Mac photos app stuck 'analysing photos'

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Level 1

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Mac photos app stuck 'analysing photos'

I have my photo library on an external HD which is not always connected, so the photos app seems to forget where the library is. When I opened 'Photos Library.photoslibrary' again, the Photos app is stuck on 'analysing photos' etc. I've left it running, with mac screen on, plugged in, for a solid week but progress bar has not budged. Have tried this various times over the past year and it's never finished this process.

'Photos Library.photoslibrary' is 158GB.

Have seen this asked before and the advice seems to be 'just wait'. But this surely cannot be the answer. Is there another way? Or any advice on a different way to transfer photos from my phone to my Mac to backup and recover all the ones I've saved in Photos before? I don't want to store them all on icloud.

MacOS Sonoma Version 14.6.1

Thanks in advance.

MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 14.6

Posted on Dec 7, 2024 10:46 AM

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Answer 1

Dec 7, 2024 11:36 AM in response to ToastMasterX

ToastMasterX wrote: I have my photo library on an external HD which is not always connected …

Are you using iCloud Photos? If so, this is a bad idea, and you should expect considerable confusion from Photos. Photos is in constant motion in the background, and would like to be in communication with its Library. If you don't use iCloud, it may be OK, but you should be very careful disconnecting Photos without letting it shut down properly. I use Photos on a MacBook, and I'm connected to iCloud Photos, but I move everything else necessary to keep the Library on my internal drive.

To narrow things down, try these steps:

Restart the computer (of course)
Re-start in Safe Mode. This bypasses certain potentially disruptive processes, and it often helps. Safe Mode is different for different computers, so see this:

Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support

Those are the easiest things to try first. Then try these:

Rebuild your Photos Library--close Photos and re-launch by option-command-clicking the app icon.
Make a new user and see if the same problem recurs with it

The idea is to find out if the problem is with the Library, with your account, or with caches and login items, and stuff like that. One of these steps may fix the problem, but their failure to work also helps figure out what's happening.

Let us know what happens…

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Answer 2

Dec 8, 2024 7:57 AM in response to ToastMasterX

Safe Mode: Yes, re-start in Safe Mode, and then use Photos as usual. Since this turns some processes off, even if it works, you'll need to return to Normal Mode. The difference could be telling. It could also fix it.

Rebuilding: Backup is an excellent step. Just copying the Library to another folder will do. You only need to copy to another Drive if you fear the Drive itself is about to die.

User: If the Library is inside a User's personal folders, then it can't be accessed by another User. But if the Library is on an external drive, then it's accessible to everyone. Or, if it's outside the personal User's folder, like in the containing "Users" folder or just in "Macintosh HD," it can be accessed by any user.

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Answer 3

ToastMasterX Author

Level 1

4 points

Dec 7, 2024 5:20 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

Thanks for the thorough reply.

No I'm not synced with icloud photos
Do you mean I should start mac in safe mode, then launch the library / photos app to repeat the process to see if there is a difference?
I'll give rebuilding the library a try - but will just need to wait for the 150gb library to back up on another drive in case that step goes wrong.
Making a new user: do you mean make a new user account and then copy the 150gb library to that account and try again? I appreciate you're trying to help but this seems like a lot of effort.

I've been a mac user for perhaps 10yrs now but still find the way photos are handled as a bloated, complicated library quite baffling. The simplicity of PC where they're copied as individual files is so foolproof.

Thanks in advance again for your help.

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Answer 4

ToastMasterX Author

Level 1

4 points

Jan 13, 2025 10:13 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Hi. I've tried these steps - other than creating a new user account.

After repairing the library, it has just gone back to analysing photos etc again - only difference is, the progress bar is at the start, rather than being stuck at half way.

Another thing: I decided to try and import photos from my phone now, rather than wait for Photos to finish analysing. When I click to import all, or just a selection, the tab in Photos changes from the name of my device to IMPORTS, but no photos are copied over. It just switches tabs but imports nothing.

Any other ideas appreciated.

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Mac photos app stuck 'analysing photos'

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