Missing photos in Photos app on my Mac

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Level 1

4 points

Missing photos in Photos app on my Mac

Hi,

I am using my Macbook Pro as repository for all my photos, I am not using iCloud storage.

I got a 2017 Mac Book Pro, my current operating system is macOS Big Sur 11.4

Recently I noticed that some photos (mainly the oldest ones) have been replaced with a grey placeholder. When I double-click the grey placeholder, only a white image appears but I can still see the properties of the image (right click -> Get Info).

By browsing into the Photos Library through Finder (right click on the photo library in Finder -> Show Package Contents) I am able to search for the picture file and it seems the file is not corrupted (I can open the photo correctly)

I tried to repair the photo library but it had no effect.

The issue doesn't seem to be related to the operating system version, I recently updated my mac without any benefits to this problem

Thanks to anybody that could give me any help

MacBook Pro with Touch Bar

Posted on Sep 14, 2021 1:47 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Keith Barkley

Level 7

20,994 points

Sep 15, 2021 12:56 PM in response to _Pizio_

Also, are you using a managed or referenced library?

Change where your files are stored in Photos on Mac - Apple Support

The correct answer is "Managed" - "Copy Items to Photos Library" should be checked.

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

197,711 points

Sep 19, 2021 12:13 AM in response to _Pizio_

Have you been running any cleaning applications to remove duplicates? This may damage your library badly, and some original image files may no longer be found by Photos.

You have found the images inside the Photos Library package. Where exactly did you find them? What is the name of the enclosing folder? "Perhaps "Masters"? I am asking, because Photos is renaming the originals and they are hard to find by their original filename. Only some working copies retain the original filename, but the originals, inside the folder

Have they been inside the folder "originals" will have long, cryptic names, like this:

The missing originals should be inside "originals", renamed.

If you found the missing files inside a folder "Masters", the upgrade of your Photos Library has been incomplete and you should try to repeat it, starting from a backup of your library you made while still running Mojave.

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Answer 3

_Pizio_ Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 19, 2021 12:08 AM in response to Keith Barkley

Hi Keith,

thank you for your answer.

The option you are referring to (Copy Items to Photos Library") is currently checked for my Photo Library.

Since I was not sure my missing items were actually copied in the library i tried to consolidate one of them and i got the following message: "No Referenced Files to Consolidate - The selected items are already stored in the library".

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Answer 4

_Pizio_ Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 25, 2021 1:54 AM in response to léonie

Hi,

it took a while to look into all folders and I haven't found the photos that are missing in my Photos library.

I also noticed that i made a mistake by saying:

"By browsing into the Photos Library through Finder (right click on the photo library in Finder -> Show Package Contents) I am able to search for the picture file and it seems the file is not corrupted (I can open the photo correctly)"

When I first ran the search of the photo into my Mac, I had my external HDD connected. I was thus able to find the missing photo with its original name, because I later discovered I have a copy on the external HDD. However, since I started the search in the photo library I was convinced that the photo was in there.

Sorry to mislead you all with my error in the problem description.

Having some photos in my external HDD, I managed to re-import them and I recovered part of my library. For the remaining part I think I need to use time machine.

Speaking of that, I have a question. Since the last functional back up I added a lot of photos to my library, so what I need to do is to "merge" the backed up library with the current one. Is there a way to do that? I never used the recover function of time machine, I would like to use it properly to avoid losing my new photos in the process of recovering the older ones.

Thank you

Marco

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Answer 5

Sep 14, 2021 11:49 PM in response to _Pizio_

Hi

Where is your library stored? If you have moved it to an external drive, what format is the drive (It needs to be APFS, or MacOS extended, with the ignore ownership checkbox checked)

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Answer 6

_Pizio_ Author

Level 1

4 points

Sep 18, 2021 11:57 PM in response to TonyCollinet

Hi Tony,

thank you for you answer and sorry for my late feedback.

My library is located into the MAC internal hard disk (APFS format).

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Missing photos in Photos app on my Mac

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