You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

ninaasks Author

Level 1

4 points

I'm trying to restore an old Photos library from Time Machine but I get the following notification and can't proceed, help

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to restore an old Photos library to my mac from Time Machine on my external drive but I get the following notification and can't proceed:

"The library “Photos Library Old” is in a Time Machine backup. Open the original library."

I don't have the original library, only the one on the external drive backup I'm trying to restore. This is a different library to the one I'm using currently on my mac, and I don't want to replace my current one. I just want to get access to the old one. I tried the "Repair" option but again, I end up with the "The library “Photos Library Old” is in a Time Machine backup. Open the original library."

Any ideas how to fix it?

Thank you

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Jan 27, 2022 7:41 AM

Top-ranking reply

TonyCollinet

Level 7

23,909 points

Posted on Jan 27, 2022 9:13 AM

You first have to restore the library (get it off the time machine drive)

You cannot open a library stored on a volume used for time machine. Restore it to your pictures folder if you have enough space or another external drive (formatted APFS or MacOS extended) if you don't.

View in context

I'm trying to restore an old Photos library from Time Machine but I get the following notification and can't proceed, help

Similar questions