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Forum Discussion
STILL can't get my Dropbox photos to show up in my Android gallery
I've read all the related forum posts dating back to 2012 with no avil.
Problem: I use dropbox mostly for photoshop files and JPG photos. I have many folders and subfolders with pictures and files. Today I started uploading some of these pictures to instagram, so I first selected a folder and 'saved to device'. This did not show these pictures in my Android Gallery app where I need them to be despite saving them to folders with gallery pictures in them. So I selected individual pictures, used the same process and still they are not showing. I found a workaround online by selecting a single picture, clicking 'export to' then selecting instagram. While this did work, it only works for single pictures and I still can't see them in my gallery.
I am now trying to upload multiple pictures to instagram in a single 'carousel' post, but I am unable to select 'export to' instagram with multiple selected.
I need to find a way to get my pictures to show up in my Android gallery. I have already looked into the left 'Photos' tab of Dropbox and non of the pictures in my folders show up there, so I am unable to add them to a sub folder named 'Photos' (This was the best solution according to other online users)
Any help avaliable for this?? Thanks
I am having the same problem and it is UNBELIEVABLY frustrating. I have followed all the steps as outlined in this thread and it still doesn't work. Like everyone, I want to upload multiple images which is only possible via the image folder on a mobile device. Open Dropbox, select the files and then Save to device. This just does nothing. Try and Save again and the device says that do you want to overwrite the images; but they aren't there! Then maybe, one image magically appears in the images folder, but the rest are nowhere to be seen. Refreshing the device doesn't help and they cannot be found anywhere on the device. I am using a Samsung S9.
PS. This may be a version issue but the following steps -
- Navigate to "Internal storage" (it will either be the first option on the screen or you may need to tap the menu icon in the top left corner to see it).
- Choose the folder "DCIM".
- Choose the folder "Camera" and save the images within there.
Do not exist as an option.
- Daphne
Dropbox Staff
Hi harleyandy, I hope you're well today!
I'm sorry to hear that you're having trouble with this and I'd like to help out as much as possible.
I've reached out to the email linked with your profile here so that we can look into some device specific info and troubleshoot further.
When you have the chance, please check your inbox for my message.
Thanks!
To see all the images you download from dropbox do this:
After downloading, run the "folder explorer" of your device. Navigate to the folder that contains the images. Select one image, doesnt matter how many or which one. Copy and paste it into the same folder. If it asks you whether you want to overwrite/replace the existing images just pick "skip". Your device will then somehow update this folder and they will be visible in the images app. (If skip doesnt work try to overwrite)I had the same problem as described in this thread and the answer from Yek is the only workaround that worked so far.
@Dropbox-Staff: If it's still not clear what is the issue, I can provide you as well a video the next time I export my photos.
From within the app I've reported a bug, stating all info needed to reproduce.
I've received an email with some stupid reply to check the FAQ etc. but if I was certain I could reply with "info to reproduce" WHICH I'VE ALREADY GAVE IN THE FIRST PLACE..
Just make an option in the app to "ASK FOR SUPPORT" and then give me that email.. don't let me type all info only to disregard it and insult me with a dumb reply.
But alas.. after replying AGAIN with a more elaborate description I get a reply that I need to reply with the same email address (WHAT? WHY???) and in the email there's a link to the ticket.. clicking on it opens up the standard support page with NO LINK to my ticket whatsoever..
ps. also trying to post above message gave me this:
Your post has been changed because invalid HTML was found in the message body. The invalid HTML has been removed. Please review the message and submit the message when you are satisfied.
WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING OVER THERE DROPBOX????
I mean.. is this for real?
I'm this close to swearing and shouting.. trying to report a bug and this is what I get.. well.. bravo! I give up..
If someone is interested in testing my bug here it is:
On Android 10 (OnePlus 7) when I want to save multiple images to "on device" (approx. translation from Dutch), i.e. save to Gallery folder, only ONE will show up in the destination folder when viewed with default Gallery App.
Checking the folder with a File Explorer does show that all files are transmitted, but as stated, only the first file from the batch will show up.Saving each foto seperately does work, but it's the multiple save that's broken.- Lusil
Hey koelooptiemanna, thanks for reaching out to us and sorry to hear about your frustration.
