P Diddy
Level 1 (10 points)

Q: Restoring Photos Library from Time Machine

Hi

 

I have a venerable late 2009 iMac running the latest version of Yosemite.  I have about 29,000 photos in my Photos library, taking up about 200GB of disk space (lots of videos alongside the photos).  I use iCloud Photo Library to store the entire library in the cloud, and the iMac is set to store the original, high-resolution version.  This has worked really well, with the full Photos library available locally on my iMac, and all my photos available on my other devices.

 

I also use Time Machine to back up my iMac. 

 

Last week, my iMac died, and it is time for a new machine.  I've done a clean install of Yosemite on the new machine, and copied the Photos library from Time Machine to the local hard disk.  This has worked perfectly, and I have all my photos available again.  However, the new Photos library isn't syncing with iCloud Photo Library.   A quick check showed that the restored Photos library wasn't marked as the System Photo Library.  I turned this on, and enabled iCloud Photo Library. 

 

All looks good, apart from Photos has decided it wants to upload the entire library again.  It doesn't seem to be creating duplicates, so I assume it is uploading each photo, checking if it already existing in iCloud Photo Library, finding that it does, and then not saving it.  This is going to take a long time on my 1 Mbps upload speed ADSL connection.

 

I am confident that my iCloud Photo Library is up to date.  I think my best option now is to create a new, empty Photos library, set it to be the System Photo Library, and let the photos download from iCloud Photo Library to my Mac's hard disk.  The download speed is 18Mbps, so will be a little faster.

 

Two questions:

 

1. Does creating an empty Photos library and downloading everything sound like the best option?

2. How could I have prevented this?  There must be a way to hook an iCloud Photo Library with a Photos library that has been restored from Time Machine.

 

Thanks

 

PD

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10), Late 2009 iMac 27"

Posted on Jul 27, 2015 1:08 AM

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Q: Restoring Photos Library from Time Machine

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  • Helpful answers

  • by léonie,

    léonie léonie Jul 27, 2015 2:47 AM in response to P Diddy
    Level 10 (107,795 points)
    iCloud
    Jul 27, 2015 2:47 AM in response to P Diddy

    I am confident that my iCloud Photo Library is up to date.  I think my best option now is to create a new, empty Photos library, set it to be the System Photo Library, and let the photos download from iCloud Photo Library to my Mac's hard disk.  The download speed is 18Mbps, so will be a little faster.

     

    Two questions:

     

    1. Does creating an empty Photos library and downloading everything sound like the best option?

    2. How could I have prevented this?  There must be a way to hook an iCloud Photo Library with a Photos library that has been restored from Time Machine.

    Creating a new library and letting Photos download your library from iCloud will work very well, I used this method to transfer my Photos Library to two other Macs.  But you will lose a few metadata this way. It will be like downloading the library to a different Mac.  See this document on what will download from iCloud:  Use Photos and iCloud Photo Library on multiple Mac computers - Apple Support

    If you are using faces or have created books, it will be better to stick with your current library, that you restored from Time Machine.

    These items are available only on the Mac where you created them:

    • Books, cards, and calendars
    • Slideshows
    • Keyword shortcuts
    • Unused keywords
    • Last imported album (this album contains photos you most recently imported on a specific Mac)
    • Faces tiles and Faces data

     

     

    Photos will frequently upload the complete library again -  after you run a "Repair" on your library or after you restore it from a backup.  But it is just going through the motions and checking for duplicates and comparing the file attributes.  It takes a long time, but you can work with the library while it is happening.  And it will usually be finished much faster than it originally may appear.

    However, the new Photos library isn't syncing with iCloud Photo Library.   A quick check showed that the restored Photos library wasn't marked as the System Photo Library.  I turned this on, and enabled iCloud Photo Library.

     

    All looks good, apart from Photos has decided it wants to upload the entire library again.  It doesn't seem to be creating duplicates, so I assume it is uploading each photo, checking if it already existing in iCloud Photo Library, finding that it does, and then not saving it.  This is going to take a long time on my 1 Mbps upload speed ADSL connection.

  • by P Diddy,

    P Diddy P Diddy Jul 28, 2015 11:20 AM in response to léonie
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Jul 28, 2015 11:20 AM in response to léonie

    Many thanks for your answer. I think I will download the library again.  From what you are saying, it doesn't seem like there is a way to fully restore a Photos library from Time Machine, including the sync status with iCloud Photo Library.  I guess that between the Time Machine backup and when the iMac disk failed, there could have been changes to the library, so Photos can't assume the two are automatically in line.

     

    Regards

     

    PD