Why Xiaomi Gallery is not Opening: 12 Reasons and Ways to Fix It

You try to open photos on a Xiaomi smartphone, but the gallery stubbornly doesn't start — does the app fly out, hang on the logo or not at all? This problem is familiar to many users of devices on MIUI, and its causes can be hidden in both software failures and hardware limitations. In 2026, with the release of new versions of the firmware, the list of possible malfunctions has expanded, but the solutions have become more numerous.

In this article, we will analyze all the current reasons why the gallery may not open on Redmi, Poco, Mi and Black Shark smartphones - from banal cache to serious file system errors. You will receive step-by-step instructions for each situation, including when the application disappeared after an update or reset. MIUI 14/15 HyperOS, where the algorithms of the gallery have changed.

Before you go to radical measures (like a phone reset), check out simple solutions — often the problem is solved in 2 minutes. And if you have already tried standard methods without success, at the end of the article you will find exclusive ways for complex cases, including recovery through ADB and manual installation of APK.

1 Gallery flies out immediately after launch: causes and fast fixes

If a gallery app opens for a split second and closes immediately (or a message appears, "Gallery stopped"), one of three components is to blame: the app's cache, corrupted media data, or conflict with other services.

The first step is to clean the cache, and this method works 60 percent of the time, because MIUI is actively caching thumbnails and metadata of photos.

Settings → Applications → Application Management → Gallery → Storage → Clear cache

If the gallery still doesn't open after cleaning the cache, try to delete the application data (the "Clear Data" button under the cache). Attention: this will delete all albums and sorting settings, but the photos on the phone will remain. Once the gallery device is rebooted, reassemble the media database - the process can take 5-15 minutes depending on the volume of the photo.

• 🔄 Rebooting your phone - sometimes helps even without clearing the cache. Hold the power button for 10 seconds for a forced reboot.
• 📱 Check for updates – go to Settings → The phone. → Update the system. MIUI 15 and HyperOS gallery bugs are often patched.
• 🚫 Shutdown VPN/AdGuard — Some ad blocking apps conflict with system services MIUI.

⚠️ Warning: If the gallery doesn't start after cleaning up the data, don't create new albums manually, which can make the problem worse.

2 Gallery Disappears After MIUI Update: How to Get Back

One of the most common problems is that the gallery icon disappears after the firmware update.

• 🔄 Automatic resetting of settings (in MIUI 14+ Some applications are hidden as “unused»).
• 📦 Systemic removal APK Incorrect updates (relevant to beta versions).
• 🤖 Conflict with Google Photos if it is installed as a default app.

First, check if the gallery is hidden.

1. Open Settings → Applications → Application Management.
2. Slip on three dots in the top right corner and select "Show all apps."
3. Find the Gallery in the list and turn it on.

If the gallery is not listed, then its APK has been removed.

1. Download the original APK galleries for your model from the Xiaomi Firmware Updater website (select the version corresponding to your firmware).
2. Install the APK manually, pre-authorizing installation from unknown sources (Settings → Privacy → Special Permits).

3. "No access to the storage" error: rights and permissions

If you open a gallery with a message like “No File Access” or “Permissions Not Granted,” the problem is with the MIUI security settings. In recent versions of Xiaomi firmware, media access controls have been tightened, and sometimes permissions are reset after updates.

To fix this:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → Application Management → Gallery → Permissions.
2. All switches are switched on: “Storage”, “Camera” (for creating albums), “Microphone” (for video with sound).
3. Scroll down and turn on “Changing System Settings” (to create screenshots and edit metadata).

If the Permissions section is not available (gray), then the gallery is operating in a limited mode, this happens after manual resetting of rights through ADB or using applications such as App Ops.

Connect your phone to your PC, enable debugging over USB and execute the command:


adb shell pm grant com.miui.gallery android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE




adb shell pm grant com.miui.gallery android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE

4.The gallery does not open specific photos or folders

Sometimes the gallery is launched but refuses to display individual files, such as telegram photos, screenshots or images uploaded from the Internet.

