I need help: How to copy a folder from locked internal area of android to the unlocked area?


I ​​am looking for a tool to copy my QField project folder, currently located in the “Imported Projects” folder (locked area of the internal memory) on my Android 16 Samsung Galaxy A56 smartphone, to the unlocked area. Only then will I be able to use LocalSend to copy the data wirelessly! to my Windows 11 laptop.
Who can help?

First of all, keep in mind that the Imported Projects folder should be accesible on any PC if you connect your phone with a USB cable (that’s why it’s called the “cable transfer” method).

Other than that, you should be able to make a zipped copy of your project located in the Imported Projects folder by:

  1. Go to the main/initial/home screen of QField. If you have your project open, touch the hamburger/three dash button on the top left corner and then on Return Home, at the bottom of the left side menu.
  2. Press on the middle button Local projects and datasets to open the sort of internal file manager of QField.
  3. Go to Imported projects.
  4. There you should see the folder of your project. Don’t go inside, instead, press the kebab/three dots button to the right of your folder’s name. There you have two options:
    1. Use the Send compressed folder to… option from the dropdown menu. The default share wizard of your phone should pop up, allowing you to “share” a zip file. You can Then directly use something like Quick Share, send by mail, telegram, drive, etc…
    2. Use the Export to folder… option to copy the project’s folder into a local folder on your phone. Naturally, only the “unlocked” areas of your phone would be available.

Thank you very much! I started sending 1.1 GB to Google Drive. The transmission lasted one hour.

hmm, if you instead save the exported folder to another folder in your phone, does it weight the same 1.1GB? Are you sure you have enough free space on your phone?

I did just try both functions (“export folder” and “send compressed folder”) and both worked with a small 3MB project. I used Syncthing to share the files to my PC in both cases.

I have to export a mixed structure, 2 folders and 15 files.
If I chose “Export to folder…” then folders are shown. But only files are transferred, no folders.
If I chose “Send compressed folder to…” then only apps are shown like Dropbox or Google Drive (no folders). That works fine!