I am trying to import photos from my phone to the Library on my Mac but they will not show up in photos. It says no photos. Any suggestions?

What are your iPhone models? You are running a pretty old Mac OS, Mojave, and newer phones are using a new kind if picture file, HEIF, instead of the traditional jpg. If you have a newer camera, you can change the format the camera uses by changing Settings>Camera>Formats form High Efficiency to Most Compatible.

If this isn't the problem, try using the Image Capture app in the Applications folder of your Mac. That may help.

I am using iCloud Photos off my phone.

Does that mean you have iCloud turned on in Photos on your Phone? Then it should be easy. Go to Photos>Preferences>iCloud on your Mac. If it's checked, then pictures will just automatically appear in the Photos app, no effort at all. You might want to check Optimize Mac Storage so that the computer will get screen-sized images but have full images available when needed.

If iCloud isn't checked, then you should start with a brand new Photos library with no images in it. If it's not empty, make one by quitting Photos and then option-clicking Photos and choosing Create New. Then go to preferences, make this library your system library, and check iCloud Photos. Then wait. Depending on how many pictures you have it could take days for them all to be loaded, but you'll get them. The status is indicated at the bottom of the Library view in Photos.

Hello GL8868,

Welcome to Apple Support Communities. 

We are happy to assist you with your concerns. We need to ask a few questions to help us understand the issue better and isolate the cause. Were you able to complete the steps in the support article that brought you to us? We’re asking because those steps can help resolve concerns similar to yours. What is the exact error message you receive, if any? Do you have any software updates that need to be installed on your computer?If so, we recommend that you install those. Do you have any security software installed on your computer? If so, please temporarily disable it and restart your computer, so that the settings will take affect.

We recommend disconnecting your phone from your computer. Then, restart your phone and computer. Once they have both fully restarted, reconnect the phone to your computer. Do the photos import to your computer as expectde?

Let us know if you have further questions.

Take care.

GL8868,

Having a newer version of iOS on your iPhone may be responsible for this issue. We would still recommend updating your iPhone to the latest version of iOS using the steps we previously provided as well as updating the macOS of your iMac to see if this continues to occur. These steps from Update macOS on Mac show how to do this:

1. Before continuing, it's a good idea to back up your Mac.

2. From the Apple menu  in the corner of your screen, choose System Preferences.

3. Click Software Update in the System Preferences window. Can't find Software Update?

4. Software Update now checks for new software.

• If Software Update finds new software, click Update Now or Upgrade Now to install. You might be asked to restart or enter an administrator password.

• If Software Update says that your Mac is up to date, then no new software is currently available for your Mac model.

Cheers!

Hey GL8868,

Thanks for giving that a try. Can you verify that your iPhone is also updated and running the latest iOS? You can verify this in Settings > General > Software Update? If not let's go ahead and update the iOS: Update your iPhone or iPad

Are you also using iCloud Photos?

Regards.

I have an iPhone, an iPad, and a Mac. I have a Photos Library on my Mac that I created especially for pictures I wanted on all three devices. (I have other libraries with other pictures that aren't the system library, so they're not available to the phone and pad.) The pictures are stored in full size on iCloud, and they are available on any computer by signing into iCould.com with a password. The same pictures are available in the Photos app from any of my devices. I can edit them on the Mac or on the iPhone or on the iPad, and all the other devices will see the changes.

If you have room on your Mac, you can check "Download Originals to this Mac" in preferences, and you will have the full library both in iCloud and on your computer. You can also backup the library with Time Machine or copy it to another hard drive for security. You can even store the full library on your phone.

Having the full library in iCloud and on your computer doesn't count as a backup, though. The libraries will be identical, even if you mess up and delete a bunch of images. So you should keep a backup on a separate hard drive.