Import option in Photos gone with IOS 14

I have an iPad Pro 2020 and do a lot of photo imports with an SD card reader. In Photos, I always get an Import icon on the bottom of the screen when I insert the reader. Since IOS 14 was installed, I no longer get that or anything else that opens up. I did activate the sidebar, and was able to import by checking the Device selection. The Import option there did nothing. I can find nothing about this anywhere. Is this the new normal?

iPad, iOS 9

Posted on Sep 21, 2020 4:05 PM

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Posted on Feb 14, 2021 1:32 PM

After speaking with Support, the workflow that ending up doing the trick for me was:


1) Open Files app and navigate to images on the SD (or external HD).

2) Select the images I'm looking to add to the Photos app.

3) Tap Share.

4) Tap Save (#) Images (appears beneath Copy and above Print.

5) Open Photos.

51 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Feb 14, 2021 1:32 PM in response to saholz

After speaking with Support, the workflow that ending up doing the trick for me was:


1) Open Files app and navigate to images on the SD (or external HD).

2) Select the images I'm looking to add to the Photos app.

3) Tap Share.

4) Tap Save (#) Images (appears beneath Copy and above Print.

5) Open Photos.

Oct 26, 2020 11:21 AM in response to Shred-surfer

Update. After reading relaeted posts in other on line resources I found that “Devices” submenu will show up if full size SD card is inserted in reader. If micro SD card with adapter is inserted in reader “Devices” submenu will not show up. Tried with several different micro sd card and adapters (for full size sd card reader work ok, with micro sd with adapter reader does not work).

Oct 25, 2020 12:16 PM in response to saholz

I had posted this earlier but I wanted to let others know that I submitted case 101207921200 with Apple because I found two things were happening: 1) This problem where the iPhotos would not recognize the SD Card reader adapter on my iPad and 2) My Apple Watch will not charge from the USB-C adapter on the same iPad. Apple did do a deep troubleshooting and log collection with me on this case and all of this has been uploaded to their Engineers I believe. I just sent another email and voice mail to the case owner to get some feedback about this. I believe that they are going to find that this is an unexpected bug as of iOS 14.0. I also sent the case owner a link to this discussion and asked that if this ends up being a bug that it would be nice if they would let people in this thread know about it. I also wanted to let them know that my occurrence of this problem is not an individual issue also and that all of you were experiencing the same thing.

Oct 26, 2020 11:50 AM in response to damirBO

Update 2. After I was able to view “Devices” submenu in Photos when full size SD card inserted and again without success with micro sd card with adapter I tried to rename micro sd card and ... miracle .... it seems that now reader is again fully functional. I can see it and use it on iphone (xs) and ipad 2019 (in Photos and in Files). Problem solved for me 😀

Nov 2, 2020 10:03 AM in response to Canoe-boy

My Sony doesn’t name cards, but the Devices menu will still open and display “no name” under that heading.


My routine is to open Photos, insert the reader with a card already in it, and then just wait a few seconds for the Devices menu to open in the side menu. If you then click on the card under Devices, name or no name, your import routine should start.

Oct 30, 2020 9:32 AM in response to Moisette

Apple’s response after quite a bit of troubleshooting on case 101207921200 is that the USB-C port must be bad. Since my iPad is out of warranty they said it would be $649 to service it. I told them to forget it and to close the case. Funny how this “bad port” only started happening when I upgraded to iOS 14.x. I still think that it is a bug in the OS but my case is dead. Oh well.

Sep 22, 2020 7:58 AM in response to saholz

I spoke with Apple support about this, and they knew nothing about it. I have since verified that this change only affects the iPad, and not the iPhone. I have also tried inserting and removing a card reader while the sidebar is open. The “Devices” sub menu will appear and disappear as the card is put in and taken out, so this is apparently the new way it works. Your card name will be listed in the Devices menu, and selecting it opens the normal import routine. The “Imports” sub menu will only show previous imports.


I have searched online and have not found a single reference to this change. Very odd.

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Import option in Photos gone with IOS 14

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