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JDL1537 Author

Level 1

4 points

Problem with Photo Library when doing Data Migration

I recently used Migration Assistant to migrate all my data from my old iMac to my new iMac (2019 model, 21.5 inch, macOS Mojave 10.14.4).

My local Apple Retail Store advised me to use an up-to-date Time Machine backup of my old iMac (early 2008 model, 24 inch, OS X El Capitan 10.11.6 (this is the latest OS available for this machine)) to do the migration.

All appeared to go OK and I got a message to say that the migration had completed successfully.

However, when I opened Photos for the first time on my new iMac there was a message saying that the Photo Library needed to be repaired.

My questions are:-

(i) Why did my Photo Library need repairing? Is it common to get this error message?

(ii) Now that I have completed the repair, can I use my Photo Library as normal on my new iMac, or should delete the library and try to re-create it, hopefully without getting any error messages.

(iii) If you think that I should try to re-create it, what is the best way to do this?

- - By direct transfer from my old iMac?; or
  - By having a second attempt to restore it from the Time Machine backup of my old iMac?

Thanks in advance for any help!

iMac 21.5", macOS 10.14

Posted on May 8, 2019 5:46 PM

Best reply

Joseph_S.

Community Specialist

Posted on May 9, 2019 9:28 AM

Good morning JDL1537!

I see that you're having some trouble with the photo library asking to be repaired. I'll be happy to help out.

The photo library may need to be repaired if any inconsistencies are found in the files, so it is a good step to take. Here's some more information about this: How to use the Photos library repair tool - Apple Support. After the photo library is repaired, you should be able to use the photo library like normal without deleting and recreating the existing library. However, if you run into issues after repairing the library, let us know what they are.

Cheers.

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Problem with Photo Library when doing Data Migration

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