I've moved your post here, where other users have expressed a similar concern.
Please note that our dev team is aware of this issue and are looking into it.
We'll make sure to keep you posted with any further updates.
In the meantime, let us know if you have any other questions, thanks!
- Daphne
Hey there yeetandco,
When you choose the option to "Save to device", the default location is within the Downloads folder on your device. The images you've already saved should be located there.
However, when you choose to "Save to device", you can change the location the images are saved to so they can be found in your camera roll. Can you try the following:
- Select the images in Dropbox and choose "Save to device".
- Navigate to "Internal storage" (it will either be the first option on the screen or you may need to tap the menu icon in the top left corner to see it).
- Choose the folder "DCIM".
- Choose the folder "Camera" and save the images within there.
If you run into any issues then please send a screenshot, excluding any personal info, if it's relevant ie. you can't see one of the locations or options mentioned.
Let me know how it goes - Thanks!
Hello,
Thank you for your reply. This did not solve my problem. I had mentioned in the OP that I tried to download the pictures to specific internal storage folders that already appear in my gallery. While these pictures show up in their file system folders, they do not show up in Gallery. And for the sake of instagram multiple picture uploads, I need them to be seen in Gallery to accomplish that.
I also have already resynced my Dropbox, reset/cleared Gallery cache and restarted my device.
Any other tips?
Dropbox for Android (v176.2.8, tested with number of Android smartphones v9++)
...has a nasty issue - when a number of photos is exported (save to device, any folder chosen - Downloads, DCIM root, DCIM camera, etc, guaranteed to have no NOMEDIA) these photos would never appear in any 'recent photos', not picked up by phone's gallery or visible in any photo selection dialog - effectively they bypass the file registration system on Android. The file manager would see those pictures with correct file names and in a correct (chosen) location, those pictures could be opened from the file manager or via desktop/USB connection file explorer but they would not be visible with any of standard image access tools.
This is clearly a bug that must be fixed.
Is there a workaround to fix this?
p.s. when I save a single photo (Export -> Save to Device) it would be visible in gallery app and in all photo/image selector dialog.
It does not work when there is a selection of photos is saved
Obviously, it is boring and really stupid to click and save every single photo individually, especially when you have few dozens to save...
- Lusil
Hi there dmg_2020, thanks for reaching out to us about this.
I'd be more than happy to help look into this with you, I'll just need a bit more info. For example:
- Are you not able to see bulk exports consistently or is it only for a short period of time?
- Do you experience the same behavior after you reboot your device as well?
- Does this happen when you download files from your mobile's browser?
Keep me posted!
I often have the need to share my work on instagram. I have all my design work photos in folders on dropbox and I like to do a multi-image post on Instagram, which I need to do from the instagram app. I have seen many forum posts about this but always the response is about how to export a single photo from the dropbox app to your phones storage at which point it is discovered and shows up in Instagram when you click 'new post'.
What i can't work out is why can't i go to a folder full of images, press and hold on one, tick say 10 images and then export and do the same thing. When I do this it doesn't get picked up by instagram, so is there an issue with the dropbox app in how it is saving the images or is it an instagram issue? When I inspect the folder directory of my phone on the computer for my Galaxy A20 (so android phone), the 'Download' folder is where all the images are going, and i can see the photos here that i've exported individualy and the ones i exported as a multi selection. The file types appear to be identical JPG files, so why is instagram only seeing the individually exported ones? is there a thumbnail or database entry that is getting missed that the instagram app is looking for?
I've even tried within the instagram app to change the folder i'm looking at but none of the folders show the exported photos when they are done as a batch, even if I export it to a folder name that both apps can see. Please help or if this is a limitation of the app can admins please request this to be fixed?- Lusil
Hello there Prubie, thanks for reaching out to us.
It sounds like you're not able to see photos you exported after multi-selecting them on your Android.
As such, I moved your post here, where other users have expressed a similar concern.
As Daphne also mentions above, our dev team is aware of this. We'll make sure to keep you updated with any new info that comes our way regarding this.
In the meantime, you can check out some of the workarounds proposed by other users in the meantime, but let us know if you have any other questions.
Cheers!
