Missing files - 'iPhoto could not find source file'

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Level 1

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Missing files - 'iPhoto could not find source file'

Hi,

I have been exporting all my photos from iPhoto (version 9.6.1 (910.42)) to an external hard drive and have successfully exported most of them. I am left with quite a few photos in iPhoto that upon attempting to export I get an error message saying it is unable to find the source file. I have backups of my iPhoto library but unfortunately these have the same situation. I definitely didn't delete the photos. The thumbnails still show as normal but when I click to view them I get the grey exclamation mark instead of the image. Is there anything that can be done in this situation?

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Yosemite (10.10.5)

Posted on Oct 8, 2015 5:04 AM

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Answer 1

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,396 points

Oct 8, 2015 6:23 AM in response to Skier22

If the file is missing then the only solution is to restore the file.

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Answer 2

Skier22 Author

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Oct 8, 2015 11:25 AM in response to Yer_Man

Sorry to be dense but how exactly would I do that?

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Answer 3

Yer_Man

Level 10

162,396 points

Oct 8, 2015 11:37 AM in response to Skier22

Depends on two things: If you have a aback up and how you made it.

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Answer 4

Skier22 Author

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Oct 8, 2015 1:07 PM in response to Yer_Man

Unfortunately this must have happened before I made the latest backup so the same files are missing in the backup.

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Answer 5

LarryHN

Level 10

106,110 points

Oct 8, 2015 8:53 PM in response to Skier22

then if the image is missing and you to not have a backup then they are gone

LN

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Answer 6

Skier22 Author

Level 1

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Oct 9, 2015 2:06 AM in response to LarryHN

This is incredibly frustrating, do you know how this could have happened? It seems that my diligence in doing regular backups has resulted in the loss of these files. My library was over 300GB so I didn't have space to store multiple backups. It would have been impossible to have gone through many thousands of photos before each backup to check if some had mysteriously disappeared. Is there no way to make an image from thumbnail info?

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