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SD Card not showing up in Finder Sidebar (other removable drives do) - Big Sur

Since I upgraded to Big Sur, SD Cards inserted into my 2015 MPB 15" do not show up in the Finder Sidebar. They do appear on the desktop and and in Finder windows under my Mac.


Other removable drives (e.g. USB drives) show up and disappear when ejected as normal.


I checked in Finder Preferences and removable drives are checked on under the Sidebar items.


If an SD Card is mounted, I can drag-and-drop its icon to the sidebar. However, once ejected, its entry remains on the Sidebar. Clicking on it obviously doesn't work since the SD Card is no longer inserted/mounted.


On Catalina SD Cards used to behave like any other removable drives. That is, they would automatically appear on the Finder Sidebar when mounted, and I could eject them from there as well. After ejecting them they would automatically disappear from the Sidebar.


Anybody else experiencing this?

Posted on Nov 16, 2020 6:25 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jan 5, 2021 4:33 PM

Yes, Apple, please fix this to go with the $2200 Mac Mini I just bought and loaded with Big Sur. I'm a professional and I am having to go back and forth between two different computers to read the photos I'm downloading from jobs.

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65 replies

Dec 14, 2020 4:44 PM in response to Ikester

You do have all of these checkboxes checked in Finder's Sidebar preference pane, right?


If you do the the card doesn't show up in the sidebar boot into Safe Mode by booting with the Shift key held down and check there to see if the problem persists.  Reboot normally and test again.


NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files


Nov 19, 2020 8:24 PM in response to Ikester

Same here. A temporary workaround is to rename the card from the desktop. Then eject and reinsert the card, and it will show up in the sidebar. There is a bug where Big Sur gets confused when a card has a default 'Untitled' name. I really hope this gets fixed in the next update as it has severely slowed down my workflow!

Nov 22, 2020 12:21 PM in response to Ikester

Does the SD card show up on the Desktop when it's inserted into the reader?


Boot into Safe Mode by booting with the Shift key held down and check there to see if the problem persists.  Reboot normally and test again.


NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files


Dec 5, 2020 2:44 PM in response to JeffersonW

Boot into Safe Mode by booting with the Shift key held down and check there to see if the problem persists.  Reboot normally and test again.


NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 10 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files



Nov 30, 2020 10:42 AM in response to Ikester

I have a similar experience with my Macbook M1 running Big Sur. I have a couple of sd cards that I use with a sony mirrorless, the workaround worked for them (force quit finder, rename the cards, etc.) but my sd card that I use with a canon mirrorless will just barely show up, but I can't read anything on it. All these cards still work just fine on my Mac mini under Catalina. 🤨🧐

Dec 5, 2020 1:16 PM in response to Ikester

I recently updated to Big Sur (2017 MacBook Pro) and as a working photojournalist this is really hampering my work flow. Happy, I guess, that it's not just me experiencing this.


When in the field I usually have PhotoMechanic and Photoshop taking up all the screen space and typically don't even see the desktop or need to since I navigate with the Finder.


I, too, hope the capability to see SD cards in the Sidebar is restored. I noticed when I popped a CF card in the other day that those still show up, but I only use mirrorless cameras now and those take SD cards.

Dec 14, 2020 4:28 PM in response to Ikester

I too have the problem. Have a 2016 Subaru map microSD card formatted MS-DOS FAT32 mounted on /Volumes/Untitled\ 1. Its not the kind of thing one might casually rename for fear of Apple files confusing the Subaru navigation system for which I am already lacking respect.


My issue with Big Sur is how this device appears on my desktop but not in a Finder window sidebar. After decades of Mac use my muscles are trained to look for devices in the sidebar to eject. That is really my only interest, to properly eject.

Jan 5, 2021 4:28 PM in response to Ikester

Looks like SD cards named "Untitled" is a problem for Big Sur. It does the same for cards from both my Sony and Fuji cameras.


Until Apple gets their act together, here is a quick work-around: right click any disk under Locations in the Finder sidebar and select "Show in Enclosing Folder." The window that pops up has all external disks, including the wayward Untitled SD card.

Jan 9, 2021 3:35 AM in response to Ikester

Even with OS 11.1, problem still exist. I am a professional and importing images and videos from SD is a daily thing. It's annoying as ****. There are two workarounds, one already mentioned here, just rename the bloody card from desktop, or, reformat the card using Apple's disk utilities fixes it. But it will revert back if you re-format the card again in camera or other devices, strange. So I am changing my workflow at the moment by reformatting the card in Apple instead of in camera, and it works for now. I hope this gets fixed because I also find mounting and unmounting external drives very slow too, not as quick as Catalina.

Jan 12, 2021 11:12 AM in response to Old Toad

I think we have established that reformatting the SD card or renaming it makes it "appear" on the sidebar. The problem arises when the SD card is formatted externally (e.g. by a camera) and later inserted in the Mac. If you navigate to the computer in the finder it does appear as "Untitled", and you're able to access it that way. But for whatever reason it just doesn't show up on the sidebar.

SD Card not showing up in Finder Sidebar (other removable drives do) - Big Sur

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