error importing from a backup drive into Photos

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Level 1

8 points

error importing from a backup drive into Photos

I just got a new Macbook and I'm trying to upload about 30k photos and videos I have stored on a backup drive into Photo but I keep getting this message during the upload:

"The Photos App needs to quit. Photos must quit because the photo library is being moved, is unavailable, or its data is corrupt."

I've repeated the process a few times today and was able to get a good portion of them uploaded, but they are mixed with my icloud photos and I can't tell which ones didn't make the move.

Any idea what the problem could be? Wondering if there is a maximum size it can handle at once, or if there is a way to identify/delete any corrupt files that might be causing the hangup.

MacBook Air

Posted on Feb 2, 2021 8:39 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

TonyCollinet

Level 7

23,972 points

Feb 3, 2021 8:57 AM in response to gaston6858

Well - second thing first.

Icloud is a sync service. If you use it, it creates identical libraries on all your devices. So anything you add to your library will get uploaded to iCloud, and to your phone. That is what it does. So the only way to stop it happening is to disable iCloud photos on your mac - but then you will not automatically get the photos from your phone.

Regarding the import. The only thing I can suggest is to upload the images a bit at a time (one folder or a group of folders). I suspect there is one file or a few files that are causing the error, and that way you'll eventually be able to find the culprit.

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

197,717 points

Feb 3, 2021 9:16 AM in response to gaston6858

Where is your current Photos Library stored? The error message "The Photos App needs to quit. Photos must quit because the photo library is being moved, is unavailable, or its data is corrupt." suggests, that the Photos Library you are currently using is not stored locally on your Mac in a compatible location. Photos cannot work with the library in a shared folder or on a network share or in a cloud folder or on a volume, that has been used by Time Machine. Is your current photos library in the Pictures folder in your home folder or at least on a locally mounted volume with a wired connection as described here: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support ? If not, you will continually have problems like you are experiencing.

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Answer 3

Feb 2, 2021 11:27 PM in response to gaston6858

Hi - to help with diagnosis, can you clarify the following:

What version of Macos do you have? Do you have the M1 processor?

How are you trying to "upload"?

Where is your photos library stored - on the system drive - or an external drive?

What format are the files in on the backup drive? In an older library? Or simply a collection of image files and videos.

If the latter, what are the formats? Jpg? Raw? MP4? How many different types (especially video - including codecs?

Do you have icloud set up for photos?

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Answer 4

gaston6858 Author

Level 1

8 points

Feb 3, 2021 5:47 AM in response to TonyCollinet

I have macOS Big Sur with the M1 processor. I was using the "import" function in Photos to copy photos/videos from an older photo library saved on an external drive to my machine. They were "exported" from the Photos library on a shared Mac mini into some default folder structure so it's hard to sort by type - JPG, MOV, HEIC, PNG and AAE files are what I've noticed.

I do have iCloud setup for photos, with the pictures from my iphone now showing up on my Mac. This is now a separate issue though because the ones that were able to be imported have/are attempting to load to iCloud and my phone, which I did not want. If you know how to cancel (not pause) that process let me know - it's going to take days or weeks at the current rate.

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error importing from a backup drive into Photos

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