The Media Interruption
macOS is heavily integrated with the Apple ecosystem, specifically aiming to make media management effortless. By default, whenever you connect an SD card from a digital camera, plug in an iPhone, or connect a USB hard drive containing images, the operating system automatically launches the Apple Photos app. It immediately scans the device and prompts you to import the new media into your iCloud library. While this is helpful for casual users, it is highly disruptive for professional photographers or videographers who use specialized software like Adobe Lightroom, Capture One, or Premiere Pro, as they have to manually force the Apple Photos app to close every single time they plug in their storage media.
Disabling the Auto-Launch Feature
To streamline your professional workflow and stop macOS from automatically starting the Photos app when you connect a camera or SD card, you must change a specific setting within the Photos app itself, while the device is connected.
You cannot change this setting globally without a device attached. First, plug in the specific SD card, camera, or iPhone that causes the issue. The Apple Photos app will likely launch automatically. If it doesn’t, open it manually. In the top-left sidebar of the Photos app, under the “Devices” section, click on the name of the device you just connected (e.g., “Canon EOS” or “NO NAME”). Look at the very top of the main window, just below the toolbar. You will see a small checkbox labeled Open Photos for this device. Uncheck this box. You can now close the Photos app. You must repeat this exact process for every unique SD card or camera you own, as macOS remembers the preference on a per-device hardware ID basis.