Photo albums not all showing in Google Messages OR Samsung Messages

[Eric618]

Hi all. On my S23 Ultra, I just switched to Google Messages after using NextSMS for long time. With Google Messages (and the same with Samsung Messages), when I try to attach a picture, it only shows four albums (Camera, Screenshots, Videos, Downloads). I need to hit "Browse", choose my app (in my case Gallery), and then I can browse them all. Is there a way to have all the albums show up and not just those four? Thanks!

[ILoveGabcom]

I can't help with Google messages since I would never use that, but with Samsung's default email client, when you click on the icon to attach a photo, the little selection box will appear on the bottom. Click on the left one that I've circled to open your gallery. On the bottom, select "Pictures" instead of "Albums". The default for mine is pictures, so I'm not sure if would stay as a default on your phone.

If this helps, please make this as an accepted solution so that others with the same question can find this in the search database.

[Eric618]

Unfortunately that doesn't address this. Thanks for your input though!

[ILoveGabcom]

We can't help with this party applications such as Google messages. But were you not able to view all your photos using the method I described?

[Eric618]

I can, yes. But I have thousands and thousands of photos on my device, all sorted in numerous folders. Without the ability to search via folders, I'd never find anything.

[jadc]

My Facebook camera icon to attach photos is not showing on all pages when I reply, it used to. Is there a setting that has possibly been changed? If so where did I find the setting to allow it to show the camera icon like it did before. It is still there on some pages?

[ILoveGabcom]

Try clicking on Show All Albums. Clicking on the top three dots while you're in the Albums section is your gallery allows you to select which Albums are displayed.

[ILoveGabcom]

Oh ok. Sorry, I misunderstood.
This may not work, but it's worth a try. Go to Gallery/ Albums / click the top three buttons on the upper right hand corner / choose Select Albums To Show.
I actually tried to recreate the issue you're having using my default Samsung messaging app, and when I click on the Gallery / Albums option I stated earlier, it shows me all my albums, regardless of how many I choose to show. I also played around with a third party drawing app I often use. The default folder always goes to Screenshots, no matter what I do. I can simply click on Show Hidden Albums, but it is odd. Let me know if any of this helped.

[Eric618]

No luck. I appreciate your help in trying to recreate, however. ❤

[ILoveGabcom]

Since the third party app that I used to test the method I described still only opens my Screenshot album as a default, and your app still only defaults to the 4 albums you mentioned, I suspect which albums to show as a default is programed into the third party apps and has nothing to do with each of our phones at all.

It seems that it only takes a couple of steps to view all the albums in our gallery on both the party apps we use, but I don't think it's excessive, so it doesn't bother me. But if you choose to pursue this, I would recommend emailing the app's developer and asking if the default albums it displays can be changed in settings in a future update. I know I've been surprised when I see my recommendations I've made implemented in updated on some of my apps, so they do listen. I think it depends on the age of the app, and more importantly, the country of origin (German developers respond almost all the time compared to others).

Good luck. Please keep us updated.