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How to repair photos the MacBook will not import

I have a lot of old photos on a memory stick. When I try to import to MacBook Photos library, it says some photos need to be repaired. How do I identify photos that need to be repaired? (8500 photos)?


MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Oct 23, 2022 7:32 AM

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Thanks Richard. Was able to convert opening with Finder and then Importing from desktop

Posted on Oct 24, 2022 10:03 AM

6 replies

Oct 23, 2022 9:05 AM in response to pieter172

What is the file format of the photos on the stick?

Are all of them JOEGs or are some in a different format?


Try to import the photos in small groups, so you can identify the ones, that are causing the error message and check the format of the problematic photos. Photos 7 on macOS 12 can no longer open all image formats, that earlier versions of Photos could process.



Oct 23, 2022 3:10 PM in response to pieter172

Photos can open some .bmp images, but apparently there are some that will not open in Preview or Photos even though they could be opened with GraphicConverter. So your trouble may be with some .bmps and not others. When I tried to import a combination of .bmps, I got gray placeholders instead of images for the ones that weren't recognized.

Oct 24, 2022 8:06 AM in response to pieter172

There are apps that will do this for you, all at once. I have been using GraphicConverter for, well, 30 years I think. It will convert most any picture format to any other. It also does batch file changes, batch metadata edits, image editing, and lots of other stuff. And the creator of the program has been available to help me figure out difficulties with images. I'm sure that there are other apps out there as well that could make the conversion easier.

How to repair photos the MacBook will not import

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