Cassandie

Q: Photo folder greyed out and unable to Sync through iTunes to my iPhone

In summary: When in itunes and syncing a device (iPads/iPhones), under the Photos option, when i 'select folder', 'external hard drive' the Photo library stored here is greyed out and i can't choose it.. so can't get my photos in Photo to be viewable on my iPhone, your tips would be great thanks!

 

Background - I take photos on a number of devices/cameras then I import them using the Photo App, previously I used iPhoto, to sort them into albums etc.  I then would sync my iPhone with iTunes, under Photos I would then click sync photos and choose which of the folders I'd like to be able to view on my phone.  My entire Photo (and iPhoto Library) is stored on an external seagate drive. iTunes previously had no problems allowing me to select the folder on this external drive and could view those selected photos on my iphone/ipad etc.

 

I've udpated my iMac (only a month old)  and iPhone (6 plus) with all the latest updates and both are running the Photos app. 

 

Now I've clicked to sync Photos with my iphone and there are no folders/photos to sync - it says 0.  When I click the drop down (which currently shows Photo App and 'select folder',  I choose my external drive which then shows everything on the drive but its all greyed out and I can't click either the Photo or iPhoto library, Previuosly i have always been able to sync using this external drive, this issue has just occured post moving to Photo instead of  iPhoto.

 

When I open the Photos app I have no problems viewing all my photos/albums etc - all working perfectly.  Also my time machine backups are backing up my imac HD and external drive with no worries.

 

iTunes is syncing my music with match perfectly to my iPhone same with books apps etc. 

 

I've switched everything off - iMac and iPhone and back on.  i've unticked the sync Photos option, completed a sync removing all of the iphoto library that was on my phone.  I've clicked sync again but there are no photos to sync -  I just can't get to the folder - Photo library from the external drive is grey and I can't choose it.   My iphone is showing my camera roll, photo stream from the cloud, instagram uploaded photos and recently deleted photos but nothing further.  I've also tried this with my iPad with the same result.

 

Any advice to be able to get the Photo library on the external drive from being greyed out when in itunes syncing a device would be great thanks!

iPhone 6 Plus, iOS 8.3

Posted on Apr 18, 2015 1:31 AM

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Q: Photo folder greyed out and unable to Sync through iTunes to my iPhone

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  • Helpful answers

  • by jh5684,Helpful

    jh5684 jh5684 May 20, 2015 7:52 PM in response to Cassandie
    Level 1 (5 points)
    May 20, 2015 7:52 PM in response to Cassandie

    I struggled with this also. Here's what worked for me.

     

    Open Photos. Go to Preferences.  Click the button to "use as system folder". The next time I opened iTunes I chose Photos and all my albums and events.

  • by Fuzzella,

    Fuzzella Fuzzella Jun 23, 2015 8:27 PM in response to jh5684
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Jun 23, 2015 8:27 PM in response to jh5684

    thanks!!! Have been struggling with this problem for a month.  Now the "select albums" button can be chosen and I can pick last 3 months to sync.

    Awesome, so easy!  would have never found that without your help.

  • by lsd417,

    lsd417 lsd417 Jul 12, 2015 6:10 AM in response to jh5684
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Jul 12, 2015 6:10 AM in response to jh5684

    Hi there,

    I would like to do this as well as I keep my photo library on an external hard drive. But under preferences in photos the 'use as system folder' choice is greyed out so I cannot select it. Can you suggest anything to help please?

     

    Thanks,

    Lorrie

  • by Chris Lannigan,

    Chris Lannigan Chris Lannigan Jul 17, 2015 2:53 AM in response to lsd417
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jul 17, 2015 2:53 AM in response to lsd417

    I have the same problem and 'use as system folder' is also grayed out! any ideas anyone?

  • by Chris Lannigan,

    Chris Lannigan Chris Lannigan Jul 17, 2015 2:56 AM in response to jh5684
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Jul 17, 2015 2:56 AM in response to jh5684

    hi. unfortuantely the 'use as system folder' option is also grayed out! any ideas?

  • by karafa1,

    karafa1 karafa1 Aug 30, 2015 10:07 PM in response to Cassandie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Aug 30, 2015 10:07 PM in response to Cassandie

    The "Use as a system photo library" button is greyed out in my case too. any solution?

