Exporting photos from Photos to Desktop. For a few days I've seen a snippet about an eBay payment via my bank card in the field where I used to type the name for my photo. I've uploaded two photos. In the second option, I am unable to type anything into the field.
When listing on eBay, I sometimes see little text popups about other sites, like Godaddy. I wonder what is going on.
MacBook Air 13″
Pretty crazy! You haven't said if your are using iCloud Photos. If so, do you use Optimize Storage?
Do you use a VPN? How about Mac "Cleaners" or "Virus Catchers?" These are all known to interfere with database operations on the Mac, and they have also been found to corrupt Photos Libraries. If you have any of these things, you should remove them from your computer.
After that, try these things:
1) Restart the computer (of course)
2) Re-start 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
3) Rebuild your Photos Library--close Photos and re-launch by option-command-double-clicking the app icon. If you use iCloud Photos, it’s possible that this will cause a re-sync that lasts long enough to make you nervous. I usually turn off wifi when I do this.
4) Use another library if you have one, or make a small test Library with a few pictures 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. If you use iCloud Photos, that won't connect with this new Library. You can return to the original Library by using the option-click method above.
5) Make a new user and see if the same problem recurs with it. This is a bit harder, because a new user can't access a different user's stuff. You would need to temporarily move your Library out of your own user's Pictures folder up to the general "Users" folder.
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…
Pretty crazy! You haven't said if your are using iCloud Photos. If so, do you use Optimize Storage?
Do you use a VPN? How about Mac "Cleaners" or "Virus Catchers?" These are all known to interfere with database operations on the Mac, and they have also been found to corrupt Photos Libraries. If you have any of these things, you should remove them from your computer.
After that, try these things:
1) Restart the computer (of course)
2) Re-start 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
3) Rebuild your Photos Library--close Photos and re-launch by option-command-double-clicking the app icon. If you use iCloud Photos, it’s possible that this will cause a re-sync that lasts long enough to make you nervous. I usually turn off wifi when I do this.
4) Use another library if you have one, or make a small test Library with a few pictures 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. If you use iCloud Photos, that won't connect with this new Library. You can return to the original Library by using the option-click method above.
5) Make a new user and see if the same problem recurs with it. This is a bit harder, because a new user can't access a different user's stuff. You would need to temporarily move your Library out of your own user's Pictures folder up to the general "Users" folder.
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…
Could you please answer Richard's question regarding Safe Mode? It is essential to test this issue in Safe Mode, as described here - at least do it once and try to export photos while in safe mode: Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support
It looks like your credit card details have been added to a cache that is used by Photos. The Safe Mode will clean caches and while in Safe Mode only the processes and system additions installed by Apple will be running. If you are still seeing this problem, some essential files have become corrupted.
Then the second test suggested by Richard is essential to narrow down the problem: test in a second user account, for example the Guest User account. This test will show you, if only your own user account has become corrupted or if the problem is system wide. If it is system wide, you may have installed some malware and it is not a Photos problem. Ask again in the Tahoe forum macOS Tahoe how to track down the problematic
launch agents, corrupted caches and preference files etc.
Personally, I would make a clean install of if the problem is system wide.
As I suggested earlier, rather than use the Guest User, you can just create a new User at System Settings>Users & Groups.
A new User can't use the another users stuff, but you can temporarily move your Library out of your own user's Pictures folder up to the general "Users" folder.
I have an extra account for such things, and I will move a Library to the "New Folder of Pictures" so that it will be available to the extra user. Then I move it back…
This is such a standard troubleshooting step that I often switch users when I'm not sure what's going on. In fact, I see that I have left two Libraries hanging around in that alternate user's folder that I should move back:
And I heartily agree with léonie that mystery Terminal commands are dangerous.
Did you try re-building the Library? That resets a number of things…
That is very strange.
The export dialog should be showing you a menu with four options, like this:
Does this menu appear?
And only, when we select "Sequential", we are prompted to enter text, some prefix for the filename with a running number.
Are you seeing your credit card credentials, when you try to enter the prefix? Are you trying to paste some text to enter the filename?
Have you already restarted the Mac to clear some caches and terminate background processes?
I asked ChatGPT AI about it and it suggested, in the end, that I type a command into Terminal to change Photos Preferences to the factory default. That has worked and I am able to get back to my work but it leaves me uneasy wondering why something from my accounting software should appear in the wrong place in an unrelated application.
That menu is what I used to see. I do see my credit card credentials which I've obscured in the screenshot. It's been happening for a few days so the machine has been closed down and restarted multiple times.
I do use iCloud Photos with a paid subscription. I am mystified about where iCloud Desktop is vis-à-vis Desktop and iCloud Photos v Photos. Why an entry in my eBay account should appear in this way is concerning.
I started in safe mode and ran Disk Utility over all the Volumes listed and saw a note about a corrupt file with a huge long name and that was sorted. However, today the problem in Photos is still there.
Ewan Lamont wrote:
Can I edit my photos in the Guest User account? I'm wondering whether I should take my laptop to the Apple Shop.
A Guest Account is limited, intentionally.
You would have to create a new Photos Library there and transfer one of your photos, so you can test in Photos.
But you have fixed the problem by resetting the Photos preferences to the factory default.
Then the problem has been limited to your own account. Great!
Did you check the Terminal command suggested by ChatGPT? I would not run any Terminal commands suggested by ChatGPT, that I do not fully understand. A single mistake in the command can cause a lot of damage.
That is interesting, Richard, that a library at the top level of "Users" can be shared between the two user accounts.
When I tried to put a test library in /Users/Shared I had to repair it continually after using it from a different account.
léonie wrote:…When I tried to put a test library in /Users/Shared I had to repair it continually after using it from a different account.
I didn't have any luck with rtaylor/Public, either.
I mostly use that other user for checking what things look like when not connected to iCloud. I don't use my rtaylor System Library there.
Thanks for replying. No I don't use a VPN nor Mac Cleaners or Virus Catchers. It's twenty years since I learned to shun that sort of stuff. All I use is Disk Utility. I'll try what you suggest.
Can I edit my photos in the Guest User account? I'm wondering whether I should take my laptop to the Apple Shop.
So-- this is not unique! I'll post a reference to this place.
Thanks!
Unexpected text and inability to type in Photos export naming field
