# Media in multiple locations **URL:** \ **Category:** RootsMagic\ **Tags:** question\ **Created:** [February 9, 2026, 7:09pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/media-in-multiple-locations/15402 "2026-02-09T19:09:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sbankscharles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@sbankscharles](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/sbankscharles)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 7:09pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/media-in-multiple-locations/15402/1 "2026-02-09T19:09:48Z")
I’m on RM 11 with my media folder set to \public\Pictures and data folder to \public\Documents. I always use “Drop New Media” and I never enter captions. I only sync to Ancestry and FamilySearch (no merges into RM). I just found two people with duplicated media in a folder that RM created under my data folder, named TreeName\_media. The duplicates in that folder have captions that are simply the first ~70 characters of the file name. The original files in \public\Pictures still look normal and have no captions. Has anyone seen RM 11 (a) create a TreeName\_media folder under the data folder and (b) auto‑generate captions from the filename like this? I’ve added thousands of images and this is the first time I’ve seen it. Any idea what could trigger RM to do this for just a couple of files? Thanks Charles ---
**Author:** ![BobC](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/bobc/32/6195_2.png) [@BobC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/BobC)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 8:48pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/media-in-multiple-locations/15402/2 "2026-02-09T20:48:25Z")
TreeName\_media was created automatically when you downloaded the Treename from A\*. The duplicates were downloaded from A\* at a later time due to some action being taken on A\* which flagged them as new media and they came down during a Treeshare session. ---
**Author:** ![thejerrybryan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/thejerrybryan/32/404_2.png) [@thejerrybryan](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/thejerrybryan)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 9:01pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/media-in-multiple-locations/15402/3 "2026-02-09T21:01:57Z")
> [@sbankscharles](#): > > I only sync to Ancestry and FamilySearch (no merges into RM). To follow up on the answer from [bobc](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/bobc), you must have merged from Ancestry into RM at least once using TreeShare, perhaps by accident. That’s the only way media files are placed into the TreeName\_media folder. ---
**Author:** ![sbankscharles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@sbankscharles](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/sbankscharles)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2026, 10:44pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/media-in-multiple-locations/15402/4 "2026-02-09T22:44:59Z")
Even if you have a folder configured for media, RM will create a folder in the data folder for media? I am very careful both in TreeShare and Family Search not to bring intentionally bring data in from the internet. If the consensus is that is the only way this could happen, then I’ll accept it. Since there are two distinct sides in TreeShare, the only time I select anything on (from?) Ancestry is to delete information that I removed from RM. By selecting anything on the Ancestry side, could that do it? Thanks to both of you for responding. Charles ---
**Author:** ![thejerrybryan](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/thejerrybryan/32/404_2.png) [@thejerrybryan](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/thejerrybryan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2026, 1:24am UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/media-in-multiple-locations/15402/5 "2026-02-10T01:24:16Z")
> [@sbankscharles](#): > > Even if you have a folder configured for media, RM will create a folder in the data folder for media? Yes, everything that TreeShare brings in for you does it’s own thing. It names the file with a meaningless name. It stores the file in TreeName\_media no matter what you setting is for the default media file. Indeed, it’s worth reiterating that the default media file that you set via **Settings \> Folders \> Media folder** never tells RM where to store any of your media files. If you are linking files into RM yourself rather than having TreeShare do it for you, there is a sense in which **Settings \> Folders \> Media folder** is almost irrelevant. It does have relevance as follows. - If you link media files into RM via Add New Media, **Settings \> Folders \> Media folder** determines which folder RM opens so that you can pick the file to add. But you still can and often need to navigate to where the file really is, for example if you have a large subfolder structure. If instead you use Drop New Media, then **Settings \> Folders \> Media folder** is irrelevant for navigating to the proper folder. Instead, you are totally responsible for that yourself. - Beginning with RM8 and continuing on through RM11, RM stores the path to media files via what are called relative media links. Such links are relative to the **Settings \> Folders \> Media folder** if possible. This feature is primarily of benefit to users who are running RM on two computers and where their media folder is not in the same location on the two computers. If a media file is not within **Settings \> Folders \> Media folder** , then it stores the path of the file relative to the computer’s Documents folder. And if that’s not possible, it stores the path of the file relative to the root of the C: drive, just as RM7 did for all files. ---
**Author:** ![sbankscharles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@sbankscharles](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/sbankscharles)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2026, 2:04pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/media-in-multiple-locations/15402/6 "2026-02-10T14:04:05Z")
Jerry, I always like your responses because it helps me sort through my issues/concerns and you don’t mind when if I question something you say. As a programmer myself, I understand that folder settings within a program is not “telling” the application where to store items. Also, RM does not store the actual path in the multimedia table. My thinking was only that RM would reference that if you were to download media. Now, I realize that my thinking was flawed, and it also explains why there were captions; TreeShare does its own thing. One item to note which is also what bothered me which I should have noted, the file name under the treename\_media used the same naming standard that I do. I should have mentioned that because I would have expected TreeShare to use its own naming convention also. You just helped me realize that. Thanks Charles ---
