Xiaomi Gallery does not show a photo from the memory card: all the reasons and ways to fix

You inserted a memory card into a Xiaomi smartphone, but photos and videos never showed up in the gallery, POCO And Mi — from the budget Redmi Note 12 to the flagship Xiaomi 14 Ultra. the reasons can lie in the settings of the phone and in the memory card itself, and solutions range from banal reboots to deep diagnostics of the file system.

In this article, we will discuss 10 of the most common reasons why the gallery does not display files from the Internet. SD-We'll give you step-by-step instructions to eliminate each of these, and we'll focus on the hidden settings. MIUI, And if you've tried the standard methods (reboot, retrieve the map) and they don't work, don't rush to format the drive: 80 percent of the time, the problem is solved without drastic measures.

1. Memory card not recognized by the system: basic checks

Before digging deep into the settings, make sure the smartphone actually "sees" your memory card at all, often with a physical connection or basic crashes being the problem.

How to check:

• 🔍 Connection Notice: After inserting the card into the slot, a notification should appear «SD-If it is not there, the problem is hardware (contacts, slot) or the card is defective.
• 📱 Storage menu: go to Settings → Memory. → Memory card: If the partition is empty or appears as "Not found", the card is not recognized.
• 🔄 Reboot: Remove the card, reboot the phone, insert the card back. Sometimes that's enough to initialize.

If the card is not detected even after these manipulations, try inserting it into another phone or computer (through a card reader), if it is not read there, it is likely the problem in the card itself (damaged contacts, a failure of the controller).

⚠️ Warning: Do not use memory cards with physical damage (scratches, chips on contacts).This can short-circuit and failure of the slot in the smartphone.

2. files are hidden or have an unsupported format

gallery MIUI default does not show:

• 📁 Hidden files (with a dot at the beginning of the name, such as.nomedia or.thumbnail).
• 🖼️ Unsupported formats:.CR2 (Canon RAW),.ARW (Sony RAW),.HEIC (Apple),.WEB.
• 🗑️ Damaged files with zero size or broken headers.

How to check:

1. Open any file manager (e.g., Mi File Manager or Solid Explorer).
2. Go to the root catalogue SD-cards (usually) /storage/XXXX-XXXX/).
3. Enable the display of hidden files in the manager settings.
4. Check if there are files in the folders with extensions.jpg,.png,.mp4.

If the files are still there but the gallery can’t see them, try:

• 🔄 Rename the file (remove the point at the beginning of the name).
• 📤 Copying it into the phone’s internal memory – sometimes it wakes up the gallery.
• 🛠️ convert.HEIC into.JPG via online services (e.g. heictojpg.com).

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If you have a.nomedia file in your folder, the gallery will ignore the entire contents of that folder. Delete it or rename it to nomedia.txt.

3 Gallery settings MIUI: what could have gone wrong

V MIUI There are several pitfalls, which may cause the gallery to not show files from the SD-The most common fault is the cards:

• 🔕 Disabled scanning of external drives.
• 📂 Excluded folders in gallery settings.
• 🔄 App cache failure.

Instructions for setting:

1. Open the Gallery and tap three dots in the upper right corner. → Settings.
2. Find the Show Devices or External Devices section and make sure the tick is next to SD-card.
3. Go to the Folders and check if there is an icon next to the folders on the memory card. 👁️❌ (covertly).
4. Clear the gallery cache: Settings → Applications → Application Management → Gallery → Storage → Clear the cache.

If after these actions files do not appear, try to reset the settings of the gallery to the factory (in the same menu Storage). → Resetting. It won't delete your photos, but it will return all display settings to default.

4. Problems with the memory card file system

If the memory card is identified, but the files in the gallery are not displayed or appear with errors, the file system may be to blame.

• 📁 FAT32 (Maximum file size: 4 GB).
• 📁 exFAT (recommended for cards) >64GB).
• 📁 NTFS (It can be read, but it can be slower).

ext4, HFS+ Other file systems are not supported, and problems arise when you have a file system:

• 🔧 The map was formatted on Mac in APFS.
• 💻 The file system is corrupted (for example, after retrieving the card without safely shutting down).
• 📏 The size of the cluster is non-standard (optimally - 32 KB for FAT32, 128 KB for exFAT).

