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I've made a big mess in Photos - please help!

Hi folks-


In trying to solve an issue with getting iMovie to recognize my Photos library after an update to OS Big Sur and an update to iMovie, I seem to have created a bigger problem.


In short, I created a new Photos library, toggled onto that blank library as the System Photo Library (but did not do anything to iCloud), and then toggled back to my main Photos library as the System Photo Library.


In the process, however, in the Photos library it now appears to be stuck in updating/uploading to iCloud Photo Library. More importantly, though, in the "Unable to Upload" tab, my ENTIRE Photo Library seems to be there. No idea how that happened, but I don't really want to empty/delete those photos for fear I may permanently delete all of my photos.


Please help!

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Nov 30, 2020 7:51 PM

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Posted on Dec 1, 2020 12:49 PM

Hi Jason.


If ALL the pictures you need are in Icloud you can make this whole thing much much simpler.


1 - leave your current library where it is for now - it can be a backup.

2 - Create a new empty library on the external storage

3 - Set it to the system library and enable it for iCloud.

4 - wait for iCloud to download all the images into your new clean library.


Even if it turns out there are images in your current library that are not in iCloud, you can always export them from there, and then import them into your new library later, and it will be much easier to manage problematic file types that way.

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Dec 1, 2020 12:49 PM in response to Jason Habermeyer

Hi Jason.


If ALL the pictures you need are in Icloud you can make this whole thing much much simpler.


1 - leave your current library where it is for now - it can be a backup.

2 - Create a new empty library on the external storage

3 - Set it to the system library and enable it for iCloud.

4 - wait for iCloud to download all the images into your new clean library.


Even if it turns out there are images in your current library that are not in iCloud, you can always export them from there, and then import them into your new library later, and it will be much easier to manage problematic file types that way.

Dec 1, 2020 12:58 AM in response to Jason Habermeyer

The change to the system library has probably triggered a complete resync of your entire library. This can take days for a large library, as photos must compare every image in your library between mac and iCloud. See this user tip

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-9822


This user tip explains how to find out what is currently being uploaded. If you do this and think it is stuck, it might be worth toggling iCloud off then on again (with a pause between). This will restart the sync from the beginning though.

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250002457




Dec 1, 2020 1:03 AM in response to TonyCollinet

Further - I think you were considering transferring your photos to an external drive. If you think this is the right thing to do, now is the time to do it, because it will also need a complete re-sync (assuming all your photos are already in iCloud. If they are not, then you will need the current re-sync to complete first). This might actually be faster, because all it will need to do is download from iCloud to a new empty library on the external drive.


You can still sync iCloud with the external drive, and you can still download originals to the external drive. It needs to be properly prepared though, and you should get the fastest you can afford.


The external storage must be formatted APFS or MacOS extended (journaled), and not be (or have been) used for time machine. It must have the 'ignore ownership" checkbox ticked. It should not be on a memory stick, SD or similar. It stands to reason that if you want any sort of reasonable performance it should be a fast drive with a fast connection.


See

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201517

Dec 1, 2020 8:29 AM in response to TonyCollinet

Thanks very much, Tony. Appreciate the thoughts here. I think given my issues and the desire to free space up generally on my Mac, it's probably time to move my library to an external drive. One of the reasons I had hesitated to do so was not having everything backed up to iCloud, but it's a relief that I can continue to use iCloud with the external drive.


Here's my last question, then: because my current Photos Library is going through this re-sync process and it will likely take days/weeks given the size, by moving now to an external drive won't that problem just continue? In other words, right now Photos is stuck at updating 609 photos, and my entire library seems to be duplicated in the "Unable to Upload" folder within Photos. If I move everything to that external drive, isn't the problem just going to be replicated on the external drive? Or is what you're saying that it will be replicated, but rather than going through the re-sync on the Mac it will just go through the re-sync on the external drive?

Dec 1, 2020 11:17 AM in response to Jason Habermeyer

In other words, right now Photos is stuck at updating 609 photos, and my entire library seems to be duplicated in the "Unable to Upload"


The "Unable to upload" album is showing photos and videos, that are in a format, that is not compatible with iCloud photos. You need to convert them to a more compatible format. If you keep them around in your photos library they will make Photos slow and unresponsive. In many cases it helps to export the items from Photos, then to delete them from the library and to reimport them. When you try to reimport them, photos may automatically convert them to a more compatible format or tell you, that they cannot be imported, Then use some application that can open and convert the items, for example GraphicConverter.