**Author:** ![kevinm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/85e7bf/32.png) [@kevinm](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/kevinm)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2026, 3:50pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/media-in-multiple-locations/15402/7 "2026-02-10T15:50:53Z")
> [@sbankscharles](#): > > One item to note which is also what bothered me which I should have noted, the file name under the treename\_media used the same naming standard that I do. Not sure if this explains it but see [Renee’s answer to a similar question](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/help-combining-multiple-ancestry-trees-into-one-rootsmagic-tree-rm11-mac-preparing-for-ancestry-upload-media-files/15333/11) a few weeks ago - > [@Help Combining Multiple Ancestry Trees into One RootsMagic Tree (RM11 Mac) – Preparing for Ancestry Upload & Media Files](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/help-combining-multiple-ancestry-trees-into-one-rootsmagic-tree-rm11-mac-preparing-for-ancestry-upload-media-files/15333/11): > > If the media has a caption on Ancestry it should use it as the filename when downloading into RM. ---
**Author:** ![kevync1985](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3be4f8/32.png) [@kevync1985](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/kevync1985)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2026, 5:38pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/media-in-multiple-locations/15402/8 "2026-02-10T17:38:45Z")
> [@thejerrybryan](#): > > you must have merged from Ancestry into RM at least once using TreeShare, perhaps by accident How / when does (or) the thumbnail get updated when coming from TreeShare / Ancestry? ---
**Author:** ![kevync1985](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3be4f8/32.png) [@kevync1985](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/kevync1985)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2026, 5:41pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/media-in-multiple-locations/15402/9 "2026-02-10T17:41:22Z")
> [@Help Combining Multiple Ancestry Trees into One RootsMagic Tree (RM11 Mac) – Preparing for Ancestry Upload & Media Files](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/help-combining-multiple-ancestry-trees-into-one-rootsmagic-tree-rm11-mac-preparing-for-ancestry-upload-media-files/15333/11): > > If the media has a caption on Ancestry it should use it as the filename when downloading into RM. so in theory – the media would seem to have been in the media Gallery in order to comeback into RM with a caption? And if the same filename was on both sides that is possible it could cause a duplicate mediaID because it was in diff paths? (even if same filename) ---
**Author:** ![sbankscharles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@sbankscharles](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/sbankscharles)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2026, 7:29pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/media-in-multiple-locations/15402/10 "2026-02-10T19:29:05Z")
My filenames are standards which I created: Lastname, First name(birth-death) - [source type] year place. There is no way TreeShare would have created that and I never use captions. Both files which were duplicate had that format for a name and added the first 70 characters as a caption. Jerry’s response made me realize I should have included that in the first post. One of the reasons I don’t download media (intentionally) from Ancestry is because I also use the filename for my Citation Name. I am fully aware that TreeShare has its own naming convention. That was the other reason I decided to post the question. ---
**Author:** ![kevync1985](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3be4f8/32.png) [@kevync1985](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/kevync1985)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2026, 7:34pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/media-in-multiple-locations/15402/11 "2026-02-10T19:34:42Z")
> [@sbankscharles](#): > > I am fully aware that TreeShare has its own naming convention. By chance do you have any media in your Media Gallery online Ancestry? and by chance were of the media the same MediaNames (as ones you had issues with) ---
**Author:** ![sbankscharles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@sbankscharles](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/sbankscharles)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2026, 9:04pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/media-in-multiple-locations/15402/12 "2026-02-10T21:04:34Z")
Yes, I do have media in the Media Gallery online and the do have the same name as my files. Things just got interesting! Because it has been a couple of months now since the duplication happened, I don’t have any background or timeline. Maybe it’s not TreeShare that comes up with obscured names, but Ancestry instead. It would make sense that Ancestry would have their own naming convention and TreeShare pulls the file, downloads it and adds the filename as a caption. It would also mean that at some point, I used TreeShare to send the source with the media to Ancestry and Ancestry kept my filename. New question becomes, if TreeShare sends new data from RM to ANC, why would TreeShare send that back to RM.? Meaning, the information should be in Sync if they are identical. This, now, adds to a list of weird issues I’ve had with TS but didn’t want to bring up. ---
**Author:** ![kevync1985](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3be4f8/32.png) [@kevync1985](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/kevync1985)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2026, 9:07pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/media-in-multiple-locations/15402/13 "2026-02-10T21:07:59Z")
> [@sbankscharles](#): > > if TreeShare sends new data from RM to ANC, why would TreeShare send that back to RM.? Meaning, the information should be in Sync if they are identical. this is where my questions were headed Also wondering if media attached to citations/source has something to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![kbens0n](https://yyz2.discourse-cdn.com/flex030/user_avatar/community.rootsmagic.com/kbens0n/32/80_2.png) [@kbens0n](https://community.rootsmagic.com/u/kbens0n)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2026, 9:29pm UTC](https://community.rootsmagic.com/t/media-in-multiple-locations/15402/14 "2026-02-10T21:29:58Z")
> [@sbankscharles](#): > > It would make sense that Ancestry would have their own naming convention and TreeShare pulls the file, downloads it and adds the filename as a caption. For the “uninitiated” (me)… do they end up locally in a folder named /Ancestry\_Media/ ?