recover photo library from iCloud

Hi

If you have all your pictures currently in iCloud, and just want to synchronise them with a Photos library on your mac, the easiest way is to create a new empty library on your mac, (in the pictures folder is the normal place, can also be a new external drive - BUT see below about how to set this up). Set this new library as the system library, and make sure iCloud photos is enabled, and your mac will then download everything from iCloud photos library into your newly created library.

Here is how:

Hold down the option key while starting photos, and click "create new". Name it Photos Library.photoslibrary, and locate it in your pictures folder (or a folder in your external drive). (First screenshot). (If there is already a library with that name in the pictures folder, you could just use that one rather than creating a new one)

Then open the new library - go into photos preferences (general tab), and click "use as system photos library" (second screenshot)

Finally in photos preferences iCloud tab, set it up as the final screenshot. (You need to have enough space on your mac to download all the photos from iCloud)

Using an external drive

The drive MUST be formatted APFS or MacOS extended (journaled) - use the latter for a spinning hard drive. Also make sure the "ignore ownership checkbox is checked.

I'd also recommend creating a folder to put the library into rather than just storing it in the root of the drive.

More detail:

It must be formatted APFS or MacOS extended (journaled) (preferred for spinning drives)

It Must not be (or have been) used for time machine. (A time machine drive can be used if re-formatted)

It must have the 'ignore ownership" checkbox ticked.

It should not be on a memory stick, SD or similar.

It must also not be a network drive (a direct connection is required - eg USB or Thunderbolt).

File sharing services such as iCloud Drive, Drop box, Onedrive etc are not compatible with Photos libraries.

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

as I cannot copy the system photo library to a different hard drive (gives error -36).

You need to make a backup copy of your external volume nevertheless. Even if your library has been syncing with iCloud Photos, you cannot be sure, if already all images have been uploaded to iCloud. Try to create a working local copy, before you recreate your library from iCloud.

Error -36 is is very typical for trying to copy to a volume with a different file system format or trying to copy to a volume with permission problems.

Tony already described the requirements for an external volume. As the destination volume absolutely must have the correct file system format, you may need have to copy the library to a volume with a different format, if the current format is incompatible with Photos. There two ways to copy a library in spite of error -36.

• Use cloning software like carbon Copy Cloner or similar
• Or copy the library piecewise by copying all folders from the package separately. This has the advantage that you can skip damaged files, that are causing the -36 error.

This is described in this user tip: How to avoid the Error -36 when copying a Photos Library - Apple Community