How can I get Samsung's Gallery app for WIndows to use OneDrive?

[rsbrux]

In order to view and edit motion photos on my Windows 10 PC, I installed the Samsung Gallery app from the Microsoft store. Unfortunately, the app won't let me use my local OneDrive pictures directory. Even though I am giving it the local directory path where OneDrive stores the synchronized files on my PC, it complains that it can't use a cloud location.

Perversely, it keeps asking me to connect it to Samsung Cloud, even though Samsung discontinued synchronizing photos with Samsung Cloud in favor of MS OneDrive years ago.

P.S. The error message when I try to add my local OneDrive pictures folder (%USERPROFILE%\OneDrive\Bilder) to Gallery is:

"Can't store downloads in a cloud folder.  Select another folder."

[Robin999]

Hi,

Do you own a Samsung mobile device or tablet? If so, ensure the device is syncing to Microsoft OneDrive via the Samsung Gallery mobile app. This creates a folder in Microsoft OneDrive where all your synced files reside.
So, to be clear, I own an S23U, and it syncs to my Microsoft OneDrive via the Samsung Gallery mobile app. I can then see all my files on my Windows laptop via the Samsung Gallery app downloaded from Microsoft Store.

[rsbrux]

Indeed I have an S23 Ultra with OneDrive sync.  This works fine.  I can see the photos from my S23  in the OneDrive folder on my PC that I mentioned in my original post. I can open other folders on my PC in the Gallery app I downloaded form the MS store, but when I try to open the local OneDrive folder in the Gallery app, I get the error message I quoted above.

[Robin999]

Yes, the PC app can only link to locally stored folders.

Your OneDrive folder is already synced, so there's no need to point to it again. The files in there should already be accessible to you and showing in the gallery on your PC if sync is set up correctly and working.

The OneDrive folder you see on your PC is not actually locally stored on your PC. If you uninstalled OneDrive from your PC, that folder would disappear and be replaced by the native PC pictures folder.

On a side note. I can point to my virtual Google Drive folder, and once indexed, I can see all my Google photos in the gallery.

[rsbrux]

I'm not sure you understand the problem.  OneDrive synchronizes the local folder automatically and downloads photos as needed on demand.  As a result, I can open photos from the local OneDrive folder without problems in other photo viewing and editing programs, such as IrfanView, MS Photos and XnView. However, none of these is capable of showing the short video which is embedded in motion photos, much less of extracting frames from it.  I installed the Samsung Gallery app, because this thread on reddit said that it could.  I guess I could copy the photos I am working with from the local OneDrive folde to another local folder as a workaround, but the synchronized and downloaded photos in the OneDrive folder are already taking up space on my local drive and having to copy the files defeats the advantage of automatic synchronization and download on demand.  Furthermore, why does the Gallery app continue to ask me to connect it to the Samsung Cloud, where, thanks to Samsung switching its synchronization target on the smartphone, I no longer have any photos?  If the Gallery app can handle the Samsung Cloud, why not the OneDrive cloud?

[rsbrux]

Since Gallery for Windows nags me to connect it to Samsung Cloud, it seems to be able to handle cloud folders. My Photos are all in OneDrive because Samsung has phased out backup to Samsung Cloud on its smartphones in favor of syncing with OneDrive. I can only conclude that Gallery for Windows is being neglected and therefore behind the times.  This is too bad, because I was looking for a way to view motion photos on my Windows PC. However, if Samsung Gallery doesn't understand that the files in my OneDrive folder *are* indeed local (since OneDrive downloads them on demand), then I will have to look for another solution, since I don't feel like wasting the time or the local storage to duplicate all of my photos in a directory that Gallery for Windows can recognize as "local".