iCloud photos not showing up after changing system library

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Level 1

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iCloud photos not showing up after changing system library

I recently copied my Photos library to an external drive and followed the steps to set it as the System Library. iCloud photos is turned on, and I have it set to download originals to this Mac. All my albums show up in the sidebar, but most of them are missing large chunks of photos.

I have tried turning iCloud on and off, changing the settings from download originals to optimize storage, nothing appears to make a difference. I cannot find any way to force this library to resync with iCloud and download all the missing files.

The photos are still showing up in iCloud on my phone, so nothing has been deleted. I've searched online and here in the forums and haven't been able to find a solution. Has anyone else dealt with this before or can someone point me in the right direction?

MacBook Pro 13", macOS 10.14

Posted on Feb 21, 2019 6:46 AM

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Answer 1

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léonie

Level 10

200,723 points

Mar 11, 2019 10:03 AM in response to fotobymatt

You may just not be patient enough.

Downloading more than 20000 photos from iCloud will take nearly a week.

And whenever you turn iCloud Photos on and off the process will start over from scratch.

Before Photos will even start to download the photo from iCloud to your Mac, it will upload all photos from your current Photos Library to iCloud and merge them into the existing iCloud Photo Library, Then the missing photos will start downloading from iCloud to your Mac's library.

If you restore a library from your backup and make this the system photo Library, it will even take longer. The complete restored library will upload to iCloud Photos, be merged into the (probably identical) iCloud Photos Library, and then the download from iCloud start start.

Just to confirm the preferences settings you are using: You wrote "ICLoud Photos is turned on". Is it enabled in both places - in the "System Preferences > iCloud > Photos > Options" and in "Photos > Preferences > iCloud"?

And when you moved the library to the external drive - did you check the drive for compatibility? It must not be used for Time Machine backups. And it must be always plugged in and mounted, before you log into your user account. The cloud processes need to be able to access the Photos Library, even if you are not using Photos. The System Photos Library is always in use, whether Photos is running or not.

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Answer 2

fotobymatt Author

Level 1

11 points

Mar 12, 2019 7:03 AM in response to léonie

Ah, you are correct, I simply didn't wait long enough! Thanks to my wife for clogging up our iCloud with way too many photos...

Since I moved it to an external drive, it's been mostly disconnected and thus hasn't been updating. I left it plugged in most of the day yesterday and this morning it's finally updating.

Thanks for the help!

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Answer 3

dawngreg08

Community Specialist

Feb 22, 2019 3:32 PM in response to fotobymatt

Hello fotobymatt,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities. I understand from your post that you copied your Photo Library to an external drive and then turned on iCloud Photos but now chunks of photos are missing. I am happy to help.

Take a look at the articles below and follow the steps provided within.

Set up and use iCloud Photos -- 'Make sure you have enough storage' and 'Pause library uploads to iCloud' would be good sections to review for this issue.

Get help with iCloud Photos -- The section titled, 'What if some of my photos and videos are missing after I turn on iCloud Photos?' may also help as well.

Let me know if you have any questions

Cheers!

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Answer 4

fotobymatt Author

Level 1

11 points

Mar 11, 2019 8:35 AM in response to dawngreg08

Thanks for the welcome and the suggestions. I've been through every help article I could find, but nothing points to what's going on with my library. I have plenty of storage space, I'm signed in to the correct account, but the Photos library appears to be stuck "updating":

In the Photos app on my phone, it shows my iCloud library with a total of 26,586 photos. I've tried leaving the app open on my computer in case it actually is updating, but after hours it still shows only 8,254 photos.

My only option appears to be restoring the original library from Time Machine, then attempt to move it again, in case I did something wrong in the initial process.

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Answer 5

léonie

Level 10

200,723 points

Mar 12, 2019 7:35 AM in response to fotobymatt

You're welcome 😊

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iCloud photos not showing up after changing system library

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