Forum Discussion
Phone Link creates empty folders on Android and fails to display existing ones
I'm having a strange problem with Phone Link on Windows 11 and my Samsung Galaxy A55.
When I open my phone's internal storage in File Explorer, only some of the existing folders are displayed. At the moment, I can see 11 out of 18 folders. After restarting my PC, they disappear completely and only "Saved Searches" remains.
But that's not even the worst part. Cross Device actually creates empty folders on my phone. They appear directly in the root of internal storage, and their names match folders that already exist inside other directories, sometimes several levels deep.
What's even stranger is that deleting these folders directly on the phone doesn't help. Cross Device immediately creates them again.
I've already tried reinstalling Phone Link and Cross Device Experience Host, clearing their caches and data, removing and reconnecting the phone, and even reinstalling Windows and factory-resetting the phone. The problem disappeared for about two months after that, but eventually came back.
My setup is a Samsung Galaxy A55 running One UI 8.5 with Link to Windows 3.6.01.2. My PC runs Windows 11 build 26300.9818.
Has anyone else experienced something like this? I'd really like to know why Cross Device is creating actual folders on my phone and why it keeps recreating them after I delete them. This seems like a serious bug, not just a problem with how File Explorer displays folders.
I've attached a screenshot from Samsung My Files showing the folders on the phone itself.
2 Replies
If Samsung My Files shows those folders on the phone itself, this goes beyond a stale Explorer listing. I wouldn’t repeat the factory resets.
First, isolate the File Explorer integration, which is managed separately from the main Phone Link app. Go to Settings > Bluetooth & devices > Mobile devices > Manage devices and turn off Show mobile device in File Explorer for the A55.
With that disabled, delete only the confirmed empty duplicates on the phone and see whether they return. If they stay gone until you re-enable the integration, that strongly implicates the cross-device file-access component. Leave it disabled and use USB file transfer temporarily.
Report the reproduction through Feedback Hub under the closest mobile-device/File Explorer category, and through Samsung Members. Include both software versions, one example of the original nested folder path and the unwanted root-level copy, and whether disabling the integration stops recreation.
Thanks for your reply! Just to clarify, the folders only appear when "Show mobile device in File Explorer" is enabled. When I turn it off, they stop being recreated.
