Smart Album not working in Photos app on macOS Sequoia

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Level 1

13 points

Smart Album not working in Photos app on macOS Sequoia

Hello,

Using Apple Photos on Sequoia 15.3.2.

I am organizing a large Photos library and started breaking down into years and using Smart Album ranges and "Album Is Not Any" as criteria. This album was imported recently from High Sierra and has been active for many years.

As I got into older pictures the "Album is not any" criteria started excluding large numbers of photos that are in the library for those years. I double checked and these photos are not in any albums. What else can I check or use as a work around; keywords?

Thanks

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

Mac mini

Posted on Apr 1, 2025 6:51 PM

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Answer 1

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sab2624 Author

Level 1

13 points

Apr 2, 2025 8:55 AM in response to sab2624

Thank you Richard. The suggestion to "Show in Album" helped me find over 500 albums hiding under the "Events" album. Looks like something had been automatically adding them there for many years. In a short test I am finding the Smart Album criteria is working once I resolve all those albums.

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Answer 2

Apr 2, 2025 7:24 AM in response to sab2624

sab2624 wrote: … "Album is not any" criteria started excluding large numbers of photos that are in the library for those years. …

I often use the "not any" criterion, and I haven't noticed a problem.

You're using Sequoia, so you can select a picture and use the new menu choice "File>Show in Album:"

to get a list of albums (and folders) that a picture is in. You could use this to double check if Photos thinks that a picture is, in its mind, in some album, and then look there to see what's goin on. You may find some pattern in the missing albums.

Have you tried this? What have you found?

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

201,343 points

Apr 2, 2025 9:56 AM in response to sab2624

Th "iPhoto Events" are usually created , when we migrate an iPhoto Library to Photos. As there are no events in Photos, the iPhoto Events will be saved as albums. So each and every photo will be in an events album, right after the migration from iPhoto (or Aperture).

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Answer 4

sab2624 Author

Level 1

13 points

Apr 2, 2025 1:19 PM in response to sab2624

Thank you all for this input as it has been very helpful.

I have learned that if you put Events Albums in an album that matches the Smart Album criteria, the Smart Album does not dynamically update when using the Album is not. It appears you need to delete all events and then create the Smart Album fresh tin order to run the count down of your organizing that specific album; Year Captured in my case.

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Answer 5

léonie

Level 10

201,343 points

Apr 2, 2025 10:14 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

I deleted the iPhoto Events first thing after migrating the iPhoto Libraries. In the early versions of Photos these albums were behaving erratically.

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Answer 6

Apr 2, 2025 10:01 AM in response to sab2624

"Events" is an artifact from the discontinued iPhoto app. I have an Events folder left over from the

transfer years ago. Many of those pictures in there I've transferred to albums in other folders, but I'm never sure I want to get rid of the Events. Maybe it's nostalgia?

Now you've made me decide to go back and make sure none of those Events pictures are isolated from other albums…

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Smart Album not working in Photos app on macOS Sequoia

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