Files on my phone that my PC can't see
May 4, 2016 6:25 AM Subscribe
I have a 3rd generation Moto G with Android 6.0. When I connect it to my PC with a USB cable, there are files that exist on the phone - mp3's and photos - that are invisible to my PC. There are other mp3's and photos on the phone that are not invisible.
Why can't my PC see these files? Is there a way to make them visible? Is there a faster way to move these invisible songs and photos from my phone to my PC than copying them to Google Drive and then downloading them?
I know I need to tell the phone to use the USB to transfer files (MTP) or to transfer photos (PTP) and I've done that. But I still can't see all the files from my PC, though I can see the folders they're in. I just got this phone a few months ago. It replaced a 2nd generation Moto G and I used Motorola Migrate to move my music and photos from the old phone to the new one. It seemed as if the invisible files might all be ones that were migrated from the old phone. But yesterday I moved some of the files I could see to my SD card and now they're invisible too. So it's not just migrated files. And there are other files that were invisible even before they were on the SD card, so it's not just an SD card thing. (Everything on the SD card is invisible, however.)
I know I need to tell the phone to use the USB to transfer files (MTP) or to transfer photos (PTP) and I've done that. But I still can't see all the files from my PC, though I can see the folders they're in. I just got this phone a few months ago. It replaced a 2nd generation Moto G and I used Motorola Migrate to move my music and photos from the old phone to the new one. It seemed as if the invisible files might all be ones that were migrated from the old phone. But yesterday I moved some of the files I could see to my SD card and now they're invisible too. So it's not just migrated files. And there are other files that were invisible even before they were on the SD card, so it's not just an SD card thing. (Everything on the SD card is invisible, however.)
I also have a Moto G. I also experience a similar problem.
When I try to connect the phone to my compy, recently created/downloaded files on the phone do not appear on the desktop until I restart the phone. It's like a poor customer service fix.
I use Cyanogenmod (Android 6 based) on the phone and Linux (Arch) on the laptop with various MTP programs (Android File Transfer, mtpfs) to get into the mobile operating system. Your mileage may vary on Windows or Mac, but a good restart could assist.
posted by mr_bovis at 9:12 AM on May 4, 2016
When I try to connect the phone to my compy, recently created/downloaded files on the phone do not appear on the desktop until I restart the phone. It's like a poor customer service fix.
I use Cyanogenmod (Android 6 based) on the phone and Linux (Arch) on the laptop with various MTP programs (Android File Transfer, mtpfs) to get into the mobile operating system. Your mileage may vary on Windows or Mac, but a good restart could assist.
posted by mr_bovis at 9:12 AM on May 4, 2016
Response by poster: Restarting the phone doesn't help. I can see the files just fine on my phone, so presumably they're not hidden. I tried the app gregr suggested and the files are invisible in that as well.
posted by Redstart at 1:13 PM on May 4, 2016
posted by Redstart at 1:13 PM on May 4, 2016
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posted by gregr at 7:09 AM on May 4, 2016