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Unable to download all of the Photos in iCloud Photos into my older iMac PHOTOS App.

My ICloud PHOTOS App shows 190,000 +\- Items. My iMac 27 PHOTOS App shows about 130,000 +\- Items. A couple months ago I had all 190,000 Items in my iMac PHOTOS App. I am running High Sierra, the best it will do.


On my iPhone 12 Pro Max I see all 191,161 Items.


I am running “Repairing Library” on my current iMac/PHOTOS App Library.


My wife and I have separate Apple Accounts but a couple months ago I thought I created a large PHOTOS/Album with about 50,000-60,000 Photos in it of older Photos she didn’t have. BUT…I may have possibly created a Library instead of an Album.


But when I open her PHOTOS App on her iPhone 11 she has 50,000 or so Photos that used to be on my iMac. If I try to open one of my photos on her iPhone/PHOTOS App Ft the photo has a small circle on the bottom right if the photo and it won’t open so that it can be edited. It is locked.


I don’t see a Library on my iMac that has just the 50,000 Items in it that used to be on my iMac.


I do have a lot of Shared Albums on my PHOTOS Apps, but i don’t see an Album on either iMac or any PHOTOS App that has just the 50,000 missing Items on it.


if I found the missing Library I could use my “PowerPhotos” App to rejoin the Libraries.


In my iCloud and in my iPhone 12 PHOTOS App I have a selection to view “Both”, “Personal” or “Shared” Libraries. In iCloud it is set to “Both”. But I don’t believe my iMac PHOTOS App is downloading “Both” Libraries. I do not want to tamper with iCloud.


i can’t find a way to view iMac/PHOTOS App Library’s separately on my older iMac.


I just checked my iPhone 12/PHOTOS App “Personal” Items and there are 44,366 Items. My “Shared” Library has 146,795 Items. “Both” Libraries equal 191,161 Items.


I also have an ancient iPad Air that shows the PHOTOS App with just 109,360 Items. In the “Settings”/PHOTOS iCloud is ON and set to “Optimize iPad Storage”. In Settings/General/iPad Storage I have 63GB of 128GB available and PHOTOS is currently using 32 GB (All Optimized).


THAT’S ALL FOLKS!


Any assistance would really be appreciated.


Andy

iMac 27″, macOS 10.13

Posted on Oct 8, 2023 6:48 PM

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Posted on Oct 13, 2023 1:48 AM

My iCloud Photos Account is correct at 191,000 +/- Items.


My iPhone 12 Pro Max shows the correct amount.


My older iMac use to show all of the Items but the PhotoLibrary file on my new 6TB Firewire Drive has shrunk from 1.20 TB to 970 GB and 30-40,000 Items are gone.


Can I create a new photoslibrary file by holding down my Option/Command and restarting Photos App and select New and will all of the iCloud Items download into this New PhotosLibrary file?


Andy

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Question marked as Best reply

Oct 13, 2023 1:48 AM in response to JJRASC

My iCloud Photos Account is correct at 191,000 +/- Items.


My iPhone 12 Pro Max shows the correct amount.


My older iMac use to show all of the Items but the PhotoLibrary file on my new 6TB Firewire Drive has shrunk from 1.20 TB to 970 GB and 30-40,000 Items are gone.


Can I create a new photoslibrary file by holding down my Option/Command and restarting Photos App and select New and will all of the iCloud Items download into this New PhotosLibrary file?


Andy

Oct 9, 2023 3:41 PM in response to andyhutch1947

Hello andyhutch1947,  

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities.  


Do all devices here have enough local and iCloud storage to keep the entire Photos library in sync? Go here for help checking your storage details: What's the difference between device storage and iCloud storage? - Apple Support


To continue, check this Apple Support article that explains how you can check the Recently Deleted album. If the photos you are looking for were recently deleted, follow these instructions to attempt recovery: Delete photos on your iPhone or iPad


You may also want to check that the photos were not added to the Hidden album. Go here for more information: Hide photos on your iPhone, iPad, or Mac


Please reply back if you need more help. 

Cheers! 


Oct 18, 2023 10:46 PM in response to andyhutch1947

High Sierra predates the concept of Shared Libraries, so it is seeing only the Personal Library. You will have to choose between having all of your photos on the High Sierra system and having a Shared Library (unless you can afford the space to duplicate all of the photos in the Shared Library into your Personal Library or, I suppose, to replace the High Sierra computer with a more modern model).

Unable to download all of the Photos in iCloud Photos into my older iMac PHOTOS App.

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