How to Set a Custom Folder Name on DJI Drone
Peter Leslie
22 May 2026
If your DJI drone is dropping every photo and video into the same generic DCIM folder and the offload from a busy week is starting to feel like an archaeology dig, the fix is one short trip through DJI Fly — open Settings, drop into the Camera category, scroll down to Custom Folder Naming, type the folder label you want, then tap Create. Every clip captured from that point onwards lands inside a labelled folder on the on-board storage, ready to be pulled across cleanly.
Drones this applies to
This Custom Folder Naming walkthrough applies to the DJI Neo 2, DJI Mini 5 Pro, DJI Avata 2, DJI Air 3 Pro, and DJI Mavic 4 Pro. The menu path inside DJI Fly is identical on every model — Settings, Camera, Custom Folder Naming — and the on-disk behaviour is the same across the lineup. Older airframes that still pair with DJI Fly carry the same row on the Camera page.
Quick guide
To set a custom folder name on DJI Drone, go to DJI Fly → Camera View → Settings → Camera → scroll down to Custom Folder Naming → type the label → Create. The label is forward-only — it routes new clips into the labelled folder and never moves files already on the drone.
Step-by-step: How to Set a Custom Folder Name on DJI Drone
Follow these top to bottom the first time, and you will know the path off by heart the second time.
Drop into the drone camera view inside DJI Fly
With the drone powered on and the remote controller connected to the phone, launch DJI Fly and tap Go Fly to enter the camera view. The live feed from the drone fills the screen and the shooting controls stack down the right-hand edge.
Tap the three-dot menu in the top-right corner to open the Settings panel
Look to the top-right corner of the camera view for the three-dot menu icon. Tap it once and the Settings panel slides in from the right side of the screen with the category tabs running down the left edge of the panel.
Tap the Camera category in the Settings panel
In the category column down the left edge of the Settings panel, tap the Camera tab. The right-hand pane reloads with every camera-side option the connected DJI drone exposes, from format and aspect ratio at the top through to storage and reset at the foot of the list.
Scroll the Camera page almost all the way down to the Custom Folder Naming row
Swipe up through the right-hand pane until the Custom Folder Naming row comes into view near the foot of the Camera page. It sits below the format and grid options and just above the storage controls, so a near-full scroll lands the row in the centre of the screen.
Tap the Custom Folder Naming row to open the label input screen
Tap directly on the Custom Folder Naming row. DJI Fly drops into the label input screen, the phone keyboard slides up from the bottom of the screen, and a single text field sits ready to accept the folder label.
Type the desired folder label into the text field on the Custom Folder Naming screen
Type the label every new clip should be written under — a client surname, a site reference, a survey date, whatever sorts the deliverable cleanest. Stick to letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores so the folder name reads cleanly the moment the storage is opened on a computer.
Tap Create to commit the new folder label to the DJI drone
Tap the Create button on the label input screen to commit the change. The drone writes the new folder into its capture path, the keyboard drops away, and the Camera page reloads with the new label shown next to the Custom Folder Naming row.
Shoot a test clip and open the drone storage to confirm the new folder is live
Back out to the camera view and squeeze off one quick test photo or video. Plug the drone into a computer over USB-C and open the storage — the new folder should sit under the DCIM directory holding the test capture, alongside any older folders the drone had on the chip. If the test clip is still landing in a default DCIM folder, the Create tap did not register and the change needs running again.
Peter's tip
I pair the folder label with the file-name prefix on the same morning — folder gets the client surname, file prefix gets the date in YYYY-MM-DD form. That way the storage card sorts itself twice over: by client at the folder level, and by date inside each folder. The two minutes spent typing both labels before take-off saves a tedious half-hour of dragging clips into the right project bin later in the week.
Frequently asked questions
Does the custom folder name on a DJI drone move clips that were already on the drone?
