How do I consolidate 23,000 referenced photos on iMac with missing files?

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NeilA1962 Author

Level 1

4 points

How do I consolidate 23,000 referenced photos on iMac with missing files?

I have a very large number of Photos on my iMac which are not uploading to iCloud Photos, which appears to be all to do with referenced files. I have created a Smart album in Photos using the 'Referenced' Option which has resulted in more than 23,000 photos being identified - so far so good! But when I select Consolidate, then Copy I get an 'error, saying Missing file' as below

However, when I select Apply to All, then click on Find Original, and select the folder (Photos on iCloud) which contains ALL my original photos - it simply comes back with the same error (as above) but with the next file listed? Given the very large number of photos, I cannot sit in front of my computer and click Find Original 23,000 times! I had assumed by selecting the Apply to All box the system would go away and find each of the 'Missing Files', however, that clearly is not happening.

Am I doing something fundamentally wrong (or stupid) here, or am I missing something?

But, if I do have to click Find Original and then select the folder for every photo is ether some simple way of automating this? I have had a brief look at Automator, in the hope that I could simply set up some keystrokes, and a loop to repeat the required key strokes automatically until it has been through all the files; but can not work out how to do that (so if that is the answer is anyone able to explain how that would work - if in fact it would)

Thanks in anticipation

Neil.

[Re-Titled by Moderator]

iMac 21.5″ 4K, macOS 13.7

Posted on May 18, 2025 2:37 PM

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Answer 1

NeilA1962 Author

Level 1

4 points

May 19, 2025 1:43 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

Ahh well I think that re-importing them from the original location is going to be the easiest solution, I managed to 'consolidate' one of the folders, by moving it onto my local drive, but that would have meant needing a ruck load of space on my iMac, whereas simply removing the referenced photos and simply reimporting them from their original location seems like the simplest solution. It will take time, but at least it seems to work! I have done some as a test, and it seems to be copying them up to iCloud Photos properly now - so fingers crossed this may be the solution. OK so I have a very large number of folders to clear & import but it's easy and just takes a bit of time!!

Thanks for your help :)

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Answer 2

NeilA1962 Author

Level 1

4 points

May 19, 2025 11:32 AM in response to Yer_Man

yes the files are in fact in a folder called Photo's on my iCloud Drive, so I will try moving a few back onto my iMac and see if that solves the issue with the missing files - it will be a pain if I have to move all 23,000 back onto my iMac, but if that fixes the issue then so be it!

I will try this out and post the result

Thanks

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Answer 3

Yer_Man

Level 10

165,954 points

May 19, 2025 8:58 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

I suspect this is because the referenced file are on another volume

(Photos on iCloud)

And moving them to the same volume as the library will probably work.

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Answer 4

May 19, 2025 9:32 AM in response to Yer_Man

Yer_Man wrote: … And moving them to the same volume as the library will probably work.

Ahh-- good. I'm not sure what (Photos on iCloud) means, but it could be a different volume. If it is, then the format might matter, as well.

I even tried moving a file to the trash, and Photos found it. I didn't realize it worked there. It also consolidated a file from iCloud Drive. But "Show File in Finder" didn't work for that file.

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Answer 5

May 20, 2025 7:17 AM in response to NeilA1962

NeilA1962 wrote: … Ahh well I think that re-importing them from the original location is going to be the easiest solution, … it seems to work!

That is certainly easy and efficient! You do lose your edits, that way, but it seems to be worth it.

When you import a batch of pictures from iCloud drive, those files will be brought to your Mac for loading. When you bring more in for importing, the Mac may have to remove the previous load so the next bunch will fit. It will try to remove the least used files rather than the most recent ones, though.

Another option is to drag all the picture files to an external drive, and sit back and watch TV while the iCloud does all the work automatically. It could take a while. Then import from the external drive.

Beware that old video files can be are really problem. File properties and compatibility keeps changing for video, so some files that used to work just don't anymore-- especially if you're using 64 bit software and the videos are made for 32 bit. One incompatible video can gum up the works-- perhaps stopping all the downloading and importing without letting you know how far it got. Speaking from experience, here.

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Answer 6

May 19, 2025 12:31 PM in response to NeilA1962

Keep in mind that "consolidate" means that a copy will be made for the Photos Library, so with the originals and the Photos Library, you will need twice the storage space.

iCloud normally keeps all files locally on the Mac, which is why consolidate worked for my file on my iCloud Drive. But I am guessing that you are using Optimize Storage, which kicks in when local Mac storage is low, and removes some files from the local drive.

I asked about edits because if you hadn't edited them, then it would be easiest to just start over. But that's out.

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Answer 7

May 19, 2025 8:18 AM in response to NeilA1962

I have pretty limited experience with Reference libraries, but I keep one around for testing. When I use a smart album to identify referenced files, I can select them all and choose Consolidate, and the all get copied into the Library-- no error messages. But, in my case, I didn't have any missing references-- all the pictures were in the places that Photos thought they were. Kind you find all the original files for these pictures?

Have you edited these pictures, or added captions, or cropped them?

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Answer 8

NeilA1962 Author

Level 1

4 points

May 19, 2025 11:30 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Hi Richard,

I don't know for certain, but I suspect that most of them will have been edited, or cropped or generally 'tweaked' from the original. I also suspect that most of them would have been edited by an application called Darkroom (which I had been using for some time before I realised that Photos offered me all the editing I needed!).

I see from the other comment that my explanation of 'Photos on iCloud' didn't really make sense! What I meant by that comment was that all my digital photos are in a folder called Photos on my iCloud Drive, rather than on my iMac. Bizarrely I have only recently moved the whole lot to iCloud, as I was rapidly running out of space on my iMac, but had loads of free space on iCloud.

I will try moving a few of them back onto the iMac and see if this fixes the issue - fingers crossed

Thanks for your response :)

Neil.

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How do I consolidate 23,000 referenced photos on iMac with missing files?

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