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repair photos library doesn't work

repair photos library doesn't work.

Thumbnails are scrambled... some blank,

some black, some green, some with extremely dark

red or green overlays.

library is 24,000 images.

Repair takes 15 mins or so. No help.

Tried rotating a small group, back and forth.

no help!

Terrible program.


MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Oct 16, 2020 5:43 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 16, 2020 5:59 AM

Could you please give us some background information on how you are using Photos? This will make it easier to see what's going on your Mac.


Are your photos still working, when you are viewing them enlarged? Can you open them in Edit mode in Photos?


When did the problem with the scrambled thumbnails first occur? Directly after upgrading to macOS 10.15 Catalina?

Or what happened directly before you have seen the scrambled thumbnails for the first time?

Are you using iCloud Photos? Does your Mac have plenty of free storage?


Where is your Photos Library stored? Is it in your Pictures folder or on an external volume?

What is the image format of your photos? Are they JPEGs or RAW files? Have they been externally edited?

Do you copy the photos into the Photos Library when you import them, or are they referenced outside the library?






4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 16, 2020 5:59 AM in response to Phantomxxx7

Could you please give us some background information on how you are using Photos? This will make it easier to see what's going on your Mac.


Are your photos still working, when you are viewing them enlarged? Can you open them in Edit mode in Photos?


When did the problem with the scrambled thumbnails first occur? Directly after upgrading to macOS 10.15 Catalina?

Or what happened directly before you have seen the scrambled thumbnails for the first time?

Are you using iCloud Photos? Does your Mac have plenty of free storage?


Where is your Photos Library stored? Is it in your Pictures folder or on an external volume?

What is the image format of your photos? Are they JPEGs or RAW files? Have they been externally edited?

Do you copy the photos into the Photos Library when you import them, or are they referenced outside the library?






Oct 16, 2020 6:38 AM in response to Phantomxxx7

How did you move the library to the new Mac? Perhaps there is a permission problem. Is your home folder encrypted?


If the library is in the Pictures folder (Ordner Bilder), you could try to repair the permissions on the restored library, before you try to repair the library again.

First I would try to fix the permissions on the home folder as described here (on the wayback machine):

Resolve issues caused by changing the permissions of items in your home folder

Additionally: The copied Photos Library may still have permissions and file ownership problems. Try to repair these manually.

  • Quit Photos, if it is running.
  • Select the Photos Library in the Finder, then ctrl-click it and use the command Show Package Contents".
  • Select the "database" folder inside, then use the key combination ⌘i to open the Info. Open the permissions brick at the bottom of the info, unlock it, and set the permissions to give you read/write access. Now click the gears icon to use the command "Apply to enclosed items. 
  • Do this for all files and folders in the package.

Then try again to open Photos.

Oct 16, 2020 6:26 AM in response to léonie

Hi Léonie...

Macbook Pro is just 2 weeks old.

Catalina is up-to-date.

Photos is still working and EDIT still works ok.

(I have noticed that pics appear blurry after editing, when viewed in the album group.

Once you re-open them in EDIT, they snap back to being 'sharp').

Scrambled thumbs started yesterday, nothing odd or unusual before this happened.

Just using Photos normally, clicking back and forth between albums.

NOT just after going to Catalina, I did that before I got the new Mac.

Don't use iCloud! All pics are jpegs.

Plenty of storage... 2Tb! that's why I got the new machine!

All pics and library stored in Pictures.

None have been edited outside.

Library is 24,000 images. 160Gb approx.

repair photos library doesn't work

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