Cannot open Photos library on external drive, error 5416

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Cannot open Photos library on external drive, error 5416

Cant open photos library. Error code (5416).

I have the library stored at an external hard drive, its formated Mac OS Extended. I have used this earlier, with no issues to store my large photos-library (61 gb). But after a forced disk eject it wouldnt open. I have tried repairing both the hard-drive through apples disk utility and also repairing the library, but the same error-code shows up when the repairing is done. I dont know what to do.

MacBook Air 13″, macOS 13.2

Posted on Jan 9, 2026 1:56 PM

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Answer 1

Jan 10, 2026 12:01 AM in response to lisandersen98

The best option is to restore from the backup.

You might try to fix the external drive with 3rd party tools (but make a backup of the (still broken) Photos library before doing that so you potentially don't introduce more damage (Mac OS Extended might be more easily fixed than APFS). Or maybe the drive is physically broken.

If all else fails you might manually copy the images out from the library package. But it won't be a nice experience because the files are scattered with weird names in the database.

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