iCloud Photos stuck on 'syncing 1 item' (that old doozy)

Question

Level 1

48 points

iCloud Photos stuck on 'syncing 1 item' (that old doozy)

So, I finally took the plunge and uploaded my library to iCloud photo storage. All was going well, but now its been stuck on 1 item syncing for a day, and when I view my library from a browser it has 2 photos left :(

Ive seen various issues like this on the forums, and have seen people rebuilding/fixing libraries etc. but ive also seen people having issues with lost data when doing this also.

Should I wait it out for longer and see if something changes? Is there some way I can kick things into action?!

thanks for any help

Nic

MacBook Pro (M1, 2020)

Posted on Jun 9, 2024 7:11 AM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

197,655 points

Jun 10, 2024 6:25 AM in response to Nickholl

The culprit making Photos hang seems to be on your iPhone, as it is showing "one item".

In that case it would help to sign out of iCloud Photos on your iPhone and to erase all photos and videos from your iPhone. But you have to be sure, that all "safe" photos and videos are in iCloud, before you do that.

Compare the photos on your Mac and your iPhone to the photos you are seeing on your iCloud webpage at www.icloud.com in a web browser on your Mac. If there are a few photos on your iPhone that have not yet made it into iCloud, save them to Files on your iPhone or Airdrop them to your Mac.
Then sign out of of iCloud Photos on your iPhone (How to turn off iCloud Photos - Apple Support ) and when you are sure, that Photos is no longer syncing with iCloud, delete all photos and videos from the iPhone, also from Recently Deleted.
Now enable iCloud Photos again and wait for the photos and videos to com back from iCloud. This should remove any incompatible item from your Photos Library.

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Answer 2

Nickholl Author

Level 1

48 points

Jun 9, 2024 11:43 AM in response to Nickholl

a separate issue maybe, but one that confuses things for sure, it ive noticed there's several photos included in my local library that seem to be linked to my messages and have a 'from xxx' linked with them. These DONT seem to be being uploaded to the remote iCloud library as they haven't been imported 'per se' from messages [face palm]. Is there a way to import all media linked to messages somehow? Rather than me having to track them all down?

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

197,655 points

Jun 9, 2024 7:37 AM in response to Nickholl

It is very suspicious, that Photos is trying to sync 1 item, not one photo or video.

Your Photos Library may be containing a corrupted or incompatible file, and Photos cannot process it.

You may want to find out, if all media in your library can be processed. Is there any folder or album in the sidebar named something like "Unable to upload"? if vestry to open the items inside in Edit mode and see, if Photos can process them.

Check for white thumbnails in your library. Search with a smart album for legacy items using a codec, that Photos can no longer process, particularly for audio files, PDF files, videos with older codecs. Check all items shared with you - items from potentially unsafe locations, like Mail attachments or files downloaded from the web.

If your library has been migrated from iPhoto or Aperture see also: How to Weed out Legacy Media in Photos for Mac - Apple Community

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Answer 4

Nickholl Author

Level 1

48 points

Jun 9, 2024 2:26 PM in response to Nickholl

ive been trying to tidy stuff up a bit and delete a bunch of things, but ive still got the 'I item' syncing on my Mac.

What HAS changed though is my iPhone library now shows. X photos, X videos and 1 item - which it didn't before.

Ive no idea what or why this may be. Ive got no misc files in the library that I can tell

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Answer 5

Nickholl Author

Level 1

48 points

Jun 9, 2024 8:12 AM in response to léonie

thanks, I tend not to have anything other than standard photos and vids to be honest. I made a Smart Folder for nonuploadable files but nothing was found. There was a file it couldn't upload previously which it made me aware of, but I deleted that and then forced delete. Are there any free third party apps out there that will check libraries for this kind of thing do you know?

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Answer 6

Nickholl Author

Level 1

48 points

Jun 11, 2024 12:14 PM in response to léonie

hi - sorry I only just saw this message. It's something I can try for sure - but I dont understand why you think it might be the iPhone causing the issue? The iPhone library has 1 less item than the Mac which im trying to upload from.

I logged out of my account on Mac earlier and then logged in, and now photos is stuck on 2 items syncing. This at least tally with the amount missing from the iCloud.com account. Although my iPhone still shows only 1 missing. (I won't even mention my old iPad which seems to be missing many more, but I think thats because its running an old OS - at least thats the message its giving me)