How to check and correct:

For formatting in exFAT on Windows:

1. Connect the card through the card reader.
2. Open this computer. → PCM on the map → Format.
3. Select exFAT, cluster size 128 KB, volume label (e.g. XiaomiSD).
4. Click Start (all data will be deleted!).

⚠️ Note: Do not format the map into NTFS It can crash on your phone. Use only FAT32 exFAT.

5. Conflict with access rights settings (MIUI 12+)

Starting with MIUI 12, Xiaomi tightened its policy on accessing external drives.If you inserted a card into your phone for the first time, the system can block access to it for applications, including the gallery.

How to unlock:

1. Go to Settings. → Annexes → Permits → Access to files.
2. Find the gallery on the list and tap it.
3. Turn on the switch External Storage (or) SD-map).
4. If there is no option, try settings. → Memory. → Memory map → Settings (⚙️) → Format as internal (see next section).

Also check the global permits:

• 🔒 Settings → Confidentiality → Special permits → Access to all files → turn on for the gallery.
• 📋 If the card is used as a portable storage, some applications will not be able to write files to it.

Access to external storage enabled|The gallery has permission "All files"|The card is not locked in the security settings|The file manager sees the contents of the card-->

6.The memory card is used as internal memory

The function of forming as an internal MIUI It allows you to expand the memory of the phone SD-cards, but has side effects:

• 🔒 Files on the card are encrypted and become unavailable on other devices.
• 📱 Gallery may not see a photo if the card is “associated” to another user profile.
• 🔄 After the map is extracted, some applications stop working.

How to check:

1. Go to Settings → Memory → Memory Map.
2. If you write Internal Memory, then the card is formatted as an extension of the main storage.
3. Slip on three dots in the upper right corner → Settings → Format as portable (all data will be deleted!).

If you want to save files, copy them to your computer or to the cloud first, and once formatted as a portable card, it will be available to all applications without restrictions.

⚠️ Warning: Do not remove a card formatted as internal without first Secure Retrieval in Settings.This can cause data loss and application crash.

7.Operational failures MIUI and system bugs

Sometimes the problem isn't with the map or the settings, it's with the firmware itself, and this is especially true for:

• 📱 Devices in beta versions MIUI (for example, MIUI 15 Beta).
• 🔄 Phones after the update "by air» (OTA), when the cache didn't clear.
• 🛠️ Smartphones with custom firmware (for example, LineageOS or Pixel Experience).

Solutions:

1. Cleaning the cache of the gallery and media storage: Settings → Annexes → Application management → gallery → Warehouse → Clear the cache Settings → Annexes → Show all applications (⋮) → Show system-based → Media Storage → Clear the cache
2. Resetting Media Storage Settings: Settings → Annexes → Media Storage → Warehouse → Management of space → Reset
3. Restart in Safe Mode (if third-party software is to blame): Press the power button → Hold and hold the "Switch off» → Confirm the transition to safe mode.

If the problem occurs after the update MIUI, Check the reviews on forums (e.g. Mi Community) and it may be a massive bug and Xiaomi has already released a patch.

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If the gallery does not see files only after the update MIUI, Try to roll back to the previous version via Fastboot or wait for a fix in the next patch.

8 Hardware problems: slot, contacts, card controller

If all the software methods have been tried, but the map still doesn't work, it could be hardware.

• 🔌 Oxidation of contacts in the slot for SD-cards (especially after getting moisture).
• 📶 Poor contact between the card and the connector (for example, due to deformation).
• 💥 Failure of the memory card controller (often after overheating).
• 🔧 Slot damage (for example, after sloppy card extraction).

Diagnosis:

1. Try inserting the card into another phone or computer, and if it works, it's a problem with your Xiaomi slot.
2. Check the contacts of the card and slot for contamination or damage, if necessary, clean them with isopropyl alcohol (at least 90%).
3. If the slot is damaged, contact the service center. SD-cards in Xiaomi – from 1,500 to 3,000 rubles (depending on the model).

For a temporary solution, you can use USB-OTG Adapter with card reader, if your Xiaomi supports OTG.

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If the memory card is no longer detectable after the phone falls, do not try to insert it back, which can aggravate the damage to the contacts.

FAQ: Frequent questions about problems with SD-mapping