Camera Roll. The Shared Stream will always be on your device(s).

It is really easy to set up the Shared Stream and add photos and videos to it right from your iPhone, and you don't have to actually share the stream with anyone if you don't want to.

Dec 29, 2014 1:33 PM in response to MacPC13

MacPC13 wrote:

Why in the heck would I want to open iTunes (takes forever to open) sync up my iPhone to my computer (which takes 4 times forever to do), then again have to go search for the picture that I want. (my iPhone is a 5S with 64G of storage). I have a lot of pictures, songs, videos, etc. I want to be able to keep the pictures I want on my phone, get rid of the ones I don't want and be on to the next task in less than 45 minutes. If I need something off my laptop (Toshiba), I can get it in less than a minute.

I have no issues with getting iTunes to fully launch on my Windows laptop in about 2-3 seconds, it takes about 2-3 seconds for my iPhone to be recognized, and then within a few more seconds I've navigated to the Photos Sync tab, selected the folder that I've already pre-made and saved to my desktop, and then sync. Last time I synced about 250 photos to my iPhone, it took all of about 5 minutes, and that was from booting up my laptop to disconnecting my iPhone and walking away.

This thread has been closed by the system or the community team. You may vote for any posts you find helpful, or search the Community for additional answers.

Why SO many random DCIM Folders? I want ONE!