I can no longer open Photos on my Mac using Big Sur (11.6.1)

Question

I can no longer open Photos on my Mac using Big Sur (11.6.1)

2 weeks ago I uploaded ~2000 photos from my iPhone to Photos but since that time after closing the application, it no longer loads when i try re-opening the program. Instead the rainbow wheel appears and sits spinning until i move the cursor again, at which time if i hover over the Photos dock icon, i can see 'the applicaiton is not responding." my only option is to force quit and when i do, the OS does not even prompt to send statistics to Apple support.

I have tried https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204967, as well as deleting the data in containers folder: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7187577, but both yielded zero success.

the photos library is large enough (~60Gb) not to fit on my laptop's local drive, so i keep it on a USB external. I have never had an issue with Photos not being able to find/load the library before.

Please help!

Posted on Dec 5, 2021 6:21 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

TonyCollinet

Level 7

24,044 points

Dec 6, 2021 1:00 AM in response to Stratiegery01

Hi

Regarding the external USB - is it correctly formatted for a photos library?

It must be formatted APFS or MacOS extended (journaled) (preferred for spinning drives)

It Must not be (or have been) used for time machine. (A time machine drive can be used if re-formatted)

It must have the 'ignore ownership" checkbox ticked.

It must be directly connected (No ethernet or wifi)

If you didn't format it before you put your library on it, it will be ExFAT which is not compatible. if this is the case, you are going to need to move it to a compatible volume as described above.

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

200,531 points

Dec 6, 2021 1:55 AM in response to Stratiegery01

Some more things, you may want to check, in addition to Tony’s advice:

do you still have plenty of free storage on your system volume, at least 10GB, better more?
can Photos launch, if you create a new, empty library, just to test, if the Problem is caused by your current library? To create a new library, hold down the options key while launching Photos. Release the key, when you see the dialog to select a library. Select to create a new library in your Pictures folder. Does Photos launch?
check, if the Dock icon of Photos is linked to the current version of Photos, not an outdated link. To ensure that the current version of Photos is launched, open the Applications folder, then double click Photos there to launch it.
check the external drive with Disk Utility, if it has problems.

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Answer 3

Dec 9, 2021 10:40 PM in response to Stratiegery01

If you are still running the library in an incompatible location (NAS or external drive which is not either APFS, or MacOS extended) then you are going to have to move it to a location that *is* compatible. And hope that it is repairable when there.

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Answer 4

Dec 12, 2021 4:48 PM in response to TonyCollinet

Thank you Tony! Completely neglected to try that. I booted in safe mode and Photos worked as it normally should. I then restarted again in normal mode, tried Photos again, and this time it asked me to find a new Library (as expected). It seems to be working as normal now, fingers crossed.

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Answer 5

Dec 12, 2021 12:53 AM in response to Stratiegery01

Have you tried starting your mac in safe mode, and then trying?

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Answer 6

léonie

Level 10

200,531 points

Dec 6, 2021 11:30 PM in response to Stratiegery01

Have you tried to start the application by selecting it in the Applications folder and double clicking the icon there, while holding down the options key ⌥ ? Just to be sure, you are running the app installed by the current system version and not an outdated alias in the Dock?

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Answer 7

Dec 6, 2021 5:52 PM in response to TonyCollinet

over the course of ~5yrs, I've used 2 different drives for Photos: a NAS drive and a 2.5" USB 3.0 spinning external. Both are AFP and have had little issue running a Photo library from.

However that isn't the problem i have. Right now the Photos app wont even start up, and it doesnt even prompt me to select the library I want to use. I double click the application to load, the icon bounces in the dock, the rainbow wheel appears then dissapears, and then if i hover the cursor over the dock icon it simply states "application not responding". There is no window which loads, no menu bar text, nothing.

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Answer 8

Dec 9, 2021 6:57 PM in response to léonie

Yes i have tried loading with the option key held down, but to no avail. I am specific to try loading from the Macintosh HD\Applications\Photos icon instead of from the dock.

I am running the previous OS however, and i wonder if Photos updated in the last patch but it's less compatible with BigSur for some reason.

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Answer 9

Dec 11, 2021 5:10 PM in response to TonyCollinet

Hi Tony,

Yes, I moved the library off the NAS already, but what I am trying to say is that the library isnt the problem it seems; the application is. If I dont even have the ability to select a library to run, then the library file is a non-issue at this stage.

Photos, the application, will not load. It will not show any window. It will not change behaviors if I hold down the option key, nor restart the computer several times, etc. The only evidence it shows me it is trying to run is an error message in the dock saying "application not responding." It's unclear to me whether the OS version is a factor here or if Photos needs to be reinstalled somehow (I would like to know how to do this safely). With activity monitor open and when i attempt to run the application, barely anything registers on memory or CPU; certainly a small fraction anyway as if it were to run normally.

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Answer 10

Dec 12, 2021 11:37 PM in response to Stratiegery01

Good news - thanks for letting me know.

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Answer 11

Dec 6, 2021 11:38 PM in response to Stratiegery01

A NAS is also an unsupported location, as I pointed out above. AFP is a network protocol, not a format - what is the format of the drive your library is currently on. It is quite possible that Photos is crashing either due to the format/location, or due to damage to the library caused by that location. This can be checked as described by Leonie using the option key.

The problem with incompatible volumes is they can work - until they don't. Operating the library on one can result in a gradual build up of errors in the library until it eventually stops opening, otherwise malfunctions, or a later OS version/update decides it can't work with it.

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I can no longer open Photos on my Mac using Big Sur (11.6.1)

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