How to Recover Deleted DCIM Folder from Android Phone Effortlessly? (New Approaches)

Summary

Gallery is the primary storage for camera photos, web images, WhatsApp or Snapchat pictures and video files on your Android device. And your most valuable memory and significant moments may exist there: Your wedding day, the growth of your boy or girl, the big day in your life, the happy family time or work time. It indeed happens that you may accidentally deleted DCIM folder on Android device. If you deleted some pictures or videos on Android device but do not know how to find DCIM folder on Android and how to recover deleted DCIM folder from Android device, you can check this post and learn how to recover deleted folder in Android.

Part 1: What is DCIM folder in Android? And how to Find DCIM folder on Android?

DCIM is the abbreviation of Digital Camera Images. You can find DCIM folder in digital camera, camcorders and Android devices, and all newly-taken photos from the device will be stored in DCIM folder. Well, where is the DCIM folder on Android device? DCIM folder can be both on Android device or SD card, since when you insert an SD card to Android device, it will create a DCIM folder on it if there isn't one. Then, how to find DCIM folder on Android?

Normally, you can find DCIM folder on Android device through the full path: /storage/emmc/DCIM, if you save photos to Android internal memory; or you can find /storage/sdcard0/DCIM, if you store pictures to an extended SD card. Apart from the above storage path, from my trial, the fastest way to locate DCIM folder is to open Files folder on your Android device > Input DCIM on the top search box and search. In this way, you will find all DCIM folders on your Android device in seconds.

Read also: How to Recover Data from Android Phone with Broken Screen [Solved]

Part 2: Reasons for Losing DCIM Camera Folder

There are many reasons that you may lose DCIM camera folder on Android device, and the main possible reasons are as follows:

• Accidental deletion of some photos or videos.
• Memory card or SD card formatting.
• Digital camera error caused DCIM folder missing.
• An application like Photo Gallery deleted DCIM folder.
• Virus infection or malware deletion.
• Incomplete transfer process from memory card to other storage devices.
• Sudden ejection of memory card during data read or write process.
• Using the same SD card on multiple devices.

In a word, DCIM folder missing happens very frequently. Thus, after you discover that the DCIM folder is lost, you had better not create any new folder or data on Android device to avoid being overwritten. The proper way to do this is to switch off Wi-Fi network or mobile data and power off your Android device before you recover deleted DCIM folder from Android. However, the best way to avoid DCIM folder loss is to back up your Android DCIM camera folder or back up photos on Android anytime and anywhere.

Part 3: How to Recover Deleted DCIM Folder on Android?

If you accidentally deleted storage folder on Android device but you have made a backup of DCIM folder previously, you can recover deleted DCIM folder on Android from backup with ease. However, if you don't back up it before DCIM camera folder loss, you can restore deleted folder on Android via the two professional ways below.

3.1 How to Recover Deleted DCIM Folder on Android via Samsung Data Recovery

Samsung Data Recovery is a professional DCIM folder recovery software for you to recover deleted DCIM folder from Android internal memory and SD card. It has two recovery modes. Under Android Data Recovery mode, you can recover deleted messages, call logs, contacts, videos, music, photos and documents from Android internal memory and SD card (if any) to computer; under SD Card Recovery mode, you can recover deleted photos, videos, music and documents from SD card to computer.

Moreover, you can preview and select both existing and deleted data on it before recovery or backup, and back up the existing Android data to computer under two recovery modes. Well, the highlight of Samsung Data Recovery is that it can fast back up or restore deleted folder from Android device or external SD card to computer in original file format and quality, and it is also highly secure, read-only, ads-free and easy to use.

Samsung Data Recovery is widely compatible with all Android phones and tablets running Android 4.0 and later, including Samsung, Huawei, Sony, HTC, LG, Motorola, ZTE, Xiaomi, Google, etc., such as Samsung Galaxy S21/S20/S20+/S20 Ultra/Z Flip/Z Flip Thom Browne, Huawei Nova 7/Nova 7 Pro/ Nova 7 SE/P40/P40 Pro/P30/P30 Pro/P20/P20 Pro, LG G8 ThinQ/G8s ThinQ/G8X/G8X ThinQ/G7 ThinQ, HTC U12 Plus/U12+/U12 Life/U Ultra, Xiaomi Mi 10 Lite/Mi 10/10 Pro/MIX Alpha/Note 10 Lite/Note 10, Google Pixel 5/4/4 XL, etc.

How to recover deleted DCIM folder from Android?

1. Install and launch Samsung Data Recovery on computer, and enter in Android Recovery module from toolbox.

2. Plug your Android device into computer via a USB cable, then enable USB debugging and grant permission on Android device as prompted. You can select the data you want to recover on this program before scanning. (If the program cannot scan out the data you want, you can root your device and try to scan again).

3. DCIM camera folder recovery. Select Photos or Videos folder from left window, tick wanted photos or videos from right window and tap Recover below to recover deleted DCIM folder from Android. (Notes: DCIM folder will automatically generate on Android device after you recover deleted camera photos or videos.)

Further reading:

If you also need to recover deleted audio files from Android phone, you can refer to this popular method to find them back.

Besides, click it to view Recuva recovery for Android. You will know whether it can recover your Android files or not.

3.2 How to Restore DCIM Folder on Android via Command Line on Computer

This method can only recover deleted photos from Android SD card.

1. Connect Android to PC via a USB cable and enable USB debugging on Android device.

2. After successful connection, hold and press Windows + R keys on keyboard to run a dialog, then input CMD and press Enter key on keyboard to open a command window.

3. Enter chkdsk [SD card drive letter]/f on command window and press Enter key. After the entire process is over, you will finish DCIM camera folder recovery. And you will see DCIM folder with photos in the SD card.

Useful tips for DCIM camera folder:

1. Regular transfer photos from Android to computer to avoid loss of DCIM camera folder.
2. Do not use the same SD card on multiple devices.
3. Never using camera when it is in low battery.
4. Never eject memory card during data transfer.
5. Install reliable antivirus software to wipe out malware or virus.

Wrapping Up

How to recover DCIM folder from Android device is very simple. If you lose DCIM camera folder on Android, you can use the methods above to recover deleted DCIM folder from Android. From the above two methods, I highly recommend you to use Samsung Data Recovery, since it can restore deleted folder from Android internal memory as well as external SD card. And it is highly secure, easy to use, fast and high success rate of DCIM camera folder recovery. Of course, you can try the second way if you lost DCIM camera folder on SD card.

In addition, if you encounter any problem during use, feel free to leave a comment below.

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Sophie Green Chief Editor

Sophie Green, Chief Editor of Samsung-messages-backup website, has been focusing on the realm of Android Recovery, Android Transfer (Backup), Android Device Tips, Phone Clean, and Phone Transfer technologies. Recognized contributions on leading platforms attest to her esteemed expertise and reliability.