Windows 10: Can't convince Photos app to use local pictures file...

Well, it looks like I've met a Windows app that is even more stubborn than I am. I have been completely unsuccessful in getting Windows 10 Photos to find any files in any folder other than the OneDrive folder. I've seen a ton of posts with the same issue but have yet to find any that offer an aha moment that works for me.

Photos is installed -- in fact it has been reset, removed, and reinstalled several times during the time I've been trying to get it to use the pictures in my Pictures folder.

It is on my start menu and the preview pictures [from my OneDrive folder] in the active tile are displaying correctly.

I've made sure that the pictures folder is correctly set up under Libraries. I have tried giving Photos different paths to different folder that have pictures in them.

I've logged onto my PC using my Microsoft account. I've logged on using the local administrator account. I've changed ownerships and permissions. I've matched the security profile of the OneDrive folder.

But no matter what I do, after setting the folder in Photos I get the folder entry but it doesn't load any pictures and says that it is unable to find any displayable files.

Is this a fool's errand? Does it only work with OneDrive or is there some secret sauce that I haven't discovered yet that enables it to find the pictures in my local folders?

Thanks in advance for your help.

Howard
Windows 10 Pro (64 bit)
Ver: 1703
OS Build 15063.138

:)

 

Photos app does not see source directory.

I have gone through the whole install uninstall routine with the same results. Convinced there is something in movie editors causing the problem. Only Photos app is efected. Windows Picture viewer and Photo gallery work normally.

 

Photos from mapped network drive fail to display in photo app

I have a mapped network drive with photos, I added it thru the photo app settings to the collection but the photos do not show up.

1) I am able to see the photos on the network drive via file explorer

2) I am able to see the photos using the old Windows Live Photo Gallery App.

3) I am able to see local pictures and OneDrive pictures

Any tips will be appreciated, seems like a bug.

 

Hi, I don't know if this helps - but it works for me:




And clicking on that link gives




N.B. once you add items to albums, you may find indexing adds to overheads. Just keep an eye on it.
I don't use Photos except to experiment occasionally, preferring to use desktop programs, but these apps are of interest when considering working with the 'cloud' and synced devices.

 

Thank you. Yes, this is the way that I have tried many different folders and folder paths. Each time it adds the path and hammers the hard drive for quite a while as it Refreshes. Just don't get any pictures from other than the OneDrive folder.

When I click on the pictures folder on that screen I get this:
==========================
Pictures
C:\Users\Admin\Pictures
Go back to all folders

No readable photos, videos, or folders found.
==============================

Btw, I notice that there is no preview on the pictures folder in your screen capture. Are you sure that yours is loading from that folder? What happens when you click on your Pictures folder?

Howard

 

- that's probably 'cos there are no pictures in it.... I'd be worried if there was! *chuckle

I don't use the default library folders 'cos they get filled with folders installed programs create as working space. So they are 'their' folders not mine. Plus I keep my data off C: and don't want to mess about relocating folders which causes some people problems.




I've added a folder of test examples on drive H: - there it's showing a png.

 

Thanks again. Would you mind putting a couple of pics in the pictures folder to see if they actually show up?

 

- the right hand one is in Pictures.

I suggest putting an image file in a folder not under a user account, adding that folder, and seeing if that is recognised and displayed.

 

The result is interesting but leaves me confused.

I have 3 hard drives on this machine. I have some folders on the D drive that have graphic images so I added one of those and they loaded into Photos just fine.

Now I'm gonna put some in a Pictures folder on a USB drive, add that folder, and see if they show up.

 

It sounds like some sort of permissions problem. You could try for comparison putting a picture in Documents or Videos and adding that. But if it is a permissions problem and they inherit the same permissions, I'd expect the same result.

It won't be (or shouldn't be) simply 'cos the folder name is Pictures.

 

Well, it appears there is a clue here -- I just don't have a clue how to interpret it.

As I said, I have 3 internal hard drives (C, D & X). X is a clone of C that is updated weekly. In addition, I plugged in a USB drive (G) that had two different picture folders (Images, Pictures) with a few JPEG pictures in them.

As you can see, the D drive, OneDrive and the Pictures folder from the cloned system drive all were found and the photos loaded. But the Pictures folder on C and the folders on the USB drive were found but no readable content was found.

As far as I can tell all of these folders were created by me using the same userid and permissions.

Any ideas?

 

I tried putting some images in the Documents folder and, as you suggested would be the case, it too is found but no readable content.

Btw, the USB drive has only one entry in its security policies. The group "Everyone" has full control.

 

I would guess one problem relates to having the cloned drive there. That is unusual.
I suggest you try taking that out and check the effect.

Trying a USB drive doesn't work for me either- FAT32? I don't know.

 

I'll try downing the X drive and see what happens. Also, I've tried NTFS and FAT32 USB drives. No joy...

 

If that does work, I'd suggest, if you really need to keep your backup internal to your system (and hence subject to failure e.g. power supply) then you might consider using disk imaging instead. Incremental or differential images are faster than cloning a whole drive. The compressed image should not confuse the system in terms of having two copies of Windows accessible.

Really, your backup should be physically separate from your system.