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Xiaomi: Allow Gallery Access to the SD Card

If Gallery on your Xiaomi phone refuses to save new photos or won't let you delete files on the SD card, it usually means storage access was never granted. Android blocks apps from writing to external storage until you confirm the permission for that specific card. Until you approve it, Gallery can only display existing files but not create, move or remove anything on the card.

6 min7 steps
VersionAndroid 10 · MIUI

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Step 1 of 7: Open the **Gallery**

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Open the Gallery

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Android 10 · MIUI
Allow Gallery Access to SD Card – MIUI: step 1 – Open the Gallery
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Xiaomi

Allow Gallery Access to SD Card auf Xiaomi

Xiaomi phones running MIUI treat the SD card as separate storage from internal memory. Android requires every app to request explicit permission before it can write to or delete files on that card. Gallery is no exception, so if it was never confirmed, saving new shots to the card or removing old ones simply fails silently or shows an error.

This permission dialog only appears once per app and storage device, which is why it can be confusing to find again if you skipped it or tapped the wrong option. The system remembers the choice until you clear app data, factory reset, or swap in a different SD card.

How to grant the permission

Open Gallery and tap on Next when prompted, then tap on Give permissions. Open the menu and tap on SD card, then confirm with Allow Access to SD card and finish by tapping Allow on the final confirmation.

If Gallery already shows your SD card photos but still blocks deleting or moving files, repeat the same steps to re-trigger the permission dialog. This is also the fix if you accidentally denied access earlier.

If files on the card are missing entirely rather than just locked, check whether the card is mounted correctly under storage settings before troubleshooting permissions.

Frequently asked questions

Gallery keeps read-only access to existing files but cannot save new photos or delete anything on the card. Repeat the steps: open Gallery, tap Next, tap Give permissions, open the menu, tap SD card, then confirm with Allow Access to SD card and Allow.