Nextcloud not creating year/month/day subfolders under InstantUpload folder

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The Basics

Nextcloud Version: 32.0.3
PHP Version: 8.3.6
Server OS: Ubuntu Server 24.04 (VM running under ESXi v7)
Nextcloud Android Client: 3.34.1
Android OS Version: 16

Summary of the issue you are facing:

I recently created a new private Nextcloud v32.0.3 server on my home network to replace an older v17 server I had been running for years. I use the server strictly for automatic back up of photos on two Android phones on the same local network with the server (no remote access). When using the old v17 server I was able to configure the Android Nextcloud client app so that it would create year/month subfolders to organize image files automatically uploaded when on WiFi and phone charging. I have the Android client Auto upload configured to:

- Only upload on unmetered Wi-Fi

- Only upload when charging

- Use subfolders

- Subfolder options: Year/Month/Day

However, with the new v32.0.3 Nextcloud server the Year/Month/Day subfolders are not being created and photos are all being saved in the InstantUpload folder (with no subfolders).

Log entries

Nextcloud

Please provide the log entries from your Nextcloud log that are generated during the time of problem (via the Copy raw option from Administration settings->Logging screen or from your nextcloud.log located in your data directory). Feel free to use a pastebin/gist service if necessary.

PASTE HERE

Web Browser

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Web server / Reverse Proxy

The output of your Apache/nginx/system log in /var/log/____:

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Configuration

Nextcloud

The output of occ config:list system or similar is best, but, if not possible, the contents of your config.php file from /path/to/nextcloud is fine (make sure to remove any identifiable information!):

PASTE HERE

Apps

The output of occ app:list (if possible).

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It’s likely not the Server; this is all handled by the client.

Typically when I’ve encountered people reporting this, it’s due to setting up a new auto-upload profile and activating it before they’ve finished configuring it. What happens under these circumstances is that the upload queue gets populated immediately, with the initial default auto-upload subfolder settings/options. Only subsequent (new) photos will have the new settings applied.

2 Likes

Thanks for the reply. That seems to be what the issue was. I changed my subfolders from year/month/day to just years/month saved the configuration, and then rebooted my phone. After it powered back up a test photo from today was correctly saved to 2026/01. I’ll try putting my setting back to year/month/day and see if that works too now.