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Photos was unable to open the library “Photos Library.photoslibrary”. (5416)

Hi

I have external HD with Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

I moved Photos Library from Mac to this external HD. Passed few weeks. Today I tried to open Photos Library on HD and received this message: "The library could not be opened. Photos was unable to open the library “Photos Library.photoslibrary”. (5416)"

Photos are on disk, because I see that it takes space around 303 GB.

What should I do to open the Photos Library?



MacBook Air 13″, macOS 13.4

Posted on Jul 12, 2023 1:40 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jul 12, 2023 10:53 AM

Thanks for telling us that you've check the formatting of your external drive. You haven't told us what else you've checked. Do you use iCloud.com to sync your pictures?


Have you looked at the info window for the drive to verify that "Ignore Ownership" is checked? Have you had Time Machine on this drive since it was last formatted?


What else have you tried? For instance, are you having a problem only with this one library, or do other libraries fail to open? How about these things?

  • Restart the computer (of course)
  • Rebuild your Photos Library by closing Photos and re-launching by option-command-clicking the app icon.
  • Make a new user and see if the same problem recurs with it
  • Use another library if you have one, or make a small test Library with a few pictures in it and see if the same thing happens.
  • Start in Safe Mode (different for different computers) This bypasses certain potentially disruptive processes.

           Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support 


One of these steps may fix the problem, but their failure to work is also diagnostic.


Let us know if any of this works, of if not...

1 reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jul 12, 2023 10:53 AM in response to Raccoonchik

Thanks for telling us that you've check the formatting of your external drive. You haven't told us what else you've checked. Do you use iCloud.com to sync your pictures?


Have you looked at the info window for the drive to verify that "Ignore Ownership" is checked? Have you had Time Machine on this drive since it was last formatted?


What else have you tried? For instance, are you having a problem only with this one library, or do other libraries fail to open? How about these things?

  • Restart the computer (of course)
  • Rebuild your Photos Library by closing Photos and re-launching by option-command-clicking the app icon.
  • Make a new user and see if the same problem recurs with it
  • Use another library if you have one, or make a small test Library with a few pictures in it and see if the same thing happens.
  • Start in Safe Mode (different for different computers) This bypasses certain potentially disruptive processes.

           Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support 


One of these steps may fix the problem, but their failure to work is also diagnostic.


Let us know if any of this works, of if not...

Photos was unable to open the library “Photos Library.photoslibrary”. (5416)

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