Sky Kogachi

Q: Photo app missing iCloud Photo Albums

I had a lot of albums organized using the Photo App for Mac and synced using iCloud Photos.

I turned off iCloud Photos on my iPhone, cleared all photos from the phone, and turned it back on again.

All the albums that were organized in different folders in my Photo App for Mac disappeared.

The single albums are still there.

When i go to iCloud Photos on the web, all the albums are there.

How do I get the albums back on my Mac, iPad and iPhone?

Mac Pro (Late 2013), OS X Yosemite (10.10)

Posted on May 15, 2015 7:05 PM

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Q: Photo app missing iCloud Photo Albums

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  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie May 16, 2015 1:18 AM in response to Sky Kogachi
    Level 10 (108,869 points)
    iCloud
    May 16, 2015 1:18 AM in response to Sky Kogachi

    Are only the albums in the folders missing on your iMac or also some of the photos rom the albums?

    Here is a similar discussion reporting missing albums after syncing iCloud wit iOS devices:

    iPhoto Events missing in sidebar of Photos app.

     

     

    Are you using "Optimise Storage" on your iMac?

  • by Sky Kogachi,

    Sky Kogachi Sky Kogachi May 16, 2015 8:23 AM in response to léonie
    Level 5 (5,480 points)
    Peripherals
    May 16, 2015 8:23 AM in response to léonie

    None of the photos are missing on any device including the web.

    The albums that were put in folders are not on any iOS device or Mac, but are on the web.

     

    It happened twice.

    I thought I lost all of them the first time, so I started redoing them.

    When I turned iCloud Photos off and on again on my phone, it did it again.

    I went on the web to be sure my latest photos were there, and all the albums were there!

     

    Now, any ideas on how I can get them back on my iPhone, iPads and Mac?

  • by anarchytecture,

    anarchytecture anarchytecture May 31, 2015 1:30 AM in response to Sky Kogachi
    Level 1 (0 points)
    May 31, 2015 1:30 AM in response to Sky Kogachi

    I have the same issue:

    - Some albums are visible in search, but not in the sidebar.

    - All albums are visible at iCloud.com

    - Repairing the library made no difference.

    - Reinstalling the Yosemite 10.10.3 update made no difference as well.

    In addition:

    - The 4 buttons on the top of the window that say Photos, Shared, Albums and Projects are missing as well.

    Any assistance would be appreciated!

  • by Sky Kogachi,

    Sky Kogachi Sky Kogachi May 31, 2015 2:17 PM in response to anarchytecture
    Level 5 (5,480 points)
    Peripherals
    May 31, 2015 2:17 PM in response to anarchytecture

    I spoke to two different Senior Customer Representatives and they escalated it to Engineering, so they are aware of the problem, but I have yet to get a response back from Engineering.

     

    It is interesting that you can see the albums through the search function. I was excited to try that, but it didn't work for me. It could recall some of them through keywords or file names, but didn't pull up the actual album.

     

    I let you know once I hear back from Engineering.

  • by anarchytecture,

    anarchytecture anarchytecture Jun 4, 2015 11:14 PM in response to Sky Kogachi
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 4, 2015 11:14 PM in response to Sky Kogachi

    Thanks, Sky.

    In my case, more albums are going missing. There are photos I know for sure were in certain albums and now they're not.

    I know this because I created a smart folder for photos that are not in any album, and the number keeps increasing, generally an album at a time.

    This really *****, and now I wish I hadn't deleted Aperture and my Aperture library.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jun 5, 2015 1:25 AM in response to anarchytecture
    Level 10 (108,869 points)
    iCloud
    Jun 5, 2015 1:25 AM in response to anarchytecture

    You can reinstall Aperture, as described in this User Tip:   Updating to Aperture 3.6 After the Release of Photos

     

    And restore your Aperture Library from the last backup you made before you deleted it.

     

    Aperture works well on Yosemite 10.10.3, if you update to Aperture 3.6.

