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Rosi77 Author

Level 1

7 points

Photos Can't Find System Photo Library

I recently updated my Macbook Pro to El Capitan 10.11.6 (newest my Macbook can use). My photo library has always been on an external hard drive and before the update, had no trouble using that library when I opened Photos. Now, everytime I restart my computer I get an error that "Photos cannot find Your System Photos Library". Once I click "choose another" I'm able to select the library on my external hard drive and then in preferences it is already set at System Photo Library. That works fine until i restart my computer and then get the same message and have to re-select "choose other" and the library. I've tried repairing the library and still get the same message. I had no trouble with this prior to the update.

MacBook Pro 13", OS X 10.11

Posted on Apr 29, 2020 6:25 PM

Top-ranking reply

léonie

Level 10

197,309 points

Posted on Apr 30, 2020 4:23 AM

Is the external volume correctly formatted?MacOS Extended (Journaled)? Is it locally mounted (directly plugged in, not accessed over the local network)? Photos cannot work with a network volume.

also, the external volume must not be used for Time Machine backups. See: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support

Sometimes it helps to switch to a new, empty Photos Library, and then back to the main Photos Library.

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Photos Can't Find System Photo Library

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