HT204264: iCloud Photo Library

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rgfsteed
Level 1 (0 points)

Q: Photos uploading library again after restoring Mac from backup

I restored my MacBook Pro after installing a new hard drive. The backup included the downloaded copies of my photo library. Upon launching Photos, it is now uploading the entire photo library... again!

 

I verified the original iCloud photo library is fine, I just don't want the system to churn away trying to upload copies. No copies actually appear, so I assume it verifies it's a copy and doesn't add it. All I can do is pause it for a day, but it just picks up where it left off.

 

Has anyone else encountered this behaviour?

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.2)

Posted on Jan 18, 2016 6:10 PM

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rgfsteed

Q: Photos uploading library again after restoring Mac from backup

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Winston Churchill,

    Winston Churchill Winston Churchill Jan 19, 2016 4:44 AM in response to rgfsteed
    Level 10 (103,728 points)
    Apple TV
    Jan 19, 2016 4:44 AM in response to rgfsteed

    Welcome to the Apple Community.


    You'll need to let it complete, the more you pause the longer it will take. As you say it's checking for duplicates, it won't actually start adding the photos a second time, but it may take a while to complete.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jan 19, 2016 5:02 AM in response to rgfsteed
    Level 10 (106,946 points)
    iLife
    Jan 19, 2016 5:02 AM in response to rgfsteed

    Photos will upload the library again, for several reasons, if you copy the Photos Library to a different drive, if you restore the library from a backup, or if you simply repair the library.

    You can see what kind of upload and download is being done in the Console window, but not the names of the image files:

    Open the Console.app (it is in Applications > Utilities). The Console will show you, what iCloud is doing. Type "cloudphotosd" into the search field:

     

     

    Screen Shot 2016-01-17 at 16.45.36GMT.png

     

    When the library is uploaded again, I am mostly seeing entries of duplicate checks. Like Winston Churchill stated, this will usually not result in duplicates being added, but it can result in plenty of network traffic.

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jan 19, 2016 5:22 AM in response to léonie
    Level 10 (106,946 points)
    iLife
    Jan 19, 2016 5:22 AM in response to léonie

    The "Duplicate detection" messages will look like this in the Console window:

    Screen.png