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What's about these grey rectangles in Photos for Mac?

After importing my whole iPhoto library (some 20.000 pics) into 'Photos for Mac' I find some hundred grey rectangles in my Photos library (-> screenshot).

After a bit of investigation using the Info pane (-> screenshot) I find that none of these ‚photos’ has any information attached to them except for the pic’s number and date. However, searching for these data, turns out that there are none of these photos anywhere on my Mac - not in Photos app, nor in my previous iPhoto library, nor anywhere else.

Now I wonder what’s going on here? Where do these grey, non-existing 'photos' placeholders come from? Maybe some clever guy here can help me with a suggestion?

And can I safely delete them?

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10), Photos 1.0 for Mac

Posted on May 9, 2015 9:39 AM

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9 replies

May 9, 2015 9:50 AM in response to iCoco

pic’s number and date

Can you tell, if photos are missing in your Photos Library?

If you look at the photos you can see, can you guess from the date and filename, if there is a missing photo that should be there?


Sometimes there are photos in your iPhoto library, that have not been properly deleted, when you emptied the Trash, or where the links between edited versions and originals have been lost.

Try to find out, if the gray ghosts are redundant photos that should have been deleted, or photos that you need to recover.


Is there a folder or event with "Recovered ..." in the name in your iPhoto Library, when you look at it with iPhoto?

May 9, 2015 10:06 AM in response to léonie

@ léonie, thank you for getting in touch also. 🙂


As far as I can tell up to now, there's no missing photos. Thats why I wonder where these "ghosts" might come from.


However, comparing Photos with iPhoto is slightly difficult, because the taxonomy is kind of different, and I find these "ghosts" (good name, as that's what they are) starting from about 3 years ago and older. I will have to look further into it.


No, my searches returned no "Recovered" folder (I've also been searching for the german term, which would be "wiederhergestellt").


I'll follow your advice and dive deeper and try to find out, if they might be redundant photos or such.

May 9, 2015 10:43 AM in response to iCoco

  • Either the ghosts are are original image files, that have been lost and found in your iphoto library. Then you may spot them by browsing the Masters folder, like Winston Churchill recommended.
  • They may also be entries in the internal databases, caused by inconsistencies. Then you would need to repair and rebelsd the library.


If you cannot find traces of the gray images in the Masters folder, try a search tool. Search for the filename "Img1098.jpg" , that is shown in your screenshot. To be able to search inside packages like your photo libraries, download and run the tool Find Any File. It can search everywhere and the trial is free: Download from this link:

Find Any File

May 11, 2015 7:45 AM in response to léonie

Ok, another great Apple mystery. 🙂


As far as I can see, these photos simply don't exist. I cannot find any matching files in iPhoto or anywhere else on my computer. And - interestingly - these grey ghosts *only* appear in Photos for Mac. They do not show up in Photos on iCloud/Safari, nor do they on any of my iOS devices. Very strange.


So now I am about to delete these "ghosts" from Photos for Mac, because they are a bit annoying.


However, I would appreciate any hint about where they might have come from. I won't believe that I am the only person with this phenomenon.

May 28, 2015 2:49 AM in response to iCoco

I have this same problem - except I have hundreds of them.

Seems I will have to upgrade to Photos, but it's going to £$%£$% my whole library / will take me hours to delete grey squares.

Reminds me very much of one of the iPhoto library upgrades just a few years ago.

If anyone finds an easy solution to remove these ghosts do let me know.


Why is it OS companies have to meddle? - Bring back Snow Leopard...

Mind you, Windows post-XP was just as bad, hence my move to Mac, so probably no point moving back either.

May 28, 2015 3:36 AM in response to iCoco

And - interestingly - these grey ghosts *only* appear in Photos for Mac. They do not show up in Photos on iCloud/Safari, nor do they on any of my iOS devices. Very strange.

That indicates that these "ghost" have missing original image files. Referenced photos, with the orginal image file not in the Photos Library cannot upload to iCloud Photo Library.

What's about these grey rectangles in Photos for Mac?

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