Photo Albums Not Showing up on Mac & Showing Deleted Pictures

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Level 1

12 points

Photo Albums Not Showing up on Mac & Showing Deleted Pictures

I have photo albums on my iPhone but I see that, although all my photos have imported on my Mac, I can't see the albums I created on my iPhone. It's an issue because I have all my photos organized into albums such as pictures from trips. I also see that a lot of pictures I deleted on my phone are on my Mac, which I don't want.

I updated my Mac. It's also synced with my iPhone with iCloud. I signed out and signed back in. Nothing I've tried fixes these issues.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.2

Posted on Mar 31, 2021 7:03 AM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

200,585 points

Apr 3, 2021 11:24 PM in response to TonyCollinet

Which system version is running on your iPhone? Is the iPhone signed into the same Apple ID? Is iCloud Photos enabled on your iPhone? The albums will only sync between the devices, if iCloud Photos is enabled on both devices, and if keep the iPhone connected to a power source and Wi-Fi.

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Answer 2

Apr 3, 2021 11:14 PM in response to lorenawithak

First check photos preferences on your Mac - general tab, and icloud tab.

Is the "use as system library button greyed out? It should be. If not, then click it.

Are iCloud settings as shown?

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Answer 3

Apr 4, 2021 9:41 AM in response to lorenawithak

Hi

If you have just done that, then you have probably triggered a complete resync of the library. Lots of stuff wont appear until the sync is complete.

What does the status say at the bottom of the all photos view? (Here is mine)

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Answer 4

Mar 31, 2021 8:20 AM in response to lorenawithak

If you make a change on either device, such as edit or delete a photo or create a new album, are you seeing the change being instantly sync'd with your other device? Is it just historic albums that are not syncing?

If you log into iCloud.com, do you see the albums there?

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Answer 5

léonie

Level 10

200,585 points

Apr 4, 2021 10:51 AM in response to lorenawithak

Oh, okay that makes sense. The strange thing is that I DELETED things off my iPhone so I didn't think it would UPLOAD items on my Mac.

The deleted items will still upload to iCloud, until you empty the Recently deleted album, because they are still a part of the library, until they are permanently deleted.

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Answer 6

lorenawithak Author

Level 1

12 points

Apr 3, 2021 7:59 PM in response to Russ New Boy

I apologize for the late reply, but yes I just checked. When I open the photos app on my Mac and delete a picture it doesn't delete on my iPhone and the pictures I deleted on my iPhone are still on my Mac so it's clearly not syncing. The albums don't show up either but when I open iCloud Photos on a browser, it shows all my albums and doesn't show any deleted pics. What do you think could be the issue?

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Answer 7

lorenawithak Author

Level 1

12 points

Apr 4, 2021 9:36 AM in response to TonyCollinet

I updated the iCloud settings like you said (clicked on 'Use as System Photo Library' and checked 'iCloud Photos' and 'Download Originals to this Mac') then I restarted my Mac, but for some reason, the albums still aren't showing up and the deleted pictures are still on my Mac.

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Answer 8

lorenawithak Author

Level 1

12 points

Apr 4, 2021 9:39 AM in response to léonie

The software version my iPhone is running is 14.3. Both my iPhone and Mac are logged into the same Apple ID and iCloud Photos is enabled on my phone. iCloud Photos is enabled on my Mac as well. Both my Mac and iPhone are connected to the same Wi-Fi.

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Answer 9

lorenawithak Author

Level 1

12 points

Apr 4, 2021 9:52 AM in response to TonyCollinet

Oh, okay that makes sense. The strange thing is that I DELETED things off my iPhone so I didn't think it would UPLOAD items on my Mac. Weird enough that some deleted pictures actually reappeared on my iPhone. I guess I'll just have to wait until it's complete.

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