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My .HEIC photos transferred from IOS 14.4.1 are not opening in the Photos app iMac Big Sur. They open in Preview, but can't import them to Photos app.
What am I missing? Anyone, please? Thank you.
iMac Line (2012 and Later)
The images have been captured, saved and in a folder. The problem seems not to be with capturing and saving them but rather with the Photos app itself. Why does the Photos app does not recognise HEIC files?
What happens when you try to open? Any error messages? What about when you try to import. (It is not clear if opening or importing is the problem)
How are you transferring the HEIC files (presumably from a phone)
Thanks for your reply. I usually do not use airdrop to transfer photos from my iPhone to my iMac. However, in this instance, I did, and had no problems with the transfer. I managed to see the photos in Preview and watch the videos in QuickTime. When I tried to open these files in Photos (for editing and storing), that’s when I got the error message concerning incompatibility with HEIC files not being recognised. I searched Google and tried to find a solution, unsuccessfully. The files were transferred from the Downloads folder to the Pictures one. Again, no issues there. The problem appeared when I tried to import the said files into Photos. Again and again, the error message popped up. No solution has been found yet. iMac 2019 Big Sur, iPhone X S Max. Thanks for your help.
Phots recognising HEIC files well. But it may depend on the folder.
Is the folder where you downloaded them to in syncing with iCloud? For example on iCloud Drive, your Desktop, or in the Documents folder? When I try to import files to Photos, that have not yet been fully downloaded from iCloud I am getting the same error message in Photos you are seeing. Make sure, you are importing from a local folder to Photos, for example your Pictures folder. You mentioned the Pictures folder - did you try import from Picture to Photos?
That's exactly what's happening. I usually let the photos upload themselves and am always able to open them in the Photos app and edit them. This time, I saved the photos and videos to the Pictures folder on my Mac, which is not on iCloud, after transferring them via Airdrop. I"ll try this other way. It makes no sense, though.
The Pictures folder should work. Documents and Desktop and iCloud Drive are the problematic ones, when you are using iCloud Photos.
What is the source of your HEIC files? Have they been taken with the iPhone or saved on the iPhone from a different source?
Have they been edited on the iPhone with third-party applications? Or taken with a third-party Camera.app?
The photos and videos have now been uploaded to iCloud and are showing in the Photos app on my Mac. So, from this perspective, problem solved. Because they were large files, like 4K videos and I was looking for a quick edit, I then transferred all files via Airdrop, which I don't usually do. The HEIC files came straight from my iPhone with no third-parties apps being used. They were automatically saved in the Downloads folder, which I then transferred manually to the Pictures folder. When I tried to import these files from the Pictures folder into the Photos app, I then encountered the problem and got the incompatibility messages. So, I haven't managed to find the answer to my original question, but the problem has been solved nonetheless. Thanks for your help and input anyway. All the best.
Have you tried transferring them via USB rather than Airdrop?
Try connecting with USB, and using the image capture app on your mac to transfer the images to a folder.
photos app not opening .HEIC files iMac Big Sur
