Some Videos Not Copying to iPad

I have several videos together in an album in my Mac Photos app. I have the album selected for syncing with the iPad. However, only two of the seven videos copy to the iPad. They're all the same format, and there is lots of free space on the iPad. I don't know if it's related, but partway through the sync, I get this error:


“Movie 2” was not copied to the iPad “John’s iPad” because it could not be found.


I've deleted this movie from the library, it was never in the folder to be copied. I'm wondering if this error causes the sync to stop midway through. Any ideas how to prevent this error message?

iPad Air, iPadOS 18

Posted on Jun 1, 2025 9:55 AM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 3, 2025 8:04 AM

I imagine you have re-booted.

  • Have you tried a forced restart of the iPad?

Force Re-start iPad

This is different from a simple Power Off. I had to continue holding the button down past the "slide to power off" message, and then I released the button only after  the Apple Logo appeared indicating a re-start. 

  • Re-start the Mac 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 


  • Use another library if you have one, or make a small test Library with videos in it and see if the same thing happens. You can create a new Library by closing Photos and then option-clicking on the Photos icon.
  • Make a new user and see if the same problem recurs with it
  • Rebuild your Photos Library--close Photos and re-launch by option-command-clicking the app icon.


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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3 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Jun 3, 2025 8:04 AM in response to John Baro1

I imagine you have re-booted.

  • Have you tried a forced restart of the iPad?

Force Re-start iPad

This is different from a simple Power Off. I had to continue holding the button down past the "slide to power off" message, and then I released the button only after  the Apple Logo appeared indicating a re-start. 

  • Re-start the Mac 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 


  • Use another library if you have one, or make a small test Library with videos in it and see if the same thing happens. You can create a new Library by closing Photos and then option-clicking on the Photos icon.
  • Make a new user and see if the same problem recurs with it
  • Rebuild your Photos Library--close Photos and re-launch by option-command-clicking the app icon.


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…

Jun 2, 2025 10:57 AM in response to John Baro1

It is true that transfers can be interrupted when an incompatible file is encountered-- and often with no indication of why. Videos are major culprits. Being "all the same format" doesn't really mean they're all the same format: ".mov" in one movie isn't necessarily the same as ".mov" in another, for instance. Videos are like from the Wild West.


I'd try transferring the videos one at a time to see where the culprit lies. Let us know what happens…

Jun 2, 2025 2:42 PM in response to Richard.Taylor

Being "all the same format" doesn't really mean they're all the same format:


By "all the same format," I mean I created them all at the same time using the same export parameters - same audio & video codecs, same data rate, same resolution, same file name extension. These are more like from the Tame East.


The video that generated the error was NOT in the album to be synced. After I deleted it, It's nowhere to be found, yet I still get the error.


Interestingly, syncing to my iPhone worked, all the videos copied over.

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Some Videos Not Copying to iPad

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