Help Function of the folder “/storage/emulated/0/DCIM/.thumbnails”

[felsig49]

I have a Samsung S5 running version 4.4.2 from Verizon.


I am trying to clean up disk space on the phone’s 16 GB internal storage.

I have

9.95 GB in Applications,

121 MB in Pictures

15.22 MB in Audio

6.05 MB in Downloads

654 MB in Cached Data

8.8 GB in Miscellaneous files.

1.02 GB free

20.566 GB total

There must be more storage on the phone than 16 GB as this equal more than 16 GB.

I was manually cleaning up file when I found a directory on my phone under the DCIM folder named “.thumbnails” at location: “/storage/emulated/0/DCIM/.thumbnails” it appears to have multiple thumb nails of every picture I have had on my phone.

From 1379616267892.jpg

To 1429740133739.jpg



I have a couple of question about it:


Does anyone know the function of this folder?

Can the thumbnails of pictures be deleted for it with our causing any problems?

Why are the several thumbnails for the same picture?

Can I delete the multiple copies so only one copy of each remains?

Why are there thumbnails for pictures I have deleted from my phone still here?

Which program generated the thumbnails that are stored here?

Why does is not clean up after itself?


Any information would be helpful. Also what is the best App for managing you programs that will give you the actual size of each?


Thanks you for any help.

 

[funkylogik]

I think(?) the thumbnails folder is for images you have backed up to the cloud and they aren't actually stored on the device but I could be wrong

 

[Slug]

Does anyone know the function of this folder?

Smaller. lo-res versions of every image are created to allow quicker and easier viewing; if the full-res versions were used for everything, you'd have to wait for each image to render before being able to tell whether it was the one you wanted or not.

Can the thumbnails of pictures be deleted for it with our causing any problems?

Sure, but the thumbnail cache will be rebuilt on restart each time.

Why are the several thumbnails for the same picture?

Duplicates saved in different locations, perhaps? If you open an image and click on the menu, there's an option to view details about it, including its storage location.

Can I delete the multiple copies so only one copy of each remains?

I wouldn't advise that, in case you delete the wrong one. Better to delete the entire contents of /.thumbnails so that it's rebuilt on restart using only the existing images.

Why are there thumbnails for pictures I have deleted from my phone still here?

Because the OS is unaware that you did so.

Which program generated the thumbnails that are stored here?

Usually Gallery, although other image viewers likely follow the same convention; /DCIM is the de facto storage structure for digital imaging applications.

Why does is not clean up after itself?

To do so would require maintaining and constantly monitoring a complex journal of file links, which would seriously impact day-to-day performance.

what is the best App for managing you programs that will give you the actual size of each?

I still mostly use Settings/Apps, sorted by size. Tapping an individual app will show you more detail.

 

[ghosalchirantan]

You can delete them but the next tym you open your images .. they will be automatically created again... So don't worry abt. Them much ..