Could not open photo, Please try again in a moment

What is the file format of the photos you download to your iPhone from your PC? Try to stick with compatible image file formats - JPEG, some RAW formats, TIFF, PNG.

Occasionally photos cannot be opened, if an unsupported color sync profile is used. It is suspicious, that only photos you took with the iPhone camera can be opened. The upgrade to iOS13 and Catalina made some older codecs incompatible. Some photos and videos, that have been compatible with iOS 12 and macOS 10.14 Mojave are no longer compatible with iOS 13 and macOS 101.5 Catalina. Compare the formats of your image files to this list: About incompatible media in iMovie for macOS - Apple Support

The list has been written for iMovie, but it can be a guide for Photos too.

AshMacB The latest 13.3 update fixed things for me as well. I did have some trouble with some photos I uploaded to my iPad/iPhone via www.icloud.com even after the 13.3 update, so I deleted those photos which I uploaded prior to the update and then re-uploaded the same photos after the update and could then open them.

I still think iOS13 stuffed up more than Apple will let on otherwise I wouldn't have had the problem with the photos I uploaded prior to the iOS13 update.

In addition to Mike's question about the "Optimize" feature - how much free storage is on your iPhone? You may also get this message, if there is no storage left to download the photos from iCloud. Did you upload more photos to iCloud then will fit onto the iPhone, even "Optimized"?

kmwalton good workaround! This might be an easier one, and that is to message the photo to yourself. Open the message and save photo and it go into Photo App and it opens! You can edit and do what you want!

kmwalton Oh and sorry about the grammar mistake lol. Message the photo to yourself. Open the message and save photo and then go into the Photo App and it opens! You can edit and do what you want!

and no I haven't heard back from Apple! Pretty frustrating!

I’ve had exactly the same problem, photos in my photo stream from my iPhone will no longer be loaded by instagram. The thumbnails show but I get the message “Could not open this file, please Try again in a moment “ but months have now elapsed not moments.

It started the day I loaded iOS 13 on my iPad.

if I edit the photo, even trivially, it appears in recents and can be opened in instagram. It appears to be any photo I have to duplicate to edit in photos that is affected.

now very very irritating.

In Settings > Photos, which option are you using for photo storage?

If if you are using Optimise, it may take a while to download the images and all their data to be able to edit them.

It may take a week or three to fully download your library to your device. (My library of over 65,000 photos and 600+ videos is around 95gb and takes about 3 weeks to fully download)

I had the same problem. Using Photoshop Elements 14, if i don't have "embed color profile" checked photo will not open.

rosehaven_farm Yes it's very painful isn't it? I just message the photo that could not open to myself, then I save the photo from the message to my camera roll and then that photo will open.

I've just updated my phone with iOS 13.3 which is the latest update just released and I'm pleased to say my issue has resolved.

I hope it works for you all.

Ash, did you get the latest patch? It just came out about two weeks ago and it fixed the problem for me. See if you have any updates and then try to load your photos again.

Further to my comment, it seems that there is a difference between jpeg and jpg. But I don't understand why the Photos App doesn't recognise the jpg file?

I've uploaded other images to iCloud via PC as a jpg file then the Photo App won't open the file or let me edit the file.

However, if I've upload the same image as a "jpeg" file then the Photo App will allow it to open and edit.

I don't have a Mac but a Windows PC

A workaround I did yesterday. The photos show up on my phone, but as we all know when we click on them we get the annoying "Could not open photo" message. So I went photo-by-photo on my phone, screenshot each one, cropped it to a square, then deleted the one that wouldn't open. I had 57 photos to take through that process and it took me about 20 minutes. I know that's a pain, but I now have photos I can use on my business Instagram : )

That seems to be the solution.

Are the files that you "Save for Web" from Photoshop also JPGs? Or GIFs, PNG, or something similar?

I found quite a few files from Photoshop, that would not sync with iCloud, but they looked like normal JPEGs or TIFFs. But Photoshop had embedded a different color sync profile, that Photos could not handle.