Photos "Unable to upload" to iCloud

I am uploading and syncing my photos library on my Mac to iCloud. Most of my photos upload and sync, however, when the sync finishes there is a file in Photos that says "Unable to upload". These files did not upload to iCloud. I have tried the recommendation to "Export" these files to my Mac hard drive; then delete them from Photos, and then re-Import them into Photos. When I do this, and try to Upload/sync with iCloud, the same thing happens and they move to the "Unable to upload" folder in Photos. I have more than 1TB of iCloud storage available so this is not the issue. Many of these photos are taken on the iPhone and are unmodified original photos. Does anyone have a solution to this problem?

MacBook Air 15″

Posted on Sep 8, 2024 3:33 AM

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léonie

Level 10

200,753 points

Posted on Sep 8, 2024 10:59 AM

What is the file format of the photos that are "Unable to upload"?

You wrote: "These files did not upload to iCloud. I have tried the recommendation to "Export" these files to my Mac hard drive; then delete them from Photos, and then re-Import them into Photos."

Perhaps only one of them is unable to upload. It might be an illegal character in the filename, a damaged, unreadable file, an unsupported file format.

Try to import them individually. First remove them all again, delete them also from "Recently Deleted", then reimport them only one at a time to find the culprit. Before you reimport them, test, if you can edit them in Preview. This will check, if the files are damaged.

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Photos "Unable to upload" to iCloud

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