How to Manage App Access to Photos on iPad

Before you start

Photo permission settings are stored locally in iPadOS and control which apps can open, import, or save items in your photo library. An app only appears in these settings after it requests photo access or after you use a photo-related feature. You do not need an internet connection to change the permission, and changing it does not move or delete photos. The exact option names can vary by iPadOS version, but the photo access area has been available through the Settings app on recent iPadOS releases.

Step-by-step instructions

Open Settings from the Home Screen. Select Privacy & Security, then select Photos. If you are using an older iPadOS version, the privacy menu may be named simply Privacy.

You will see a list of apps that have requested photo access. Tap an app to view its current setting. The options typically include None, Limited Access, and Full Access. Some older apps may only offer Read and Write or Add Only, depending on how the app was built.

Choose the level of access you want. None prevents the app from using your photo library. Full Access lets the app see your complete library. Limited Access shows a picker for selected photos and videos, which is useful when you want to share only a small set of items with a camera, messaging, or editing app.

If you select Limited Access, the next time the app requests the library, iPadOS may show a photo picker. You can select individual items or use the Edit button to review or remove previously selected items. This change only affects what the app can see through the system picker and does not edit the photos themselves.

Changes take effect immediately. You do not need to restart the iPad, but an app that is already open may need to be reopened before it notices the new access level. If you change an app from Limited Access to None, reopen the app later if you want it to request access again under normal conditions.

Check the output

Return to Settings > Privacy & Security > Photos and confirm that the app shows the access level you selected. Then open the app and use the feature that earlier relied on photo access, such as choosing an image or saving a recording. If the access level is None, the app should either prompt for permission or show that no library access is available. The verification does not require checking image quality or editing results; the permission setting is separate from how the app processes files.

Common problems and next steps

If an app does not appear under Photos, it may not have requested library access yet. Open the app and attempt to import, attach, or save a photo. The system should then add the app to the list or show an access prompt.

If an update does not seem to apply, close the app completely and open it again. If the app was built for an older version of iPadOS, its photo options may remain more limited than newer apps, even after you change the system setting.

If an app continues to show old photos after you set Limited Access, open the app's photo picker and review the selected items. The system may keep the previous selection until the app refreshes its view. Removing permission or choosing None does not delete photos from your library, but an app may keep imported copies that it stored inside its own documents.

For camera or video-call apps, check whether the app also requires camera or microphone access. Photo library access controls still images and videos in the library, while the camera and microphone permissions are managed separately under Settings > Privacy & Security.