My Camera Uploads lacks content, but I can see all of my content in the "Photos" tab.

Hi there john l.134 - sorry to hear about this.

Can you clarify if you noticed this on the website or within the Dropbox mobile app? 

Also, what is your device's OS and the version of the Dropbox mobile app? Can you please navigate to your account's settings within the mobile app and let me know your camera uploads settings too?

Thanks!

It's the same on the website (from my laptop) as within the Dropbox mobile app on my iPhone.  My mobile app is version 406.2.2.  I have an iPhone 15 Pro Max, iOS version 18.1.1. 

The camera uploads are uploaded from "Camera Roll."  I did not select anything under "Smart Albums" or "Your Albums."  Backup is set to "All photos."  "Include videos" is on.  HEIC photos are saved as JPGs.  (I have no idea what a HEIC photo is!).

Thank you Walter!

PS  I took some photos today.  They were uploaded both to the "Camera Uploads" folder and to "Photos."  "Camera Uploads" still goes back to Nov. 25th, as before, plus that one random video from last June.

Hey john l.134, let me jump in here!

Your "Photos" tab displays all the photos available to your account. 

Is it possible that the content that you see under the "Photos" tab but not under your "Camera uploads" is shared content, by any chance? 

If you have any screenshots, they're more than welcome in order for me to have a visual too.

Hi Megan.  I don't think this is possible.  I don't believe I have ANY shared content.  All the photos in my "Photos" tab are ones that I took with my iphone.  On the other hand, my "Camera Uploads" folder only has photos I took after November 24th, plus one video from last June.  I take photos with my phone every month--sometimes few, sometimes many--but the ones from before November 25th are not in my "Camera Uploads" folder.  I could take screenshots, but you'd have to be more specific.  I'm not sure what screenshots would be helpful.

Hey john l.134!

Here's what I'd like for us to try: if you hover your mouse on the top, right corner of a picture in your Photos tab you should be able to see an ellipsis (...) there that shows the "more" option there.

If you click that, and then click "Open" it should open the file in its actual path. So if you file is in your Camera Uploads, it should open that folder.

Can you try this with one of the pictures that you see in your Photos tab but not in your Camera Uploads, just to confirm if that's indeed the path the file is saved to?

As for the screenshots, it'll help if we could have a visual of your Photos tab and your Camera Uploads online. Feel free to blur any sensitive info before attaching your screenshot. 

Hi Megan.

(1) When I open a photo as you instructed, it does say, in the upper left (and also under "info") that the photo is in "Camera Uploads" -- see screenshot below -- but I can't see it there.

(2) Here's a screenshot from the "Photos" tab as it appears on Dropbox.com:

(3) If I use File Explorer to search for "photos" within Dropbox on my local drive, it shows this (see below).  Unlike any other files, e.g., the first five files listed in the screenshot, the photos do not show any path or location.  I've never seen that in File Explorer before.

(4) Here's a screenshot of "Camera Uploads" from File Explorer, showing 2024-06-01 video in upper left corner, with the next photo being from 11-25-24. 

(5) And finally, here's a screenshot of "Camera Uploads" accessed via Dropbox.com.  Again, the first listed file is that video from 2024-06-01, and the next one is a photo from 2024-11-25.

Hi Megan.  So??  What's the answer as to why I can't see or access other than the most recent photos in "camera uploads"?  Thnx  John

Hey john l.134, please bear with me while I try to cover everything.

First, starting from the last two screenshots (4 and 5), I can see that the files that show up on the web also appear in the Camera Uploads folder on your device, and this is what we would expect.

Moving on to screenshot #3, it looks like the photos that show up in File Explorer don't seem to be Camera Upload files. Backed-up content usually has the following structure in their file name MM/DD/YY HH:MM. That said, if you want to double-check the path locally, you can check the properties of any of these files.

Now, since the Photos section (screenshot 2) shows more files than what you see in Camera Uploads on the homepage, I would like to ask you to use the search bar on the web and look for “Camera Uploads”.

 Once the search results have loaded, please grab a screenshot of what you're seeing.

My understanding is, most probably, there must be more than one Camera Uploads folder, but we shall see.

Hi Megan. 

Yes!  You are right!!  There are two more folders named "Camera Uploads" that somehow ended up as subfolders or sub-subfolders.  How did this happen, and how can I prevent it from happening again? 

And how can I get the photos back into one folder?  Should I just select them all in File Explorer and then move them into one folder?

Also, why don't the photo files in File Explorer appear with any path next to them?  I now see that if I right-click and then click on "Properties" I can see the path, but on other files, the pat is there in plain sight. 

Thanks Megan!