OneDrive File Issues

How to Stop OneDrive from Duplicating Samsung Phone Photos in Camera Roll

Maira Mehtab Sep 22, 2026 870 views

Question details

Duplicate phone photos are appearing in the default OneDrive Camera Roll folder instead of exclusively syncing to the designated Samsung Gallery folder.

Product: OneDrive
Device & OS: Android (Samsung)
Scenario: Syncing photos from a Samsung mobile device to Microsoft OneDrive.
Observed behavior: Photos taken on the Samsung phone are being uploaded twice: once to the Samsung Gallery folder via the native integration, and again to the Camera Roll folder via OneDrive's standard camera backup.

Before you start

Before modifying your sync configurations, verify whether you want your photos organized in the dedicated Samsung Gallery folder or if you prefer using the default OneDrive Camera Roll.

Solution 1Recommended

Disable Native Camera Backup in the OneDrive App

Turning off the default Android camera backup prevents OneDrive from uploading duplicate photos to the Camera Roll folder while keeping the Samsung Gallery sync intact.

By default, the OneDrive app has a built-in camera backup tool designed for all Android devices. Because Samsung devices have their own dedicated Gallery integration with OneDrive, leaving both features enabled simultaneously causes your photos to be uploaded twice.

Open OneDrive Profile

Launch the OneDrive app on your Android device and tap on your profile picture or the 'Me' tab at the bottom right corner of the screen.

Access Camera Backup Settings

Navigate to 'Settings' and tap on 'Camera backup' from the menu options.

Disable the Backup

Toggle the camera backup feature to the 'Off' position to stop OneDrive from syncing duplicate images into the Camera Roll folder.

Check Multiple Devices: If you have other mobile phones connected to the same Microsoft account, check the OneDrive app on those devices and disable the camera backup to ensure cross-device duplicates do not occur.

Solution 2

Disconnect and Reconnect Samsung Gallery

If the OneDrive camera backup setting is missing or grayed out, temporarily disconnecting your Samsung Gallery will allow you to modify the backup settings.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Why does OneDrive create a separate Samsung Gallery folder?

Microsoft and Samsung have a direct partnership that integrates the native Samsung Gallery app with OneDrive. This creates a dedicated folder that exactly mirrors the albums and layout of your phone's native gallery, rather than just dumping everything into a standard camera roll.

Will turning off Camera Backup delete my existing duplicate photos?

No, disabling the Camera Backup setting will only stop future uploads. Any photos that have already been saved to the Camera Roll folder will remain in your OneDrive account until you manually select and delete them.

How do I know which photos are the duplicates?

You can distinguish them by checking their file paths in OneDrive. Photos synced via the integration will be located in the 'Samsung Gallery' directory, while the redundant photos uploaded by the generic backup tool will be found in the 'Pictures/Camera Roll' directory.

Document & File Issues