I can't export photos from shared album in photos library, why?

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Level 2

325 points

I can't export photos from shared album in photos library, why?

I can only see thumbnails from a shared album

Hoping this isn't a disaster. My wife has an old 2013 Macbook AIR. I have a 2020 Macbook Pro. Her Macbook had only 400mb of space, which is crazy it was still running. I copied her entire photos library to an external HD (32gb), and then opened it on my Macbook which of course updated the copied library. The size was identical (32gb), so we both scrolled through the same library on each computer to make sure all pix were there, then deleted her library to free up space. Idiot that I am, I didn't realize by updated the libary on the ext. HD , her old mac could not open it anymore because it is so outdated. That was one problem. The bigger newer problem is that she had a "shared library" on her mac from her phone/iCloud (?) that when I opened it looked fine, but when we tried to enlarge or export a photo it would not do it. I am assuming it is because the library is being opened on my mac which is under my apple ID, so it shows thumbnails from the shared album, but can't access the album because it was not shared with me and is on her iCloud. Anyway, since the transfer was identical (32gb) and I can see all the thumbnails from the "Shared album", I hope this does not mean they are somehow lost. Also, is it possible that she somehow turned off her "shared album" but they remained on her old Macbook Air photo library until I deleted, then updated it? Please advise!

Posted on Apr 22, 2024 11:49 AM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

195,013 points

Apr 22, 2024 1:10 PM in response to James Fernald

Can you tell us, which system version is installed on her Mac Book Air?

If it is a system version that supports iCloud Photos, you could upload her library to iCloud Photos from your Mac,then she could download a downgraded version of her library on her Mac. By storing the Photos Library in iCloud she could save storage on her older Mac.

If her Mac is running OS X 10.10.3 Yosemite or later, you may want to try the following:

Create a user account for your wife on your Mac.
let her sign up for an iCloud account with 200GB of cloud storage with her AppleID, at least temporarily, or use family sharing, if you have an iCloud subscription that you could share with her.
Let her open the upgraded Photos Library from her account on your Mac.
Open the Photos > Preferences > General and click "Use as System Photos Library"
Enable iCloud Photos in the Photos > Preferences > iCloud and wait for the photos to upload to iCloud.
On her Mac let her create a new, empty Photos Library, then make this empty library the system Photos Library and enable iCloud Photos and "Optimize Mac Storage". Wait for her Photos to come back.

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Answer 2

James Fernald Author

Level 2

325 points

Apr 23, 2024 12:23 AM in response to léonie

Thanks, I will check that as soon as she gets home. I have a feeling it is the original operating system. More importantly, regarding the "shared album" that she created, I assume that must be on her icloud for her to have been able to view it on her old Macbook Air, but when I moved the library to an external HD, updated it, and then opened it, the shared album thumbnails were there, but I could not access the photos. I really hope that means if is because I am not logged into her account, is that correct? And I hope when I log out fo mine and log into hers, they will appear!

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I can't export photos from shared album in photos library, why?

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