Photos folder/tab is empty & camera uploads is the only place I can find my files

Hey chrisrazzell, let's jump right into this!

Which platform do you use, when trying to preview your content? Do you use our website, mobile or desktop app?

If you could send over a few screenshots of what you see on your end when visiting your Photos folder, that'd be great. Thanks! 

Keep us posted.

I am using iOS 18 on iPhone and iPad, and also accessing via a Mac desktop. The Photos folder is empty, yesterday it had content. I can only access my photos by selecting the Camera Upload tab. I have attached screenshots from my iPhone and Mac 

To summarise, any photos from my iPhone or iPad used to automatically update to Dropbox and appear in the Dropbox folders Camera Uploads AND in Photos. As of today they are only appearing in in Camera Uploads, and the Photos folder is empty

You are not alone, I am having the same problem, it started yesterday. Photos are clearly visible in Camera Uploads but the Photos tab itself is just blank. I am using the latest version of the Dropbox app on an iPhone and an iPad both running iOS 17.7 (so it’s not an iOS 18 problem). I tried going into Settings and tapping Reset photos tab, but now all I get is a ‘No photos uploaded yet’ message.

An update  to this - some photos are now visible in the Photo section of Dropbox on my iPad but only up until September 2024. And still nothing on my iPhone or on the Dropbox web portal

Hey chrisrazzell, just to summarize and make sure we're on the same page: it sounds like you can still see your content when visiting your Camera uploads, right?

I'm asking because the initial thought I had was that they might have been deleted. Have you checked your deleted files page, or events page at all?

Hey Lisa, thanks for also reporting this!

If you visit the Photos tab online, do you notice the same empty results as Chris?

correct, I can only see the photos when I view the Camera Upload folder. There is nothing in events that show when the content of the Photos folder disappeared. My used storage space has dropped from approx 3.5gb to 476 mb so somehow the contents of the Photos folder have disappeared. Alos, when I take a new photo with my iPhone or iPad it no longer automatically appears in the Photos folder

Hey from me as well, chrisrazzell.

The thing is that the Photos tab in your account simply shows all the photos saved in your account.

If the photos were deleted from the Photos tab, they'd also be deleted from the account itself.

But you're not missing any photos from your actual folders, do you?

I’ve now checked the website and it’s the same as in the app. Existing and new photos are showing up in Camera uploads but nothing in Photos. It did appear that it was trying to display them, I got 4 messages shown in quick succession (Connecting to server…, Gathering all the photos…, This may take a moment…, Almost there…) and then it just sat there for 15 minutes doing nothing at which point I gave up. There was nothing in the deleted files or events pages that shouldn’t have been there. I’m not sure but the used storage space could be about right assuming that the photos are still there but just aren’t being shown correctly. I’ve also noticed they are being shown on the apps home tab in the Camera uploads and Recents sections so it’s just the Photos area where they are missing. 

Thanks for the additional info here, -Lisa-.

Can you let us know which version of the Dropbox app you're currently using?