File picker unavailable

When you tap Phone Storage or a Default backup location row and Bluecoins shows a message like “File picker unavailable”, the app could not open your device’s built-in file picker. This page explains what that means and what you can do about it.

What is happening

Android does not build the folder and file picker into every app. Instead, apps ask the operating system to show it. The system component that answers is called DocumentsUI — you may have seen it as the Files or Documents app in your phone’s settings.

On some devices — most often certain Xiaomi / MIUI builds, and a few other phones — that system component is missing, disabled or hidden. When that happens, the request for the picker reaches no app at all, and the picker never appears.

This is a problem with the phone’s software, not with Bluecoins, and not something a Bluecoins setting can switch back on.

It is not only Bluecoins

Because the picker belongs to the system, any app that asks you to choose a file or a folder is affected in the same way. If you have noticed that attaching a file in your email app, or choosing a download folder in another app, also does nothing or fails, that is the same cause.

Installing another file manager does not help. Third-party file managers can browse files, but they cannot stand in for the system picker — only the system component can grant the kind of folder access Bluecoins needs for backups and sync.

What you can try on the phone

These steps work on some devices, depending on how the picker was hidden:

1. Open Settings → Apps → Manage apps.
2. Open the menu (usually the ⋮ or ⋯ in the top corner) and choose Show system apps.
3. Search for Documents or Files.
4. If you find an entry with an Enable button, tap Enable.
5. Restart the phone, then try Settings → Online Sync → Link (or Settings → Data Management → Phone Storage → Default backup location) again.

On some MIUI builds you may first need to turn off MIUI optimization in Developer options for the entry to appear. Note that newer MIUI versions have removed that switch.

If the picker is still missing

If no Documents / Files entry exists to enable, the component was not installed for your user, and only a system-level fix can restore it. These are advanced steps and are not required to keep using Bluecoins for your finances:

• Reinstall the system component over USB using Android’s adb tool from a computer: connect the phone, then run adb shell cmd package install-existing com.google.android.documentsui and restart the phone. This is the fix that restores the picker on the phones where the package is present but hidden.
• Reset or re-flash the phone’s software from the manufacturer’s official image, which reinstalls every system app.

For either step, a phone shop or someone comfortable with Android tools can help.

What still works

You do not need the picker for the automatic backups Bluecoins writes on its own — those go to the app’s own storage and to the Downloads/Bluecoins/ folder without asking you to choose anything. The picker is only needed when you choose a folder or a file, such as setting a custom backup location or restoring a backup file.

If Google Drive or Dropbox is your backup provider, linking it can still fail while the picker is unavailable, because the app asks you to confirm a folder first.

If none of this restores the picker, please contact support and include your phone model and the app version from Settings → About → App Version.