Iphoto Library Issues

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Level 1

4 points

Iphoto Library Issues

In short - I cannot import anything (external hard drive photos, iPhone photos, desktop folder etc.) to an iPhoto library on my Mac. I keep getting this error message:

"This item cannot be added to your Photo library because it may an unrecognizable file format or the file may not contain valid data". In addition, there is an error code: "There was an error attempting to free up disk space for import."

I am running a Mac 2019

Operating system: Sonoma 14.5

All updates on completed.

468GB Free of 1TB hard drive space

Iphone: 13 Pro

iOS: 17.5.1

Also all updates completed.

I had no issues since April. In fact, I reorganized all my historical photos (over 50K) into several iphoto libraries, and offloaded it to an external hard drive to clear space on my Mac. Zero issues importing and exporting until the last month! So I am not sure if some of these updates that Apple has provided has inadvertently screwed up the import process

Other info:

Mac storage: 468GB free of 1TB

iPhone photo format: Non-heic.

Thanks for your help!!

iMac 21.5″, macOS 14.5

Posted on Jul 11, 2024 11:03 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

léonie

Level 10

200,735 points

Jul 11, 2024 11:17 AM in response to Ar1F75

This error message is typical for the situation that the Photos Library is on an external rive with an incompatible file system format.

Is the format of the external drive MacOS Extended (Journaled) or APFS, as it should be?

If the format is different, for example ExFAT, you will get this error message, when you try to import something to a library on the external drive, after the upgrade to Sonoma. Mac OS Sonoma is checking, if a drive is suitable, a nd does no longer allow us to work with a library on an incompatible drive.

Make sure, your external drive has been prepared as described here: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support

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Answer 2

Ar1F75 Author

Level 1

4 points

Jul 11, 2024 11:28 AM in response to léonie

Thanks for the quick reply.

The external drive I am using has only been used for this Mac. It is formatted as ExFat. I am not knowledgable enough to know what that means, nor did I select it. However what you are saying if I can confirm, is that now that I am on Sonoma, it does not recognize ExFat? Before my Sonoma "upgrade" (which frankly sounds like a downgrade) - I had zero issues and was able to reorganize my libraries, add new ones, and import/export as needed. My last one was April 1st, so since then or around then, I haven't been able to import/export anything.

So, million dollar question, can i reformat this drive and not lose anything? Is that even possible or am I stuck!

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Iphoto Library Issues

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