     

    When you migrate an Aperture library to Photos, both libraries will be sharing the original files, so there is no need to delete the Aperture library. That does not save much space.  See: Photos saves disk space by sharing images with your iPhoto or Aperture libraries - Apple Support

  • by Sky Kogachi,

    Sky Kogachi Sky Kogachi Jun 5, 2015 12:33 PM in response to anarchytecture
    Level 5 (5,480 points)
    Peripherals
    Jun 5, 2015 12:33 PM in response to anarchytecture

    So I've been back and forth with Apple on this. I was hoping they could resolve it, but they made it worse. They made a test iCloud account linked to my account. When I logged into that test account on my iPhone, it deleted most of the albums on iCloud.com!

     

    There was no point in continuing to work with Apple anymore since the albums were gone. I exported my photos and videos from the last month, and used Time Machine to pull my Photo Library from a month ago before the problem started. I imported my new photos and videos and everything is fine now.


    I could have done that at the beginning, but my hope was that they could learn what was wrong and fix it since the albums were all still there online. So I guess it'll have to go unresolved.


    anarchytechture: Sorry I couldn't have been more help.

  • by kerouacjack,

    kerouacjack kerouacjack Jun 7, 2015 11:32 AM in response to Sky Kogachi
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 7, 2015 11:32 AM in response to Sky Kogachi

    I have the same problem as well.  On my iMac, I made a bunch of new folders and moved albums that were from iPhoto into these folders, and also created some new albums.  I also was trying to clear space on my iPhone and so I turned off iCloud Photos, deleted all photos on the phone and restored it.   When I woke up the next morning, most (but not all) of the folders and albums that I had created were missing.  Yet, I when I search for these missing albums in Photos, it finds them! And I can also see them on iCloud.com.  So it seems they exist, but Photos won't show them in the sidebar.  Worked with a Senior Rep and did repair, but didn't help.  We sent a set of files to engineering and I am waiting for a response -- which he said would take 3-4 days.  Let's see what they find....  

  • by notcloudy,

    notcloudy notcloudy Jun 7, 2015 11:53 AM in response to kerouacjack
    Level 4 (1,200 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 7, 2015 11:53 AM in response to kerouacjack

    kerouacjack wrote:

     

    I have the same problem as well.  On my iMac, I made a bunch of new folders and moved albums that were from iPhoto into these folders, and also created some new albums.  I also was trying to clear space on my iPhone and so I turned off iCloud Photos, deleted all photos on the phone and restored it.   When I woke up the next morning, most (but not all) of the folders and albums that I had created were missing.  Yet, I when I search for these missing albums in Photos, it finds them! And I can also see them on iCloud.com.  So it seems they exist, but Photos won't show them in the sidebar.  Worked with a Senior Rep and did repair, but didn't help.  We sent a set of files to engineering and I am waiting for a response -- which he said would take 3-4 days.  Let's see what they find.... 

     

    For latest version of ICLOUD Photos synchronization you have to be at both IS08 on your phones and Yosemite.  

     

    It may take longer than 3 or 4 days to find the issue particularly if they cannot replicate it -- others with your problem need to report same to Apple either in feedback-bug related - or by setting up support call.

     

    Bugs sometimes happen with a user does something the developers have not tested for. The lightbulb moment can come when a user who knows the exact sequence they did something in that caused the default posts the problem.    That includes what function keys you hit, or swipes you took, in the case of Photos how large is your library.

     

    And to Sky - don't give up, one must persevere to get a fix or better instructions for what you can and can't do.

  • by kerouacjack,

    kerouacjack kerouacjack Jun 7, 2015 1:06 PM in response to notcloudy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 7, 2015 1:06 PM in response to notcloudy

    Yes, I agree -- I am hopeful and I sent this thread to the Senior Tech who I am working with so that he understands that another user has had a similar sequence that produced the problem.   Let's see what they say... 

     

    Note:  Am on latest version of Yosemite on the iMac and latest version of iOS8 on iphone and ipad.

