photos not syncing to Mac

Question

KrypticKate Author

Level 1

4 points

photos not syncing to Mac

My photos usually sync successfully between my iphone, ipad (both iOS up to date) and mac (Catalina 10.15.7)
My problem is that 18 photos taken on my ipad after 6th May have synced to my iphone but not to my mac. Status message 'updating' at the bottom of the photo library window alternates with messing in attached screenshot
I have checked all the settings under preferences on all the devices and everything is switched on.
My internet connection is wifi to iphone and ipad, and ethernet to the mac
I have shut the computer down and restarted it several times over the last 4 hours and nothing seems to be happening. I also turned off and restarted my broadband hub (fast full fibre connection)
Other apps I use are syncing fine. It just seems to be a problem with photos

iMac 21.5″

Posted on May 14, 2024 10:29 AM

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Answer 1

May 15, 2024 6:32 AM in response to KrypticKate

Some things on newer OSs may not work on Catalina. The first thing I think of is the picture format--HEIC, for instance, wasn't invented yet for Catalina. What is the format of your new pictures?

Are your Mac pictures all located on a Library in the Pictures on your internal iMac drive, or is the Library on an external drive? If on an external drive, how is it formatted? If the format is not APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled), then there could be problems.

Let us know so we can figure out where to go from here...

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Answer 2

May 17, 2024 8:41 AM in response to KrypticKate

Is the external drive formatted in APFS or Mac OS Extended (Journaled)? Sometimes working, sometimes stuttering, and then not working at all are exactly the symptoms described by people who have tried keeping their Photos Libraries on ExFat or other non-compatible formats.

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Answer 3

KrypticKate Author

Level 1

4 points

May 15, 2024 1:42 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

It’s just photos I’ve taken on my iPad or iPhone. Not had any problems before. It seems to have sorted itself overnight! I have photos on an external drive but they aren’t on the cloud.

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