Cannot remove photos/mystery 15g of space from Moto6

**jimbo12345** · 05-04-2022, 04:20 PM

Moto 6 running Android version 9

Super frustrated that my internal memory is saying it is full constantly and I have to delete the cache from various apps throughout the day just to get phone to work. Currently it says: "Internal shared storage, 31.13 GB used of 32.00 GB." Internal memory shows 15g of photos. I have a Sandisk sd card installed that is showing 5.39g used of 63.86g available. I have moved or deleted nearly all the photos from internal memory, either to sd card or to computer/hard drive/cloud. I have tried moving every app I can to the sd card.

What else can I try? What am I doing wrong? I have a feeling it has something to do with Google Photos, but Google Photos indicates that all photos are backed up.

Thanks

**zapjb** · 05-04-2022, 04:56 PM

Sorry no solution from me. Interested though so placemat post.

**whacker** · 05-05-2022, 05:36 AM

Well, we have to take what the Storage app reports as real, as far as your photos goes. Others things that accumulate in internal memory are SMS text messages and call logs. Also could be email messages, depending on how you've got your email client configured. Other than that, too many apps, and generally those have to either stay put or get cut. You've got a 32 GB device and it's at its limit.

**jimbo12345** · 05-05-2022, 10:57 AM

Originally Posted by whacker

Well, we have to take what the Storage app reports as real, as far as your photos goes. Others things that accumulate in internal memory are SMS text messages and call logs. Also could be email messages, depending on how you've got your email client configured. Other than that, too many apps, and generally those have to either stay put or get cut. You've got a 32 GB device and it's at its limit.

But how do I delete the photos if I've already deleted or moved them and they don't appear anywhere now, other than when I click on storage and it says there are 15g of photos in internal memory? When I click on images there are about 6 photos there, nothing else to delete.

**whacker** · 05-05-2022, 11:54 AM

Have you restarted the device since the move of the photos out and onto the micro SD card?

Is it possible the Storage category in Settings is somehow seeing the micro SD card as internal memory (some operating systems or devices can have it recategorized so that it's accessed differently).

Ultimately you might want to try using a file manager type app to identify the contents of the phone's DCIM folder (where photos normally reside) and further identify the contents. I don't know about that model/vintage Moto (E6 or G6?). Does it have Files by Google (a pretty good file manager app now included on most newer Android phones)? I'm also not sure if that phone still has a Gallery-type app. Newer ones do not, and rely on Files by Google to view photos locally.

I would restart and check with a file manager to get a better idea of the contents and their location. Certainly, if the photos were moved (and not just copied) they shouldn't be at the original location.

It'd be good to know if the photos were also stored on Google Photos (in the cloud). (Oops - I see where you mention that it appears they are already on Google Photos)

**jimbo12345** · 05-06-2022, 12:21 PM

Thanks for the suggestions. I have restarted the phone many times, since this has been going on for quite a while. I've also used a File Manager app to try to see what's going on but it doesn't show the images as present (although I haven't specificall tried the Files by Google you suggested so might try that).

Your suggestion that the phone could be seeing the micro SD card as internal memory is interesting but I'm not sure how to proceed with fixing that.

Thanks again.

**zapjb** · 05-06-2022, 02:11 PM

Maybe if the cloud support is Google Photos the photos until deleted there they will be registered on the phone.

**whacker** · 05-06-2022, 07:19 PM

Try taking the micro SD card out of the phone and see what the report is from Settings - >Storage (or any file manager you may have installed). Note any changes.

**loboheeler** · 05-08-2022, 05:55 PM

Originally Posted by jimbo12345

But how do I delete the photos if I've already deleted or moved them and they don't appear anywhere now, other than when I click on storage and it says there are 15g of photos in internal memory? When I click on images there are about 6 photos there, nothing else to delete.

Were all the photos taken by the phone's camera? Those would be stored in the DCIM folder. The SD card should also have a DCIM folder if the camera app is set up to save to external storage. If they were brought in from another device they could be in other internal storage folders like Bluetooth and Downloads.

**newbiedewbie** · 05-10-2022, 12:08 AM

Have you checked .thumbnails folder?
In your DCIM or Photos folders enable "Show Hidden Files/Folders". I had a similar mystery storage issue on one of my phones,, and deleting/emptying .thumbnails folder solved it.

**loboheeler** · 05-10-2022, 05:09 PM

Originally Posted by newbiedewbie

Have you checked .thumbnails folder?
In your DCIM or Photos folders enable "Show Hidden Files/Folders". I had a similar mystery storage issue on one of my phones,, and deleting/emptying .thumbnails folder solved it.

Good suggestion! I have a bunch of photos in the .thumbnails folder in DCIM. These seem to be duplicates, and no idea how they get saved there. Some are old photos that are no longer in the Camera folder. Funny thing is I can't see these from a computer using USB, but my phone file managers both see them.

**jimbo12345** · 05-11-2022, 02:03 PM

Originally Posted by newbiedewbie

Have you checked .thumbnails folder?
In your DCIM or Photos folders enable "Show Hidden Files/Folders". I had a similar mystery storage issue on one of my phones,, and deleting/emptying .thumbnails folder solved it.

I have tried looking there with my available file manager and only see the same few images. Thanks for the suggestion. I will try looking a couple different ways to see if I can find anything.