  • by kerouacjack,

    kerouacjack kerouacjack Jun 7, 2015 1:09 PM in response to kerouacjack
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jun 7, 2015 1:09 PM in response to kerouacjack

    Also, one other comment.  The fact that the Photos app database still recognizes the existence of the albums (because they show up in the search box results when I start typing the names of missing albums) as does iCloud makes me think that the bug has to do with folders and how these are handled across the cloud.  iCloud.com does not have folders, only albums --  and all of the albums that disappeared from the sidebar were albums within new folders that I created.   Just a guess...

  • by Sky Kogachi,

    Sky Kogachi Sky Kogachi Jun 7, 2015 2:59 PM in response to notcloudy
    Level 5 (5,480 points)
    Peripherals
    Jun 7, 2015 2:59 PM in response to notcloudy

    It is really easy to recreate this problem.

     

    Notcloudy: if you'd like to try it yourself, make a folder in Photos and put a test album in it. Turn off iPhoto Cloud Library on your iPhone. Turn it on again. All your folders and the albums in them will be gone on all your iOS devices and Macs but you'll still be able to see it on iCloud.com.


    Since the Senior Tech Support guy accidentally deleted my albums on iCloud.com, there is nothing more they can do for me. I got them all back using a Time Machine backup.


    kerouackjack: Good luck in getting it resolved!

  • by notcloudy,

    notcloudy notcloudy Jun 7, 2015 6:26 PM in response to Sky Kogachi
    Level 4 (1,200 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 7, 2015 6:26 PM in response to Sky Kogachi

    Sky Kogachi wrote:

     

    It is really easy to recreate this problem.

     

    Notcloudy: if you'd like to try it yourself, make a folder in Photos and put a test album in it. Turn off iPhoto Cloud Library on your iPhone. Turn it on again. All your folders and the albums in them will be gone on all your iOS devices and Macs but you'll still be able to see it on iCloud.com.


    Since the Senior Tech Support guy accidentally deleted my albums on iCloud.com, there is nothing more they can do for me. I got them all back using a Time Machine backup.


    kerouackjack: Good luck in getting it resolved!

    Give scathing feedback to Apple on what the Senior Tech Support guy did to your albums on ICLOUD and you ask the really hard question -- why couldn't that support guy restore them or have them restored from cloud backup? Or is there no backup?

     

    As to recreating your problem:    I don't have a smart phone I have a cell phone -- and I use a digital camera -- and I would never store any files on a server that does not belong to me.  

     

    What I do know - that, if the support tech guy cannot recreate a problem it does take a lot of perseverance to force it to the engineers/programmers and at that point you really have to know exactly what the problem is - and in some cases it is not replicable by support because of the size of the database and/or the amount of activity is causing the problem.

     

    If originally your phone PHOTO library was considered the Photo system library by ICLOUD - but now you have Yosemite set to System library - it may be the cause of the confusion in the cloud.  PHOTOT/ICLOUD notes say   On the Mac - if, with Photos you change the system library to a different photo library it will upload those photos to Icloud but will not delete existing photos in the cloud -- but it does not say how you would resynchronize everything.

  • by notcloudy,

    notcloudy notcloudy Jun 7, 2015 6:34 PM in response to kerouacjack
    Level 4 (1,200 points)
    Desktops
    Jun 7, 2015 6:34 PM in response to kerouacjack

    kerouacjack wrote:

     

    Also, one other comment.  The fact that the Photos app database still recognizes the existence of the albums (because they show up in the search box results when I start typing the names of missing albums) as does iCloud makes me think that the bug has to do with folders and how these are handled across the cloud.  iCloud.com does not have folders, only albums --  and all of the albums that disappeared from the sidebar were albums within new folders that I created.   Just a guess...

     

    Sometimes even a guess will help them -- just did a post to Sky -- and thinking the cloud has your pictures because of documentation mentioned.  

     

    Curiosity on the cloud synchronization.  Thought the rollout and updates are sloppy rather than transparent to the users considering big companies are getting off the bus and going to thin clients.  (Yes apple is working on devices for big blue - but I do hope big blue  does the programming,)

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