When you connect your iPhone to a computer or laptop with a USB cable, as an example, to transfer photos from it, you can find that the iPhone itself is visible in Explorer, Internal Storage is visible, sometimes the DCIM folder in it (where photos and videos are stored), but they are empty.
This tutorial is about what to do if your iPhone's internal storage or DCIM folder shows “This folder is empty” when it opens and what may be the cause.
The first thing to remember is that if you connect your iPhone to your computer or laptop but don't unlock it, you will not be able to access the data: even though it will show the amount of space occupied in the Internal Storage, not being able to see what's inside without unlocking it, this is for security reasons.
How to Fix Empty DCIM or Internal Storage Folder on iPhone
If the cause is not a locked iPhone, as described in the previous paragraph, the next most likely reason the DCIM or internal storage folder is empty is because the iPhone does not “trust” on current computer.
Regularly, when iPhone connects to computer for the first time, the phone will display a message asking if it should trust this computer (if iTunes is installed on the computer) O “allow the device to access photos and videos”. If we allow access, memory content is displayed (not all memory, only photos and videos in DCIM). If we press “Deny”, we obtain “This folder is empty” in Explorer.
Regularly, if you reconnect your iPhone, this message reappears and you have the option to allow access and view the data. Despite this, if this does not happen, the appearance of the notice can be returned with the following steps:
- Disconnect your iPhone from your computer or laptop.
- On your phone, go to Settings – Basic – Restore – Reset geographic settings (in reality, your privacy settings will also be reset and your data will not be affected).
- Unnecessary item, but more reliable with him: restart your iPhone (press and hold the power button, turn it off and on again after turning it off).
- Reconnect your iPhone to the computer, the screen should ask you if you want to access the data or trust the computer: allow access.
This will give you access to the Internal Storage and DCIM folders and will contain your photos and videos.
If iTunes is installed on your computer, you can also use the following method:
- Connect iPhone to computer with cable.
- Launch iTunes on your computer and select “Bill” – “Authorize” – “Authorize this computer” on the menu.
- Enter your Apple ID username and password to authorize.
- Your phone may ask you to agree to trust this equipment.
- After authorization, check that the contents of iPhone folders are available.
If you pretend to be able to open your iPhone photos and videos on computer when the screen is locked, go to settings – Touch ID and passcode and on “Screen lock access”, active “USB accessories”.