No. The custom folder name is a forward-only setting — it only routes photos and videos captured after Create is tapped into the new folder. Existing files in their original DCIM folders stay exactly where they were on the on-board storage, so set the label before the job starts rather than half-way through if a clean break is wanted.
What characters are safe to use in a DJI Drone custom folder name?
Stick to letters, numbers, hyphens, and underscores. Spaces, slashes, colons, question marks, and other punctuation either get rejected on commit or cause the folder to throw warnings when the storage is opened on a Windows or macOS computer. Short labels like Site-A or 2026-Survey keep every downstream tool happy.
Where does the custom folder name show up on a DJI drone?
The label shows up as a folder under the DCIM directory on the drone on-board storage. Plug the DJI drone into a computer over USB-C, open the storage, and the new folder appears as the destination for every photo and video captured after Create was tapped. The DJI Fly Album still groups everything by date — the label is the on-disk folder, not a new in-app tab.
Does the custom folder name survive a Format Storage on the DJI drone?
Yes. The custom folder name is a DJI Fly camera setting tied to the drone, not a file written to the storage chip. A Format Storage pass wipes every photo and video on the drone but leaves the label in place, so the first clip after the format still lands inside a folder under the same name. Reset the label manually if a new job needs a different one.
What is the difference between a custom folder name and a custom file name on a DJI drone?
Custom Folder Naming controls the on-disk folder under DCIM that every new clip is written into. Custom File Name controls the prefix at the front of each individual file. They sit a row or two apart on the Camera page and can be used together — a client folder on one side, a job prefix on every file inside it on the other — so the offload sorts itself twice.
How do I switch the folder name on a DJI drone back to the default DCIM folder?
Open Settings → Camera, tap the Custom Folder Naming row, clear the text field with the keyboard backspace, then tap Create with the field empty. The drone reverts to the default DCIM folder layout from the next clip onwards. The row on the Camera page goes back to showing the default placeholder.
Why are my DJI drone clips still landing in the default DCIM folder after I set a custom folder name?
Either the Create tap did not register on the folder-label screen, or the Camera page is showing a previous value because the new label has not been committed yet. Drop back into Settings → Camera, scroll to Custom Folder Naming, retype the label, and confirm with Create. The row should now display the new label and the next clip should land in the labelled folder.
Does every DJI drone have a Custom Folder Naming option in DJI Fly?
The current consumer lineup does. The DJI Neo 2, DJI Mini 5 Pro, DJI Avata 2, DJI Air 3 Pro, and DJI Mavic 4 Pro all expose the Custom Folder Naming row inside the DJI Fly Camera settings page. Older airframes that still pair with DJI Fly carry the same setting on newer app builds, though the row may sit a little higher or lower on the Camera page depending on the firmware version.
A custom folder name on a DJI drone is a five-second pre-flight tweak that turns the offload from a guessing game into a labelled set of folders sitting under DCIM. Set the label before take-off, fire a test clip to confirm the new folder is live, and every clip from that point onwards lands on the storage already grouped for the deliverable.
If you are not sure what folder-naming convention works best for the kind of work you fly, drop the job details to peter@hiredronepilot.uk and I will come back to you directly. The video version of this walkthrough is on YouTube and the comments are open.
References
Primary source material for this article is the official DJI documentation and DJI Fly. External links open in a new tab.
- DJI — Downloads centre (per-drone user manuals, quick start guides, firmware notes) · Camera settings layout, Custom Folder Naming behaviour, and DCIM folder structure across the current DJI lineup.
- DJI — Consumer drones (UK) · Per-model spec sheets and on-board storage capacities that the custom folder labels carve up.
- DJI Fly — App download and release notes · The app that hosts the Camera Settings page and the Custom Folder Naming input. Release notes record any layout changes between app versions.
Peter Leslie
Founder & GVC Drone Pilot
Peter is the founder of HireDronePilot. With thousands of logged commercial flight hours, he writes about drone technology, commercial surveying tactics, and UK aviation compliance.
Connect on LinkedIn