Dec 1, 2020 12:08 PM in response to léonie

Thank you, Leonie. I'm a bit confused though. If I delete the "Unable to Upload" album, that will effectively delete all of the photos in my library (I've done a couple of tests by deleting photos from the album, which deletes them from the library). So is what you're saying is to export just the "Unable to Upload" album to an external drive, then delete them (and effectively clear out the entire library), and then reimport them?


That seems potentially doable (though having to use an application to convert items with another application seems a bit daunting, but I'll put that aside for now), but how does this work with the fact that I have all of these in iCloud? My Photos library is currently optimized for storage purposes, with full res versions in iCloud. If I export the optimized "Unable to Upload" album, and then reimport, isn't that going to effectively layer over optimized versions of photos on the full res versions in iCloud?

Dec 1, 2020 12:54 PM in response to TonyCollinet

Ooh, Tony that is indeed a much much simpler strategy! I like the sound of simple for sure! I'm fairly confident that most, if not all, of the pictures and videos that I need are in iCloud, and as you say I should be able to export anything from current library that's not in there and then reimport into the new library.


If I embark on this journey, by pointing the new system library on the external storage does the sync go from iCloud to the Photos library? I always thought the sync was the other way, i.e., any photos in the Photos library get synched to iCloud, but it sounds like what you're saying is that it works both ways?


Also, how does it work with the whole "Download Originals to this Mac" vs. "Optimize Storage" when it comes to having the Photos library on external storage? Same as it would work as if the external storage drive was the Mac?


Thanks for all your continued help on helping me solve this issue!

Dec 1, 2020 3:14 PM in response to Jason Habermeyer

Yes - sync is in both directions (has to be, so that, for example photos taken on an Iphone get sent to the mac). In fact that is the whole point of iCloud. It creates identical libraries on all your devices.


And yes - download originals or optimise storage works the same way. There is no difference between a library stored on the system drive or on an external drive - as long as the external drive is set up correctly. The only proviso is that only one library can sync with iCloud - the system library - but you can set any library to be the system library.

Dec 1, 2020 3:39 PM in response to TonyCollinet

Really, really helpful stuff here Tony. Thank you so much. If you are so inclined, any recommendations/suggestions on what external to go with in terms of size and SSD/HDD for purposes of Photos? Re size, seems like I could purchase a 4TB drive but if my backup is only 2TB in iCloud, not sure that's completely helpful. Re SSD/HDD, would there be a noticeable difference in working with an HDD as the drive? Hate to bug you one more time but you may have some thoughts on this so thought I'd ask!

Dec 2, 2020 1:34 AM in response to Jason Habermeyer

You are welcome (feel free to mark my answer as the solution 🙂 )


If you have 2TB iCloud then bigger makes no sense UNLESS (at some point in the future) you want to do what I do when you've run out of iCloud space, and have one library not synced to icloud with all your images in, and a smaller one that has recent images in (I keep 1-2 years synced to icloud on an internal library, and store everything else on an external drive).


The only difference between a spinning hard drive and SSD is speed. The speed difference is noticeable, but not insurmountable (My archive drive is spinney)

Dec 22, 2020 6:02 PM in response to TonyCollinet

Tony - me again! So, went through the above steps, worked like a charm. All photos and videos are now on the external hard drive.


Just one problem: my Mac is still showing 275GB of storage in Photos (by going to About This Mac>Storage> and then clicking “Manage”). Now, I do have some iMovie and other movie files that are large, but those are contained in the “Documents” list after clicking Manage, while “Photos” is showing 275GB. Obviously I’d love to free up all that storage for updates, speed, etc., but....I don’t even know where that 275GB is coming from. Any ideas?

Dec 23, 2020 2:48 AM in response to Jason Habermeyer

In the about section, the mac classifies photos as photos regardless of whether they are in the photos library. So it will include all image files and (I think) videos wherever they are (even in application folders)


To find out where my space is used, I use disk inventory X

http://www.derlien.com/


Which gives a graphical and hierarchical list view of the space used.

Dec 23, 2020 5:19 PM in response to TonyCollinet

Thanks, Tony. I downloaded Disk Inventory X, which shows me I have even less space than About This Mac says I have haha.


The good news is, this does give me a good sense as to where all the storage space is going. One item I’m stumped on though is the following in a Movies folder: a .QT file with a long string of characters after (full file name is .QT-0a76-cf92ab02-bfffe2b8-00). But there’s no way to actually view the file to see what it is, and I can’t seem to find where it is in Finder even after telling Disk Inventory X to reveal in Finder. I’m ok with deleting it unless it’s a system file that will cause bigger problems. But the file is 19.6GB, so would love to free up that space if it’s not necessary. Any thoughts as to whether it’s safe to do so?

I've made a big mess in Photos - please help!

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