Image Capture does not load thumbnails of all photos detected

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013), 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7, 16 GB 1600 MHz DDR3,

iPhone 6s, iOS 9.0.2

Using OSX 10.11.5, running Image Capture

Connected iPhone and started image capture.

Image Capture fail to load some photo thumbnails.

Left the app there to give time for it to load, but still the same

Exit and Relaunch Image Capture, some of the thumbnails that didn't load previously managed to load, but many are all still not loaded.

Exit and Relaunch Image Capture, some of the thumbnails that didn't load the 1st time and got loaded the 2nd time, didn't load now. seems to be back to square 1.

Its a hit and miss kind of thing.

This has been going on for awhile already, can't remember how far back thou.

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

MacBook Pro (Retina, 15-inch, Late 2013), OS X El Capitan (10.11.5)

Posted on Jun 16, 2016 9:55 PM

Reply
3 replies

Jan 7, 2017 8:16 AM in response to at0m87

I found that Image Capture had a hard time loading Live Photos and in general having any Live Photos on my iPhone slowed down or halted any thumbnails from loading. After going on to my phone and one-by-one turning all my live photos in regular still photos I found that Image Capture was able to load thumbnails. I've turned off Live Photos for the future. But after a software update your phone will sometimes default to Live Photos. Hope that helps.

Jun 17, 2016 10:26 AM in response to at0m87

Hey there, at0m87!


Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities. Based on the information you've provided, I'm understanding that when you connect your iPhone and open Image Capture, there are missing thumbnails. I manage my own pictures on my Mac, so I can understand wanting and needing those thumbnails to display properly. I've got a few things you can try to help.


  1. Eject your iPhone from the computer, and quit Image Capture. Press and hold the Shift key on your keyboard while reopening Image Capture again. Connect your iPhone and test for the thumbnails.
  2. Restart your Mac. Quit Image Capture, eject your iPhone from the computer, then click the Apple  menu in the upper left of your screen. Select "Restart" from the menu. When the computer boots, open Image Capture and connect your iPhone. Test the thumbnails.
  3. Check for updates on the Mac and your iPhone.

    The following article will help check and install updates for your Mac.

    Update the software on your Mac

    The following article will help check and install updates for your iPhone.

    Update the iOS software on your iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch

  4. Check the Image Capture thumbnails in safe mode. Eject your iPhone from the computer, then follow the steps in the article linked below to boot into safe mode

    Try safe mode if your Mac doesn‘t finish starting up​

    Even though the title of the article isn't specific to your issue, safe mode is still a good step to take. It performs several checks of your system during the boot process, and will disable certain software that could be causing a conflict.

  5. Try Image Capture in a new user account. The article linked below will give you instructions on setting up a new account, as well as some information as to why this can help.

    How to test an issue in another user account on your Mac

Have a great day!

Aug 21, 2016 1:43 AM in response to at0m87

Hi at0m87

I have the same issue. Only a handful of images load out of 1000+.
I just tried Lindsay_B suggestion of holding Shift key while I opened Image Capture and this seems to be working.
Although still ridiculously slow! I can't understand why it is taking so long as I'm on a new 27" iMac with 40GB RAM etc.
The other thing to note is that I don't think the video file that is saved along with the image when taking Live Photos will show up. So there will still be blank thumbnails - but note the file name will be the same as the image next to it.

Hope that helps.

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Image Capture does not load thumbnails of all photos detected

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