Camera and device media imports

Easy Eject copies and verifies media from cameras, memory cards, action cameras and FPV devices that appear as mounted storage in Finder. You choose the device and destination once, then decide whether future connections should start an import automatically.

Videos only, Include camera previews and Clean folder layout are available in the website version from 1.6.0. App Store 1.1 also includes these controls and the Device Media Imports… window. Check your installed version before following these steps.

Set defaults once

Website 1.7.6 includes Import defaults… in this window and Settings. Choose media selection, previews, clean layout, automatic import, the eject prompt and optional removal once. New cards follow the defaults until you choose Use custom settings. Older profiles retain their saved custom options. Videos only is selected out of the box; permanent deletion and Trash recovery start off and require confirmation. Learn about defaults.

Set up one device

1. Connect the device and open Device Media Imports… from the Easy Eject menu.
2. Under Add an import device, select the connected volume and click Set up import…. If several cards share a Finder name, connect only the one you want to enroll.
3. In Step 1 of 2, select the recording folder, such as DCIM or VIDEO. For formats that depend on a complete folder tree, select the whole card and use All media and sidecars. See camera compatibility before narrowing the source.
4. In Step 2 of 2, choose a destination on another physical disk, such as your Mac or an archive drive. Copies go into a YYYY-MM-DD folder there.
5. Give the profile a recognizable name, choose All media and sidecars or Videos only, choose Include camera previews, review Clean folder layout, and click Save profile.

Saving does not start an import. Click Import now for the first run. Review the destination and open a sample clip in your usual editor before enabling Import automatically when connected. Keep the Mac awake and both disks connected until the run finishes.

Choose what to import

All media and sidecars copies the selected folder's visible regular files, including photos, video, companion files and unfamiliar files. Leave Include camera previews on when you want those optional files in the saved copy too.

Videos only selects recognized video formats and their supported companions. For recognized camera packages, it also copies the complete support tree, which may include thumbnail pictures, audio, XML and other support files. Ordinary photos outside those packages are left for your photo app. Photos, photo sidecars and unrecognized files are retained on the device, even when support files were copied. The same selection applies to optional device Trash recovery.

Select the complete recording package or whole card. A source narrowed to a CLIP or STREAM subfolder can omit dependencies; ambiguous or multi-camera structures need All media and sidecars. Easy Eject stops before copying when it detects an incomplete or unsupported package selection.

If Lightroom handles your photos, follow Videos first, then Lightroom. Copy-only imports leave videos on the card too; optional permanent deletion is what removes eligible imported videos from Lightroom's later card import.

Choose whether to include camera previews

Include camera previews is independent of All media and sidecars or Videos only. It starts on for new and existing profiles.

Turn it off to omit recognized optional .LRV, .LRF and .THM files and previews in recognized Proxy or Proxies folders from the destination. Required files within a complete structured recording package stay included so the package remains usable. It is not a general filter for metadata, telemetry or unfamiliar files.

Skipped previews stay on the device, including in its Trash. They are not verified saved copies, so enabling deletion or Trash recovery does not remove them. If you delete imported originals, leftover previews or the camera's recording database may need cleanup through the camera's own controls after backup.

Some Studio, camera-playback or editing features use previews. Keep the option on for the most complete workflow, or turn it off when you want fewer destination files and have checked your editor. See the camera-specific guidance.

Choose the folder layout

Clean folder layout starts on for new profiles. Existing profiles keep their original layout until you turn it on.

For ordinary media, it removes camera-created folder layers such as Camera01 from the main media list. It keeps the original filenames and selected companions together. When names would collide, groups go into Additional media rather than overwriting or independently renaming related clips. Unfamiliar files and recordings that need their folder tree are preserved under Camera originals.

The recognized Insta360 index, fileinfo_list.list, is backed up in a hidden .easy-eject-metadata folder inside the date folder and retained on the device. Other unfamiliar files keep their source structure under Camera originals in an all-media import. In Finder, press Command-Shift-period to show hidden files. Clean layout changes where files are copied; it does not transcode, stitch or strip metadata from the media itself.

Turn clean layout off to preserve ordinary source folders too. Structured and unfamiliar content still keeps its tree under Camera originals. Regardless of layout, choose the whole card when the recording format depends on files outside the usual media directory. No importer can copy dependencies that are outside the source you selected.

How the device is recognized

The profile uses the card's filesystem volume ID, not its name or a camera folder alone. A saved device can reappear as Untitled 2 and still match. Formatting can change the ID and invalidate App Store folder grants; set up the newly formatted card again. Connect indistinguishable cloned cards one at a time.

Change the destination or finish an import

Use Change destination… to select another saved-copy folder and Change media folder… to select or authorize the source again. Earlier App Store builds call the source action Authorize media folder again…. The destination must be on a different physical disk and have enough free space.

Originals stay by default. Automatic import and Ask to eject after import start off unless you change the new-device defaults. Permanent deletion and Trash recovery require confirmation in custom card settings or the shared defaults a card follows. In website 1.7.0, the eject option opens a native dialog with Keep Connected as the default. Choose it to continue in Lightroom. A camera with multiple mounted storage sources gets a grouped confirmation; another source may still need importing. See Import safety and options before enabling removal or eject.

PTP/MTP-only connections and devices visible only in Image Capture or Photos are not supported by this mounted-storage importer. Use a suitable card reader, a supported USB storage mode, or the manufacturer's transfer app. Check the compatibility guide for recording-format limitations.