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Hello again readers! Dear Berry is here once again with a mailbag full of BlackBerry questions and woes. Today's question comes from Steve who asks:

Is there any way to swipe through files in File manager rather then having to look at one file/photo then going back and clicking another? Very annoying especially with having a large amount of files (in this case pictures) stored on phone and media card. Thanks, Steve

While you can swipe through images in the camera application, unfortunately you cannot in File Manager. What you can do is change to Grid View in file manager and this would allow you to see larger thumbnails of your images.

However, an alternative way in which you can ameliorate the situation is by creating photo albums. By doing so, you can scroll through the images located in each album without having to go through them one by one in the File Manager application especially if you are searching for a particular event.

As a quick reference, the Albums option is located in the Pictures application at the bottom. Here you will find all of the photos on your device and media card arranged by existing albums (i.e. Camera, Photos, BlackBerry Messenger, Downloads, or any other existing folder with images) and ones created by third-party applications such MockIt or a wallpaper changer. However, I must warn there is no way to sort the images. Users can create folders based on events, dates or other personal categories to narrow them down even further.

Using file manager you can setup your own folders, these can be in the camera or photos folder on your device or SD Card, which in turn can become albums for which you can organize your photos. All you would have to do is move your images into these folders and they would appear as albums in the pictures application on the device. This helps if you have a large amount of files stored.

For those wishing to create folders/albums on BlackBerry 10, below are the step-by-step instructions. Please note that empty folders do not appear in the Picture Application, you will need to move a picture into the new album/folder before it will populate.

Create a new album or folder using File Manager

  • Launch the File Manager application
  • Tap on the folder you wish to create your album in
  • Tap the overflow menu (three dots) and select the Add Folder option
  • Input a name for your album/folder

Once the new albums have been created you will need to move your image into the new location in order for the Pictures application to recognize it. Please note that if you copy and paste you will have duplicate images show.

Move pictures from original location into the new album/folder

  • From the file manager, locate the image(s) you wish to move
  • Press and hold on the picture
  • To choose more than one image, tap on Select More from the side action menu and then tap on all the pictures to be moved
  • From the side action bar that appears, tap on Move
  • Navigate to the album/folder you wish to place the picture(s)
  • Tap Move

Once these actions are performed, simply go into the Pictures Application, tap on Albums, and they will be there as it scans for and picks up any folder that has an image. If you created an album as a sub-folder on your device or media card, the album will be located in that directory and you would simply tap on one of them to access. For example, if I created a new album within the camera folder of my SD Card, I tap on the Camera album and my new folder appears there. Otherwise, if they are in the main directory on the device or SD card they will show up as their own thumbnail in the Albums list.

While this may not be the perfect solution for browsing through all of your images, creating albums helps to organize them in a more efficient manner. Rather than scrolling from old to new or going through each one in File Manager, you can view by album and locate them quicker.

See you next time!

Have a question about BlackBerry etiquette? Need advice on how to cope with your BlackBerry addiction? Dear Berry has you covered and there's no question too big or problem too small. Submit any of your BlackBerry woes by email to [email protected] or on Twitter @DearBerryCB.

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