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iCloud Photos won't allow sync this Mac

I have a large Photos library (200K+ images, 2K+ videos) on the 4TB plan. The Photos library resides on an external 8TB drive.


Apple ID is the same on all devices. Same iCloud account. Operating Systems on all devices current.


Noticed recently my library was not syncing with iPhone and iPad. Their photos appear in each other's library but not in my Studio library. And the Studio's images do not appear in those device's library.


It appears at some point the main library was deselected as the system library, so I selected that. An hour or so later the library appeared. No updates appeared on the external devices. No messages at screen bottom on any device. My Studio library states 211,767 photos, 2,075 videos. (Studio) No sync or loading notice.


iPad and iPhone both state they have just now synced with iCloud. (212,749 photos, 2,082 videos)


There is 2.24TB iCloud available.


Little Snitch reports no significant internet traffic aside from housekeeping traffic.


If it is syncing in the background, should there not be notice someplace that states a sync is in progress?


Thanks for your thoughts, shared experiences.


Posted on May 19, 2023 1:51 PM

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Posted on May 20, 2023 7:16 AM

After you made the library again the System Photos Library, in "Photos Preferences or Settings > General > Use as System Photos Library", did you also turn on iCloud Photos again in "Photos Preferences or Settings > iCloud" ?


Photos will not allow to turn iCloud Photos, if the System Photos Library is larger than the remaining free storage in iCloud. Photos will compare the complete library again with the existing items in iCloud, before it will dowonload missing items from iCloud. This may take a while, as your library is so large. while Photos is uploading or downloading items, you should be seeing a status bar below the "All Photos" view of the Library: Check the status of your library in Photos for macOS - Apple Support




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4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 20, 2023 7:16 AM in response to ContextBeeper

After you made the library again the System Photos Library, in "Photos Preferences or Settings > General > Use as System Photos Library", did you also turn on iCloud Photos again in "Photos Preferences or Settings > iCloud" ?


Photos will not allow to turn iCloud Photos, if the System Photos Library is larger than the remaining free storage in iCloud. Photos will compare the complete library again with the existing items in iCloud, before it will dowonload missing items from iCloud. This may take a while, as your library is so large. while Photos is uploading or downloading items, you should be seeing a status bar below the "All Photos" view of the Library: Check the status of your library in Photos for macOS - Apple Support




May 21, 2023 3:26 PM in response to Mohamadhanif

Photos may lose the connection to your system photos library on an external drive, if the drive is not mounted at all times, when you log into your user account. If Photos cannot access the System Photos LIbrary it may create a new system Photos Library in your Pictures folder. Did you ever get a warning that the drive has been ejected without dismounting it properly? Or is the file system format not compatible with iCloud Photos? An external drive with a Photos LIbrary should be prepared as described here: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support


iCloud Photos won't allow sync this Mac

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