user5652: In most of computerdom, an app's File dropdown menu has an Import item that permits selection of a file to import into the application.  This would seem to be an obvious feature to include in a Bitcoin GUI, yet when searching for how one imports the wallet.dat file, no such straightforward import option appears.
What is the technical reason for this?

user3347: It is not so easy to "open" a wallet, because it requires rescanning the blockchain to find the outputs that are relevant. This can take a very lock time, especially if you do not have an SSD. Because the performance is so poor, it would be disappointing for a lot of users to use this hypothetical feature.

5652: <p>In most of computerdom, an app's <code>File</code> dropdown menu has an <code>Import</code> item that permits selection of a file to import into the application.  This would seem to be an obvious feature to include in a Bitcoin GUI, yet when searching for how one imports the <code>wallet.dat</code> file, no such straightforward import option appears.</p>

<p>What is the technical reason for this?</p>
 3347: <p>It is not so easy to "open" a wallet, because it requires rescanning the blockchain to find the outputs that are relevant. This can take a very lock time, especially if you do not have an SSD. Because the performance is so poor, it would be disappointing for a lot of users to use this hypothetical feature.</p>
