Photos "the export operation failed to create files", Unknown error (-1)

I've been running into this error of late. For me, it is new to Sonoma. I never had these error messages before 'upgrading' to Apple's latest and greatest. Also, the occurrence of this error has - for me - been independent of the number of photos exported from Photos. Very annoying.

As far as I can tell, there may be many reason for this error when exporting. You will have to make a few tests, to narrow down the problem and find out, what is happening in your case.

It will depend on your system version, the method of exporting, the number of selected items, the location of your Photos Library, and any possible damage to the Photos Library and the media files inside.

• You may be getting this error message, if you are trying to export too many items at once, because the mac can run out of memory. Try, if you can export all items, if you export in smaller groups, not all files at once.
• Exporting may fail, if one of the selected files cannot be exported. There may be several reasons for this:
  • The original image file may be missing, may be damaged, or in a legacy format, and your current system version cannot handle it any longer after a system upgrade. So, find the first item from the list of files, that could not be exported in the Photos Library (search for the filename). Then test, if you can edit the image. Test, if you can export the unmodified version. Test, if you can export the edited version. If the edited version cannot be exported, revert the image or video to the original. If the even the original cannot be exported, you have to delete it from your library. Then try to restore an earlier version from your backups and to import it. If Photos refuses to import the restored version, convert it to a more compatible format using an external editor.

If you are getting an error message, when trying to add adjustments to the image or or video you cannot export, what is the error message? Please post it here, literally, also the format of the problematic item.

And also tell us your system version, the location of your Photos Library, and if you are using iCloud Photos.

Yes, when you drag and drop a photo, the current preview will be saved. If the photo is small and has not been edited, the quality might be the same as the original, but for larger files, the preview may be of a lower resolution.

Have your Live Photos been taken with an iPhone, or have they been created from video clips with a third-party app? Many of my custom created Live Photos can no longer be exported. I had to recreate them.

It could also be a problem with the location of your Photos Library. Where is your Photos Library stored? Is it on an external volume? Then check the file system format of your external drive. If Photos cannot export Live Photos because the video component cannot be accessed, the file system may be incompatible with photos, for example, if the file system format is case-sensitive or neitehr APFS nor MacOS Extended (Journaled).

When I click "Edit", a popup appears saying "Photos cannot load edits for this image."

Have you tried to revert these Live Photos to the Original? Select them and use "Image > Revert to Original".

I'm working on transferring photo's right now some of those that can't transfer is because they have the HEIC attached to them. I figured out how to fix them. The remaining I started with your suggestions and the very first one won't let me edit it.

What do I do then or what does that mean. These are photo's the sucked from the cloud onto my phone. Don't know if I did that or what happened but it made it so I have over 7,000 photo's on my phone just trying via the computer to put them on a USB flash.

I imagine since they came via the cloud to my phone they have some sort of corruption or attachment that won't let me edit??

Any help or explanation would be appreciated.

P.S. The start of problems could be with iOS 17 rather than Sonoma, as virtually all my photos are synced from my iPhone - and my OS upgrades (to 17 and Sonoma) were not far apart in time.