• 📁 Incorrect rights to folders (relevant for files downloaded through the browser).
• 🔍 Unsupported formats (e.g, HEIC or WEBp on older models).
• 🔒 Encrypting files (if photos were transferred from another device with encrypted storage).

For diagnosis:

1. Open any file manager (e.g., Mi File Manager or Solid Explorer).
2. Go to the problematic photo folder (usually /storage/emulated/0/DCIM/Camera).
3. Try opening the file manually – if the manager shows it and the gallery doesn’t, the problem is in the gallery database.

If the files are not displayed even in the manager:

• 🔄 Move them to another folder (like Download) and check again.
• 📋 Check the file extension – sometimes it can be changed to unreadable (e.g..jpg.enc).
• 🔧 Use a PC to check file integrity (programs like PhotoRec or IrfanView).

💡

If the gallery does not show photos from the memory card, remove the photo. SD-Insert it into another phone or PC and check for file system errors (via chkdsk in Windows).

5. Conflict with Google Photos and other galleries

MIUI has a peculiarity: if multiple photo viewing apps (e.g. Google Photos, Simple Gallery) are installed on the phone, they can block each other's access to media files. This is due to the Android 11+ policy, where only one application can be a "media manager."

To resolve the conflict:

1. Go to Settings → Applications → By default → Gallery.
2. Choose MIUI Gallery as the default application for opening images.
3. For Google Photos, we disable the option “Backup and Sync” (it can block access).

If you prefer Google Photos but want to leave the system gallery for some features (e.g. editing), do the following:

Settings → Privacy → Special Permits → Access to Files → Google Photos → Disable Access to Images and Videos

Important: MIUI 15 and HyperOS have a dual gallery feature that allows you to use both galleries in parallel.

Settings → Additional → Special features → Double gallery (include)

Hardware causes: damaged storage or memory module

If none of the software methods worked, the problem could be physical damage to the storage.

• 📱 Smartphones after falling or getting moisture.
• 💾 Devices with worn flash memory (especially after 3)+ years of intensive use).
• 🔌 Phones where the gallery stopped working after connecting to a PC in mode MTP.

Signs of hardware malfunction:

• The gallery doesn’t open all the photos, but other apps (like WhatsApp) can see them.
• The phone freezes periodically when trying to watch media.
• In Settings → Storage displays incorrect memory capacity (for example, -1 GB is free).

For diagnosis:

1. Connect your phone to your PC and try to copy photos. If the copying is interrupted with an error, it's a sign of bad blocks.
2. Run the memory test using ##6484## (on some models) or use the AIDA64 app.
3. Check if the phone overheats when you try to open the gallery (this may indicate problems with the memory controller).

⚠️ Warning: If the diagnostics confirm a hardware malfunction, do not try to reflash the phone - this may aggravate the problem (eMMC/UFS). On the Redmi Note models 10/11 POCO X3/X4 frequent problem - the dump of the memory chip after the impacts.

7. Radical methods: reset, firmware, ADB

If all previous methods have failed, extreme measures remain, and should only be applied if:

• 🔄 The gallery does not open even after the flashing.
• 📱 The phone is making errors like “com.miui.gallery process stopped».
• 🔧 You are sure that the problem is not hardware.

Method 1: Reset Gallery settings via ADB

This method will reset all the settings of the application, but will not delete the photos:

adb shell pm clear com.miui.gallery

Method 2: Installation of the global version of MIUI

On some regional firmware (e.g. MIUI China or India), the gallery may not work properly, so the solution is to flash MIUI Global through the Mi Flash Tool (instructions on the official website).

Method 3: Manually Recover Media Database

If the gallery does not see the photos, but they are physically present on the phone, you can forcibly reassemble the database:

adb shell am broadcast -a android.intent.action.MEDIA_SCANNER_SCAN_FILE -d file:///storage/emulated/0/DCIM/

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Before resetting or firmware, be sure to back up your photos via PC or cloud. Even if the gallery doesn't work, files can be accessed via file manager or ADB pull.

FAQ: Frequent questions about problems with Xiaomi Gallery