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User profile for user: michaelv650
michaelv650 Author
User level: Level 1
6 points

Apple Photos Cocoa Error -1 when trying to export photos

I currently am running Mac OS Monterey on my MacBook pro. I recently restored an old photos library from my TimeMachine backup. I was thrilled to have my photos back. However when I try to export or share certain photos I get the error code saying the operation could not be completed with an error code of cocoa error -1. When i click the show in finder button nothing happens - it doesn’t take me anywhere. These photos are not backed up to the iCloud. Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 12.5

Posted on Aug 16, 2022 10:49 PM

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User profile for user: TonyCollinet
TonyCollinet
User level: Level 7
23,954 points

Posted on Aug 17, 2022 2:19 AM

So that is why they are not in your backup library.


If you've deleted them more than 30 days ago, so they are no longer in recently deleted, then they are gone, and not recoverable from the cloud.


The only other thing you could (if they are not stored esewhere - check social media etc) try to do is recover the previews from the library (if they are there). They will be lower quality, and possibly smaller.


Right click the restored library, and select show package contents. (DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING IN THE LIBRARY - that will damage it and possible render it unopenable)


Look for a folder called resources>derivatives (naming may be different in earlier versions of MacOS)


Copy (don't move) that folder to another location on your drive, then look through it to see if you can find the preview version of the missing images. Filenames and folders will be random collations of letters/numbers. It might make it easier to browse them if you import into a new empty library.

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User profile for user: TonyCollinet
TonyCollinet
User level: Level 7
23,954 points

Aug 17, 2022 2:19 AM in response to michaelv650

So that is why they are not in your backup library.


If you've deleted them more than 30 days ago, so they are no longer in recently deleted, then they are gone, and not recoverable from the cloud.


The only other thing you could (if they are not stored esewhere - check social media etc) try to do is recover the previews from the library (if they are there). They will be lower quality, and possibly smaller.


Right click the restored library, and select show package contents. (DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING IN THE LIBRARY - that will damage it and possible render it unopenable)


Look for a folder called resources>derivatives (naming may be different in earlier versions of MacOS)


Copy (don't move) that folder to another location on your drive, then look through it to see if you can find the preview version of the missing images. Filenames and folders will be random collations of letters/numbers. It might make it easier to browse them if you import into a new empty library.

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User profile for user: TonyCollinet
TonyCollinet
User level: Level 7
23,954 points

Aug 16, 2022 10:55 PM in response to michaelv650

Hi


That suggests the origninals/masters for those images are not available in the library.


If you have been using "show in finder" it suggests that you were not copying images into the libray, but leaving them on the hard drive where they were when you imported them. If this was the case, then backing up the library does not back up the images. If your whole drive is backed up, you'll need to restore the images separately.


How did you lose the library in the first place?

Do you have "copy items to library" under "importing" in preferences.


If you select one of these images and look at the info (CMD-i) does it show you the filename? If so, you could do a finder search for that image to see if it is still on the hard drive.

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User profile for user: michaelv650
michaelv650 Author
User level: Level 1
6 points

Aug 16, 2022 11:12 PM in response to michaelv650

Hello, and thanks for the reply.


It's actually a previous version (from June 16 ) of my existing Photos library. I recently deleted a bunch of photos from a few months back and I need to get them back. I searched everywhere but I couldn't locate them. They don't appear in my iCloud. So when I restored the June 16 Photos library backup and saw the photos I was relieved to at least see them there but that quickly turned to disappointment when I realized that they may not actually 'exist' anywhere.


I confirmed that I do have Copy Items to the Photos library checked. When I do CMD+I I see the filename but when I search finder nothing comes up. When I right click the library I opened the package contents and see the 'original' folders but when I click on each folder, each only has a handful of photos. Not even remotely close to the 30,787 photos that my June 16 backup says I have.


Thank you again.

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Apple Photos Cocoa Error -1 when trying to export photos

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