  • by lsd417,

    lsd417 lsd417 Sep 6, 2015 12:28 PM in response to jh5684
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 6, 2015 12:28 PM in response to jh5684

    Brilliant. I've been trying to resolve this for months and despite visits to One-to-one sessions and Apple phone support I was told it was not possible. Thank you so much!!

    L

  • by youknowquincy,

    youknowquincy youknowquincy Sep 7, 2015 6:57 AM in response to Cassandie
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 7, 2015 6:57 AM in response to Cassandie

    Created an acct just to answer this:

     

    To all of those with a greyed out "Use as a system photo library" button, what worked for me was to resize my iTunes window as big as possible and then I was finally able to select the "Sync Photos" button.  It looks like a bug where everything appears greyed out, even when you have already selected to use Photos as the system library, but the issue was just that the window was too small to see the checkbox.

  • by sharked,

    sharked sharked Sep 7, 2015 10:20 AM in response to youknowquincy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Sep 7, 2015 10:20 AM in response to youknowquincy

    Apple needs to fix this interface. Having to resize the window to see the Sync Photos is just ridiculous. Thanks for the tip!

  • by Charles Fellowes,

    Charles Fellowes Charles Fellowes Sep 9, 2015 7:40 AM in response to Cassandie
    Level 1 (5 points)
    Sep 9, 2015 7:40 AM in response to Cassandie

    One of the keys to fixing this is that once you've followed the instructions above and the 'use as system folder' is selected and greyed out, YOU NEED TO QUIT ITUNES. It does not correctly change the folder over in iTunes until you quit and restart it.

  • by Andrew Acosta,

    Andrew Acosta Andrew Acosta Nov 21, 2015 8:27 PM in response to youknowquincy
    Level 1 (0 points)
    Nov 21, 2015 8:27 PM in response to youknowquincy

    Nope. I have Photos on full-screen, and "Use as System Photo Library" is still gray.

    My Photos library location is Photos Library, I can't change it.

    My iTunes Sync Photos has Pictures as the directory, and Photos Libby is grayed out. So, I can't tell one application where to find pictures to sync.

     

    Maybe Apple should test their software before releasing it to the public.

  • by GeorgeBoydRatcliff,

    GeorgeBoydRatcliff GeorgeBoydRatcliff Apr 10, 2016 3:31 PM in response to Cassandie
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Apr 10, 2016 3:31 PM in response to Cassandie

    I am getting sick of Apple stuff not working. Once upon a time everything "just worked", now it's so bloody complex you don't know if it's you, or a bug. This sort of crap never happened when Steve Jobs was alive, because someone would have copped it if they produced this half-baked rubbish.

     

    I'm running iTunes 12.3.3.17 (even that "About" doesn't work because the version scrolls off the screen before you can note it down!) and Photos 1.5, on El Capitan 10.11.4 with my Photos library on a shared drive. I cannot select the photo library from iTunes because it is always greyed out .... and I've just about had enough of this Apple crap!

  • by John Darrah,

    John Darrah John Darrah May 19, 2016 12:15 PM in response to jh5684
    Level 1 (19 points)
    Quicktime
    May 19, 2016 12:15 PM in response to jh5684

    Thank you! That solved my problem immediately! 

  • by mauijames,

    mauijames mauijames Aug 13, 2016 7:49 PM in response to Cassandie
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Aug 13, 2016 7:49 PM in response to Cassandie

    Not working for me. Followed instructions and still greyed out. Running El Capitan 10.11.5 and Iphone 6s 9.3.4. Moved Photos from External to new internal 1TB on my 2012 Macbook Pro and Photos works fine (though I lost all the custom folders), but now iTunes wants to sync to my old Photos folder. When I attempt to choose the one on my internal drive, it's greyed out. I can select the regular Photos folder (blue) but not the Photos Library with the icon. Also, I created a new Album in the new Photo that was transferred to my internal, and when I select the blue Photos folder to sync, that new folder is not an option, so I'm not sure where it's storing that Album, but I'm guessing it's in the Photos Library with the icon that's greyed out. I've attached an image of what I'm seeing below: Screen Shot 2016-08-13 at 4.46.36 PM.png