Not all my pictures are showing

Question

Somethings going wrong with my picture storage settings. When I cropped a picture, I was unable to find the original to overwrite it. Yes it was a download of a AI generated picture. It's hard to describe, but even though the original is still in my pictures files, it doesn't show when I go to save it in the same photo. None of those pictures show. What is going on?

 Also, I uninstalled One Drive because I thought it was causing the problem.  Should I reinstall it?

Answer 1

Did this start after you removed OneDrive?

Your Pictures folder is hidden because its location changed. Open File Explorer, click View, then Show, then enable Navigation pane and Show all folders. Then right click Pictures under the left panel, select Properties, go to Location, and select Restore Default, then Apply.

Answer 2

Your Pictures folder was moved to OneDrive. Open File Explorer, go to OneDrive, right click Pictures, select Properties, then Location, then Restore Default and Apply to move it back. This brings Pictures back under This PC and fixes missing files in save windows. Reinstall OneDrive only if the Location tab is missing.

Answer 3

Please take your time. Let me know how it would go.

Answer 4

Hi,

Which app are you using to edit and save the photo?

Open File Explorer and confirm the exact folder where the original image is stored. In the Save As window, go to This PC and browse to that same folder instead of using recent locations. Set the file type to All files so hidden formats appear. Reinstall OneDrive only if your Pictures folder was linked to it before, so it restores the correct folder path.

Answer 5

The edited picture and the original are likely being treated as different file types or locations, so only some of them appear in the app or dialog being used.

For pictures not appearing when trying to save or overwrite:

1. In the picture app (for example, Microsoft Office Picture Manager), make sure all file types are visible:
   • On the View menu, clear Show Pictures only so all file types in that folder are shown.
2. If a red X or a blank entry appears instead of the picture, the file may be corrupt; verify it opens in another program.
3. If a menu command or button is disabled for a picture, the file format might not be supported for editing in that app; convert it to a supported format (for example, JPG) and save again.
4. When cropping, if the result has unexpected dimensions, hold SHIFT while dragging crop handles to keep the same aspect ratio.

Regarding OneDrive:

• Uninstalling OneDrive does not remove existing local picture files, but it stops cloud sync and OneDrive-specific features (such as camera roll or Office Lens adjustments) from working.
• If pictures were previously stored or organized via OneDrive (for example, in the OneDrive Pictures or Camera Roll folders), reinstalling OneDrive can help restore normal access and behavior, especially for camera uploads and automatic adjustments.
• If images appear altered due to Office Lens (for example, auto-cropped whiteboard/menu photos), the original is still available on OneDrive.com; open the photo there and use View original and Revert to original if needed.

If camera uploads or sync seem slow or incomplete after reinstalling OneDrive on a mobile device, reduce the number of photos in the camera roll and leave the OneDrive app running (with background permissions enabled) so it can finish uploading.

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References:

• Troubleshoot working with pictures
• Using Office Lens to adjust images in OneDrive
• Troubleshoot OneDrive mobile app problems