Photos will not sync to icloud in Catalina

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Level 1

4 points

Photos will not sync to icloud in Catalina

I have about 48,600 photos in my Photos library. Everything synced happily until I upgraded to Catalina. I'm, now at 10.15.1. No syncing. I'm using mainly a 2017 MacBook Pro with 16GB of RAM. I have been on the phone for hours with an Apple tech who has worked diligently to try to figure this out, so far without success. I fear all my work in Photos will be lost, which would be terrible! If anyone else is having a similar problem, or knows of a solution, please share!

Posted on Nov 1, 2019 8:20 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

eliog

Level 1

14 points

Nov 8, 2019 4:41 AM in response to rlkeffer

Try this:

Make sure nothing is plugged into your Mac (just the power). Make sure it's configured not to turn off when plugged in.

Then also make sure every program is closed (including Photos).

Leave it like that overnight and see in the morning if it's uploaded photos.

This was happening to me in Catalina. What I found out is that Photos will not sync/upload if the MacBook is too hot. It seems the check for "is it too hot" is way too sensitive so even when your MacBook is warm Photos will think it's "too hot" and not upload.

Making sure nothing is plugged in and no other programs are running makes sure it's not using the GPU (which also causes it to heat up some more).

When I did what I mentioned I was able to get 44k photos uploaded within a day or 2. Before I was waiting for weeks for the uploads to happen. I spend HOURS with Apple Support and all they did was try different combinations of "logoff from iCloud and log back in". I gave up on them.

I also kept my MacBook in a cold room.

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Answer 2

rlkeffer Author

Level 1

4 points

Nov 8, 2019 11:16 PM in response to eliog

Eliog,

Wow. I did what you suggested, and Photos synced quickly. In fact, I was amazed at just how quickly it was finished. Thank you very much for the suggestion. Apple Support was leading me down the same path you were treading. I admire their perseverance, but after two weeks of that, I really needed a solution, and you provided that. I'm still just shaking my head. What an elegant solution!

rlkeffer

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

195,169 points

Nov 2, 2019 4:25 AM in response to rlkeffer

Can you tell us what you already have tried with Apple Support, or it will be hard to suggest something that you not have already tried?

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Photos will not sync to icloud in Catalina

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