Photos cannot find the System Photo Library

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Level 1

120 points

Photos cannot find the System Photo Library

I've just upgraded to Catalina from Mohave, with much trepidation. I use Time Machine as backup. Now I cannot open Photos at all; I'm told that "Photos cannot find the System Photo Library named 'PhotosLibrary.photoslibrary.'" I can't look at Photos Preferences because Photos stalls at that statement. When I look at both System and Library on the Mac HD, Photo Booth Library is grayed out, and there is no PhotosLibrary in either.

I checked ICloud in System Preferences and discovered that Photos was not backed up to iCloud--or so it seems, which is a surprise.

Have I really lost the whole thing? I haven't looked in my Time Machine backups yet because they are scary.

Help, please. Thanks!

iMac 21.5″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jul 2, 2020 5:14 AM

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Answer 1

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léonie

Level 10

194,691 points

Jul 2, 2020 6:12 AM in response to Gail Zlatnik

Gail Zlatnik wrote:

....... When I look at both System and Library on the Mac HD, Photo Booth Library is grayed out, and there is no PhotosLibrary in either. ...

Your System Photos Library should be in the folder Pictures, not in the System and Library folder on your HD. Or have you moved your Photos Library to a different folder?

Look into the folder "Pictures" in your user Home folder for an item with the name PhotosLibrary.photoslibrary. This library should have an icon with a fan of three pictures showing the rainbow coloured flower. Is the library in your Pictures folder?

If the library is there try to open it by double clicking it. Does that work?

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

194,691 points

Jul 2, 2020 11:48 AM in response to Gail Zlatnik

You may want to ensure, that Photos has full disk access and access to files and folders.

Quit Fotos, if it is still hanging.

Open the System Preferences > Security and Privacy, go to the Privacy tab. In the Sidebar click "File & Folders". Enable Photos in this list. Click also "Full Disk Access". Enable Fotos for Full Disk Access.

Try again to launch Photos.

If all fails, try to repair the permissions on your Home folder as described here: If Photos can’t copy or create a library - Apple Support

If your photo library is in its default location in the Pictures folder, use this set of Terminal commands to set new permissions:

1. Open the Terminal app.

2. Type the following command and press Return. Substitute the name of your user account for your_username.

sudo chown -R your_username /Users/your_username/Pictures

3. When prompted, type your OS X user account password and press Return.

4. Type the following command and press Return. Substitute the name of your user account for your_username.

sudo chmod -R 700 /Users/your_username/Pictures

5. Quit Photos, then hold down the Option key and open Photos.

6. When Photos asks you to choose a library, try to migrate the library again.

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Answer 3

Gail Zlatnik Author

Level 1

120 points

Jul 2, 2020 10:16 AM in response to Gail Zlatnik

Yep, it's there in Pictures. When I click on it, I get the same message, but it seems to be trying to open when I double-click. I get the spinning wheel that usually means "trying, hang on"--but how long should I hang on?

I've discovered that my iPad does back up my photos to iCloud.

??

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Answer 4

Gail Zlatnik Author

Level 1

120 points

Jul 2, 2020 12:08 PM in response to léonie

Before I do anything in the Terminal app (meaning I'm not a tech whiz AT ALL), can I safely try Disk First Aid? and see whether that will fix the permissions?

I couldn't add Photos to Preferences/Files and Folders--the + was grayed out. The only thing listed there is EtreCheck, which I've used in the past for previous issues, of which this computer has had many. Nor could I do anything with Photos as listed in the left-hand column--the + sign was there, but the Photos library wouldn't show up as addable.

OK to try First Aid?

Thanks for your continuing efforts! I know this can be fixed. Courage!

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Answer 5

Gail Zlatnik Author

Level 1

120 points

Jul 2, 2020 7:01 PM in response to léonie

léonie, I ran the Disk Utility first aid app and all seemed to be OK. So then I followed your instructions above, except for doing the 700 in blue (??), and Terminal proceeded just as you said it would.

So Photos still can't find the library, even though it's sitting right there. I tried to open it using both the icon in the dock and the icon in the Apps list.

Anything else to try? I haven't tried to repeat the commands you sent. Nor have I waited more than a minute or so watching the spin while Photos looks for its library. Should I wait longer? And I don't understand why my photo library isn't accessible via iCloud, since my iPad sends photos to the cloud.

Thanks again.

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