Fix Photos/Videos on SD card Not Showing Up in Gallery

Applies To: Memory card not showing files in mobile and SD card photos not showing up in Gallery

Issue: SD Card Photos and Videos Not Showing Up in Gallery

"Hello there, do you know what to do when the SD card data fails to show up in Gallery on Android phone? I'm troubled by this problem that my phone (Samsung Galaxy S7) failed to read my saved photos and videos on SD card in the Gallery. My computer can read all SD card files and data. But the phone cannot. So how can I fix this issue and make SD card with photos and videos to show up in Gallery again? If you have any methods, please help!"

Have you ever met this issue that the saved photos or videos on SD card are not showing up in Gallery on your phone? Or your memory card is not showing files in mobile? Since you are here now, your answer is probably "Yes." Actually, SD card photos not showing up in Gallery and other similar issues occurs quite often on Android phones, preventing users from accessing their files. This issue is slightly different from pen drive not showing data on PC. Based on our experience, a memory card not showing files in mobile may be caused by:

• Connection issue
• Files are hidden or deleted
• Incompatible file system
• .NOMEDIA file on the SD card
• Virus infection
• Write protection

Other reasons like electrically damaged or physically cracked memory card may also lead to SD card photos not showing up in Gallery, but that is in rare cases. Now, follow the corresponding fixes provided below to solve "memory card not showing files in mobile" or "SD card photos not showing up in Gallery" without losing data.

6 Fixes for SD Card Photos Not Showing Up in Gallery

Generally, when you come across such an issue, you can't identify the specific cause. If you do, apply the troubleshooting tips below one by one to determine the cause and solve the problem.

Method 1. Check the Connection

Connection issues will certainly cause troubles while accessing the files on the memory card. To check whether the memory card not showing files in mobile results from connection issue, you can:

• Re-insert your SD card into the mobile phone
• Insert your SD card to another phone or computer
• Clean your SD card and SD card slot on the Android phone

If "SD card photos not showing up" persists after applying the tips above, the connection is not the reason why your memory card is not showing files. In such a case, move on to try other fixes.

Method 2. Show Hidden Files/Recover Deleted Files

Insert your SD card into your computer via a card reader and check whether the photos or other files show up in your computer. If the files appear on your computer, there may be file system incompatibility between your SD card and your Android phone. If not, the photos, videos, documents, and other files on your memory card are probably hidden or deleted. To make your files show up again in such a situation, you can:

Procedure 1. Show Hidden Files

Step 1. Connect your SD card to a computer via a card reader.

Step 2. Open your memory card and go to the "View" tab in the menu bar.

Step 3. Check the option "Hidden items".

If the SD card photos not showing up in Gallery on your iPhone, you could see the files after enabling "show hidden files" on your computer. Insert your memory card into your mobile phone and you will be able to see the files stored on the storage device.

Procedure 2. Recover Data from the SD Card

If "show hidden files" doesn't help, it's likely that the data on your SD card is deleted, which could be done by yourself or a virus. If you are in the very same situation, don't worry. You can use the hard drive recovery software - EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard to recover your files. EaseUS data recovery software helps to recover files lost due to deletion, formatting, virus attack, OS crash, and more from computer hard drives or external storage devices like USB and memory card. It also supports hidden file recovery, which is useful when "show hidden files" is not working in Windows 10.

To recover deleted files from your memory card:

Stop using your SD card immediately once you lost files on it. Continuing using the card would hugely increase the chance of data overwriting, which makes data unrecoverable.

Step 1: Connect the SD card to PC

Insert the SD card to a card reader, and connect the card reader with your SD card to a healthy computer.

Step 2: Run SD card recovery software and scan the card.

• Launch EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard on your PC and select your SD card under the External Devices column.
• Then click Scan to start finding lost data on your SD card now.

Step 3: Check found SD card data.

After the scanning process, you can preview and find your lost SD card files from below listed tabs:

• Deleted Files: List your deleted files there.
• Drive X: All lost files can be found here.
• Lost Partition Files: Check first if it's for formatted recovery.
• Extra Files: Finds files that lost names or paths.

And you can use Filter and Search to quickly find your files.

Step 4: Restore SD card data.

• You can check and preview found files by double-clicking each one of them.
• Then click Recover to save found SD card files to a secure location on your PC or an external storage.

Method 3. Change the File System of the Memory Card

If the SD card files are not showing up in Gallery on your Android phone but appear on your computer, your memory card may have a file system that your mobile is incompatible with. Android doesn't support NTFS file system. Instead, it is fully compatible with FAT32, Ext3, and Ext4 file system. If your SD card is an NTFS file system (you can check it via Properties on PC), it won't be supported by your Android phone. To fix "SD card photos not showing up in Gallery" in such a case, all you need to do is back up your SD card files on your computer and then formatted the device to a mobile-supported file system.

To back up the files on your memory card, you can either manually copy and paste the files or make a backup with free backup software - EaseUS Todo Backup. The former solution requires no third-party software while the latter one is much faster. Apply the method you prefer.

After backing up your photos, videos, or other files on your storage device, now you can format your SD card without worrying about data loss.

Step 1. Insert your SD card into your computer via a card reader and open "This PC".

Step 2. Right-click your memory card and choose "Format".

Step 3. Choose "FAT32" as the new file system of your storage medium and click "Start".

Step 4. In the Warning window, click "OK" to confirm your operation.

Step 5. Copy the files you backed up back to your SD card and then insert your SD card into your mobile. Afterward, you should see the files showing up on your Android phone.

Method 4. Delete .nomedia File in the SD Card

The .nomedia file on Android devices or on devices that are connected to an Android device serves as a reminder to tell other apps not to scan the media files in the folder where the .nomedia file exists. Thus, if there is a .nomedia file in your SD card, the Gallery app cannot read any data from it. In other words, the photos, videos, and other files will become invisible to the app. To fix "SD card not showing up in Gallery" due to the .nomedia file, you can delete the file.

Deleting the .nomedia file needs the help of the third-party tool. You can search on the Internet and choose a reliable tool to help you remove the .nomedia file in your SD card. If there is a .nomedia file existing on your SD card, you will be able to see your SD card photos showing up in Gallery after you remove it from your device.

Method 5. Remove Virus

Virus or malware infection may cause the files on your memory card to disappear, either by hiding or deleting the data. In such a case, run the antivirus software on your Android phone or computer to scan your device. If there are any virus or malware, remove it from your device.

However, there may be data loss on your SD card if the antivirus software finds and removes the problematic files from your device. To get back your data, you can perform SD card recovery using EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard.

Method 6. Remove Write Protection on the SD Card

In most of the cases, when a memory card is write-protected, the files on it will still show up on your mobile. But in some cases, write protection may be the case why your SD card photos are not showing up in Gallery. If your SD card is write-protected, you can remove the attribute directly to make the files show up again. 

Via diskpart, you can clean the read-only attribute on a hard drive or external storage device like your SD card.

Step 1. Run "Command Prompt" as an administrator.

Step 2. Enter diskpart and click "Yes" in the prompt asking for notification.

Step 3. Enter the following command in order:

There is more than one way to remove write protection on an SD card. For other ways, you can refer to the article about how to fix the error "Windows cannot run disk checking on this volume because it is write protected".

The Bottom Line

In most of the cases, the issue "memory card is not showing files on mobile" or "SD card photos not showing up in Gallery" can be fixed by one of the methods above. If none of the solutions above works, your SD card may be electrically or physically damaged. That's when you need to replace a new one.