Hi,
When I try to look at photos in my Mac Photo Library it says "The library could not be opened." The library "PhotosLibrary" could not be Recognized.
So I have gone to ICloud under my apple ID on my Mac & I can't sync the Mac? It wont allow me to turn on Sync.
Any suggestion? I did have it working in the past & then noticed about a week ago its not syncing?
I still have all my photos on my phone & the Iclould up today.
MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
Well, "not recognized" sounds ominous. First, do this-- close Photos (sounds like you have no choice) and option-click on the Photos icon. (This is where you'd create a new Library.) Does it list Photos Library.photoslibrary and indicate it as your System Library? Are there any other Libraries listed? If so, you could try them.
You can see that my Favorites library is my System Library-- the only one that can sync with iCloud Photos. And you can see the path to the selected Library.
You could also do a Finder search for any other ".photoslibrary" files:
I have several, and you may have others that just got misplaced.
If all that fails to find a lost Library, then I'd create a new Library as you suggested. Create it in the Pictures folder, and name it something you like. You can open it in Photos by double clicking the photoslibrary file in Finder And then you'll need to make this your System Library in Photos>Settings>General.
"Use as System Library" will gray out when you select it.
Hopefully you can now allow Photos to sync with iCloud. Then, in Photos>Settings>iCloud
check iCloud Photos.
Then you sit back and wait for the Library to fill from iCloud. Things like People and Duplicates will take a while (weeks for a really large Library), but all the pictures should show up within a few days. Keep the Mac plugged in and running all night, but have Photos in the background--maybe Finder in the foreground-- so Photos doesn't delay the download thinking that your using it for something else.
Let us know how it goes....
Well, "not recognized" sounds ominous. First, do this-- close Photos (sounds like you have no choice) and option-click on the Photos icon. (This is where you'd create a new Library.) Does it list Photos Library.photoslibrary and indicate it as your System Library? Are there any other Libraries listed? If so, you could try them.
You can see that my Favorites library is my System Library-- the only one that can sync with iCloud Photos. And you can see the path to the selected Library.
You could also do a Finder search for any other ".photoslibrary" files:
I have several, and you may have others that just got misplaced.
If all that fails to find a lost Library, then I'd create a new Library as you suggested. Create it in the Pictures folder, and name it something you like. You can open it in Photos by double clicking the photoslibrary file in Finder And then you'll need to make this your System Library in Photos>Settings>General.
"Use as System Library" will gray out when you select it.
Hopefully you can now allow Photos to sync with iCloud. Then, in Photos>Settings>iCloud
check iCloud Photos.
Then you sit back and wait for the Library to fill from iCloud. Things like People and Duplicates will take a while (weeks for a really large Library), but all the pictures should show up within a few days. Keep the Mac plugged in and running all night, but have Photos in the background--maybe Finder in the foreground-- so Photos doesn't delay the download thinking that your using it for something else.
Let us know how it goes....
Where is your Photos Library? Is it in the Pictures folder on you Mac's internal drive. Or is it on an external drive?
If it's on an external drive, how is it formatted? To avoid damaging the Photos Library an external drive must be formatted in either APFS format or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format. Additionally, the drive can not have had Time Machine on it since it was formatted. The newest macOSs won't even allow a Library on a non-Mac formatted drive to open, since there is a chance of damaging the Photos database. See this:
Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support
Since your pictures are in iCloud Photos, they are in good shape. One option you have is to create a new Library, designate it as the System Library, and let Photos populate it from iCloud. But without knowing about your current Library's situation, it's hard to be sure what to do. Let us know...
Richard,
Thank you for your help.
I created a new library and I am now able to access all my photos from the cloud!
Much appreciate you assistance!
Regards, Wanda
The Photo Library is on my MacBook Air internal drive. Yes my photos are all still good. I just can't access them if my Mac Book Air.
So sounds like I need to create a new Library? I will just need to make sure what folder to put it in. I've never done this before.
Thank you for your assistance.
IClould Photos - can't turn on
