Photos app and some of the apps are crossed and grey out

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14 points

Photos app and some of the apps are crossed and grey out

After upgrading my iMac (Retina 5k, 27-inch, Late 2014) from High Sierra yesterday (the upgrade was not smooth what so ever; the background of this Big Sur still stuck on the High Sierra big mountain background), Photos app and some of the apps are crossed and grey out, could not be used. I could not check on the Photos Apple ID over the System Preference even though it was listed there. Please help with thanks in advance.

iMac 27″, macOS 11.5

Posted on Aug 15, 2021 4:21 PM

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Answer 1

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Eric To Author

Level 1

14 points

Aug 19, 2021 8:56 PM in response to Old Toad

Thanks for all replies. I solved it by a clean install using an external SSD as a bootable installer (here tell you how to make a bootable installer and how to use it: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201372). Every thing is alright now. I am happy I can open all my "old" photos. The drawback of a clean installation of OS is you have to reinstall all the apps. Because I only erased the Macintosh HD (not the Macintosh HD-Data), I was able to keep all the data files intact after the Big Sur installation although I have TimeMachine as a backup. Now, I am working on a "New" iMac : )

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Answer 2

Old Toad

Level 10

207,619 points

Aug 16, 2021 9:10 AM in response to Eric To

The apps with this over them: 🚫 are 32 bit apps and will not run under Big Sur. They will have to be upgraded to 64 bit apps from the developer or by an alternative. The iPhoto app will have such an symbol over it but it's been replaced by the Photos app. Launch it in the Applications folder with the Option key held down and select your library on the external HD to open. It will migrate the library to t he new Photos format.

How is the external HD formatted and connected to your iMac?

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Answer 3

Eric To Author

Level 1

14 points

Aug 15, 2021 11:51 PM in response to Carolyn Samit

Thanks, Carolyn. I have no luck after doing safe mode and reinstall MacOs Big Sur. The Photos app still has a circle and slash on it. And in the Pictures folder under my user name, there is no photolibrary for Photos. I remember I stored all my photos in the external harddrive; there are many many photos in it (I just upgrade my iCloud storage to 2 TB to see). Maybe after upgrading my iMac from High Sierra to Big Sur, the mac could not recognize my photo library. When I right clicked on the Photos app, only folder "Contains" was there. Any clues? Thanks in advance.

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Answer 4

Aug 16, 2021 12:12 AM in response to Eric To

Hi

First - look for the photos app in launchpad, not your dock. Your dock probably contains shortcuts to out of date or removed versions of the apps. If they are still greyed out there, then look in the applications folder using finder.

Then, while opening photos, hold down the option key. In the resulting pane, select the library that is on your external drive.

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Answer 5

Aug 15, 2021 4:23 PM in response to Eric To

Hi,

A Safe Mode boot empties system caches that can help after upgrading MacOS..

How to use safe mode on your Mac - Apple Support

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Photos app and some of the apps are crossed and grey out

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