Desktop Background preferences won't recognize Photos library

Question

Level 1

8 points

Desktop Background preferences won't recognize Photos library

Since "upgrading" to Photos I've lost the ability for my desktop images on my iMac and MacBook Pro to change every xx minutes. This is set in System Preferences-->Desktop & Screensaver, but whereas iPhoto and Aperture libraries were recognized for source photos, the preference pane (pain!) in El Capitan 10.11.5 won't recognize the Photos library. The only way to cycle through photos on your desktop now is to export photos to a folder and choose that folder as the source--a kludgy solution at best and a waste of space.

Has anyone else figured out how to do this? Thanks, Robert

OS X El Capitan (10.11.5)

Posted on Jun 5, 2016 10:06 AM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

200,537 points

Jun 5, 2016 11:26 AM in response to woolybully

When you open Photos and the Photos Preferences, does it look like this?

"Use as System Photo Library" should be dimmed as Rysz pointed out.

If not, click it.

If the library is the System Photo Library and still will not show in the Desktop&Screensaver panel, back up and repair your Photos Library. See: Repair your library - Photos Help

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

200,537 points

Jun 5, 2016 12:44 PM in response to woolybully

This worked--somewhat. If I choose Photos, I can see that my library is there. However, if I choose the option Random Order, the photo displayed on the desktop always reverts to the stock El Capitan photo. So it appears I can only have photos rotate in essentially chronological order.

This should not happen.

In my library that is working just fine:

It is showing the the photos from the selected album.

Does the selected album change in the System preferences, or is it just showing the wrong album?

If the System preferences are reverting back to National Geographic, try to delete the System preferences .plist:

Deleting the System Preference or other .plist file

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Answer 3

Rysz

Level 8

44,443 points

Jun 5, 2016 10:46 AM in response to woolybully

Works fine here. Under Desktop prefs I selected (highlighted) the Photos label (not any of the albums displayed under it).

Make sure Photos is selected as the System Library. Photos > Preferences > General > the Use as System Photo Library button should be greeted out.

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Answer 4

léonie

Level 10

200,537 points

Jun 5, 2016 10:59 AM in response to woolybully

, the preference pane (pain!) in El Capitan 10.11.5 won't recognize the Photos library

Is your Photos Library stored locally? On a drive formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled)?

If your library is an iCloud Photo Library - are you using "Optimize Mac Storage"?

If it is local library, not iCloud Photo Library, and enabled as the system photo library, as Rysz pointed out, it may still take a very long time for the Photos library to appear in the left column of the "Desktop&Screensaver" preferences. The first time I opened that panel after upgrading to Photos, it took ten minutes, until I could access the Photos library this way. The next time it was much quicker.

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Answer 5

woolybully Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 5, 2016 11:46 AM in response to Rysz

I checked to make sure Photos was selected as the System Library. The Use as System Photo Library button was not greyed out. I chose that option to then make it greyed. Now the Photos label is appearing in the Desktop prefs sidebar. It wasn't an option before. This worked--somewhat. If I choose Photos, I can see that my library is there. However, if I choose the option Random Order, the photo displayed on the desktop always reverts to the stock El Capitan photo. So it appears I can only have photos rotate in essentially chronological order. That is a somewhat different problem than my original post, still annoying but no so much as before. Thank you!

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Answer 6

woolybully Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 5, 2016 12:51 PM in response to léonie

Thanks Léoni,

Yes, when I choose the two options you've indicated above, the El Capitan photo does indeed appear whether I choose the entire Photos library or a folder within it like you've illustrated. But, if I wasn't being impatient, I'd have found out (as I eventually did), that the photographs then recycle from El Capitan into the Photos library and then it appears that El Capitan is out of the rotation and that it is working as it should, randomly at a specified interval.

Robert

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Answer 7

woolybully Author

Level 1

8 points

Jun 5, 2016 11:19 AM in response to Rysz

My Photos Library is locally stored on a MacOS Extended drive (Disk Utility does not say "(Journaled)". The library is much, much too large to store on iCloud.

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