Photo Library on Hard Drive won't open in Photos

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Level 1

4 points

Photo Library on Hard Drive won't open in Photos

My hard drive keeps quitting when I try to open my Photos Library which are saved to an external hard drive.

I want to move the library to iCloud because my hard drive had to be repaired (needle stuck over disc - Samsung M3 1TB). I can see my library but every time I try to open or open/repair the photos application quits. How do I get my photos to the cloud and save the day?

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 15.7

Posted on Dec 11, 2025 2:19 PM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

200,525 points

Dec 12, 2025 1:02 AM in response to djmeuk

Apple's support document does not mention the case-sensitive flag. But it may cause problems for two reasons:

By default the internal Macintosh HD will not be formatted case-sensitive. Copying libraries to a case-sensitive drive may result in broken paths.
The system may not be able to find resources inside packages, like videos in a container format (Quicktime, AVI, HEIC) etc.

If the failing drive is not staying mounted long enough, you can try to copy the library in small steps by opening the package and copying one internal folder at a time, see: How to avoid the Error -36 when copying a Photos Library - Apple Community

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Answer 2

Yer_Man

Level 10

165,840 points

Dec 11, 2025 2:46 PM in response to djmeuk

The Cloud is a sharing service not a back up. Your best bet is to move the library to another HD. That HD shield be formatted Mac OS X Extended, Journaled or apfs
What format is your HD?

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