My Originals folder is empty of photos and videos

I've been using Carbon Copy Cloner to clone my Photos album to an external drive for a couple of years.

>>My pictures and videos are normally stored in a 'masters' and an 'originals' folder. Masters does not store videos, but originals does.

I was also using Dropbox to save the folder to the cloud. After finding Dropbox syncing was deleting and redownloading files (syncing?), I tried switching to Google Drive. That has been working OK but I noticed that the contents of my folders was not the same as Apple Photos. (EDIT Google seems to delete and redownload photos as well. I keep finding they've been binned when I check the online Drive page)

After opening the Pictures folder (Show package contents) I see that the Originals folder has the numbered folders but they are all empty. This has never happened before – to me anyway.

The videos are still visible in my Photos app, but I now cannot locate them on my computer.

I am concerned that Photos may delete the originals from the cloud, although that seems unlikely. I'm cloning the Library, not adding or removing files.

Can anybody help me with locating the videos?

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I just 'repaired' the photos library, and the 'originals' folder is still empty. I tell a lie, there are two .heic files taken about a year ago.

What's going on?

Posted on Sep 6, 2023 2:37 AM

Best reply

jchrisl

Level 1

19 points

Posted on Oct 24, 2023 3:04 AM

Hello. Not entirely sure that this is the explanation, but it may shed some light on the matter. Error sometimes occur with the copying of large parent folders with many nested subfolders with nested subfolders. From my experience (enthusiast since 1988, Apple Certified Specialist since 2007), I see errors occur when the copy process is interrupted prior to correctly finishing. A cursory check shows all of the parent folders with their subfolders and their subfolders, given the impression of a successful copy or back up. However, upon further inspection will see that none of the actual files are brought over, just the organization structure or "housing". This can be devastating to learn that just folders were backed up with none of the content.

I personally experience this with folders of all files, videos, photos, text files, music etc. The end product seems to check all of our regular files present it's just that they're all empty. Only the folder structure made the jump.

Moral of the story: double check your files make sure they're present inside those folders you see either file comparison by the number of files or use some kind of third-party backup software that verifies the copy was successful.

Good luck.

 Chris Leeds Independent Apple Specialist

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My Originals folder is empty of photos and videos

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