why wont my photos upload

Hey there packfanal,

Thanks for reaching out to the Apple Support Communities. If seeing photos in the Unable to Upload folder, give the steps below a try:

Photos counts as “Unable to Upload” any items that it can't upload to iCloud Photos. These steps might fix the issue, but any edits or keywords that you applied to the affected items will be lost.

1. From the menu bar in Photos, choose File > New Smart Album.

2. Name the Smart Album “Unable to upload” and set the three conditions to “Photo” and “is” and “unable to upload to iCloud Photos.” Click OK.

3. Select the “Unable to upload” album in the sidebar.

4. Press Command-A to select all items in the album, then choose File > Export > Export Unmodified Original For [number] Photos.

5. In the dialogs that follow, click Export, then choose a save location and click Export Originals.

6. After the items export, make sure they are all still selected in the album, then choose Image > Delete [number] Photos.

7. Click Delete, then click OK.

8. Now import the photos back into your library: Choose File > Import, then choose the images you exported in step 5.

You can find these steps and more details at this link here: Check the status of your library in Photos for macOS - Apple Support

We hope that's able to help.

Take care!

Allen,

When you say it isn't 'executing' do you mean the dialog disappears and does not complete the action or does Export appear grayed out?

You can also select the photos manually and clicking File > Export to see if that is able to export those photos.

This would be the only steps to get them to export or save these types of photos that were imported. If the steps are unable to be completed, try restarting the Mac and trying again.

Cheers.

Allen,

Ok. Start the Mac in Safe mode and try exporting there: How to use safe mode on your Mac

If you still have issues, reach out to Apple Support directly: Get Support

Have a great day.