Mac Photos Stuck on "Looking Up Location Info..."

Question

Level 1

5 points

Mac Photos Stuck on "Looking Up Location Info..."

I've been using Photos on my Mac mini fairly routinely the past couple weeks, including after I installed Monterey last week. This problem has just arisen today. As I import new photos into the Photos app if I click on "Get Info" the app gets stuck on "Looking up location info..."

This problem does not occur if the photo I am importing does not have location/GPS information on it. It only seems to be occurring for photos that I import that have pre-existing location information. This appears to be the case regardless of when the photo was taken (I tried importing some old photos from 2016 taken with an old iPhone 6. It also is not occurring for photos that were already loaded into the Photos app.

Any ideas?

Mac mini 2018 or later

Posted on Nov 2, 2021 12:41 PM

Reply

Answer 1

JovonaP.

Community Specialist

Nov 3, 2021 10:06 AM in response to Figment912

Hello Figment912,

Thanks for using Apple Support Communities. We understand that the Photos app on your Mac mini becomes unresponsive when checking photo location information. We're happy to look into this with you.

We recommend that you test the issue while in safe mode. Starting in safe mode allows your Mac to run certain checks, remove caches, and prevent login items from automatically launching. This can isolate possible third party issues. Use the steps and information in the link below for assistance with safe mode:

How to use safe mode on your Mac

Let us know the results. Be sure to include any other troubleshooting steps that you may have tried.

Have a nice day!

Reply

Answer 2

Nov 3, 2021 1:01 PM in response to Figment912

The location info is looked up from apple servers. Do you have any security software (eg vpn/firewalls) that might be getting in the way.

If so, try temporarily disabling them.

Reply

Answer 3

JovonaP.

Community Specialist

Nov 3, 2021 12:47 PM in response to Figment912

Figment912,

That information is very helpful, thank you. We recommend that you contact Apple Support for a deeper look into this issue. Contact Apple Support

Take care!

Reply

Answer 4

Figment912 Author

Level 1

5 points

Nov 3, 2021 11:19 AM in response to JovonaP.

Jovona - thanks so much for your thoughtful reply. I restarted my Mac mini in Safe Mode and unfortunately that does not resolve the problem. To clarify, the Mac mini does not become unresponsive but rather the Photos app is stuck on "Looking for location info..." indefinitely. The app continues to function but no matter how long I leave the app open it is unable to locate the location info for the photo. The GPS pin is accurately placed but the app never matches the GPS coordinates to a city and/or place name.

For example:

Reply

Mac Photos Stuck on "Looking Up Location Info..."

Similar questions