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Photos: Cannot Start Editing. Photos cannot load adjustments for this image.

A bunch of photos, seemingly random, taken with different iPhones and my Nikon camera, suddenly displays the error:

"Cannot Start Editing

Photos cannot load adjustments for this image."


I have already run Photos Repair Library. The photos are in the library, not externally referenced. They have always been in the library. They are not imported from Aperture. I have been able to edit them in previous MacOS versions (now running 11.5 Big Sur). I've restored my MacBook Pro from backup.


I've tried Export Unmodified Original, then re-importing. I then get the error message:

"Cannot Import Item

This item cannot be added to your Photo library because it may be an unrecognizable file format or the file may not contain valid data.

Duplicate burst photos are not supported"


It is not a burst photo. Preview app opens the image just fine. The only way I got it to work is to use Preview app's Export, renaming the file, then importing that file back into Photos app. This unacceptable for the number of images that suddenly appear to be corrupted, and using Preview's Export this way reduces JPG image quality.


The library contains 12,000 images. I've done editing on thousands of these photos. How screwed am I?



MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Aug 7, 2021 7:59 PM

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4 replies

Aug 7, 2021 9:08 PM in response to rboko

UPDATE: It's worse than I thought. The image Export Unmodified Original, then opened in Preview, then exported with a new name, then re-imported into Photos app now appears as a Burst photo when I search by filename, one of which is editable, then other has the "Cannot Start Editing" error. But there is no way to select one of the burst photos. Worse yet, there are three photos in the "burst", one of which is a different photo that has the same filename, except it's HEIC instead of JPG. But it's a completely different photo. But when I scroll to find the photo as opposed to searching by filename, it's not considered burst, though has the burst thumbnail appearance. When I right-click to remove 2 of the 3 burst photos, it deletes the whole photo.


Even worse yet, in Finder I duplicated the Export Unmodified Original photo and gave it another name, and imported it into my Photos library. I can't find it, trying search, Imports, scrolling to the date, searching the exact filename. Now I'm really concerned.


Even worse, Export Unmodified Original then imported into another Photos library seems be OK. Didn't even have to Export from Preview. 12,000 photos in my main library, thousands of which have been edited. How screwed am I?

Aug 8, 2021 12:18 PM in response to TonyCollinet

I have daily, weekly, and monthly backup drives using Time Machine.

My MB Pro was serviced two months ago, so I restored from Time Machine backups. There were some problems, so I did a clean new install of Big Sur, and then restored again. So I haven't considered the need for disk cleanup. I did run Disk Utility First Aid, and it completed without incident.

I use shared folders on iCloud. Not the whole library - my two largest libraries are quite large. I kept the Aperture import in a separate Photos library to avoid problems like this - that library seems to be fine. The library I've "protected" from Aperture is the one with problems.

The library is stored on the internal 1TB SSD, formatted as APFS, in the Pictures folder as is Photos default.


I did have a small breakthrough: instead of trying to edit the apparently corrupted photos, I right-click the thumbnail and select Revert to Original - which allows me to then edit. I'm still very concerned about imported photos disappearing, non-burst photos showing the burst themed thumbnail, and three burst images where the third image is a completely different image. I have an IT background, and stuff like this spooks me. So even though I found a workaround for the Cannot Start Editing problem, the other odd behaviors hint at some underlying internal corruption in my Photos library that may really bite me later.


Thanks for your thoughtful questions.

Aug 8, 2021 12:55 PM in response to rboko

Don't get me wrong - clean up / speed up /de-dup apps are generally bad and can seriously damage photos libraries. I was asking because the odd behaviour exhibited by this library suggests (as you feel yourself) it may be damaged in some way. Typical causes are clean up type apps, or storing on an external drive not compatible with photos libraries. Neither seem to be the case here. I assume you've made no changes inside the library package using finder, or any other apps?


It might be worth restoring an earlier version of that library from Time Machine, and see if the earlier version exhibits the same issues. I can't think of anything else right now.

Photos: Cannot Start Editing. Photos cannot load adjustments for this image.

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