iCloud photo library sync issues on restored mac

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Level 1

8 points

iCloud photo library sync issues on restored mac

Recently my macbook pro was stolen. After receiving the new machine I did a system restore from my Time Capsule. Nearly everything worked flawlessly. However, I have not been able to get Photos to sync my iCloud photo library. I'm properly signed in to iCloud and have all the proper checkboxes checked. I went through the painful process of waiting for Photos to upload x gb of x gb in the preferences pane (which took DAYS). It did finally churn through the data but now it just says "uploading x photos". No photos have been synced since the day the other laptop was taken. Syncing IS working between my iPhone and the Photos app on the iCloud website, but they aren't making their way to the new macbook.

Early 2015 Macbook Pro running 10.11.5

Photos version 1.5 (370.42.0)

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X El Capitan (10.11.5)

Posted on Jul 6, 2016 7:47 AM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

200,699 points

Jul 6, 2016 8:09 AM in response to jagosse

but now it just says "uploading x photos".

You may have one or more corrupted photos in your Photos Library, that cannot upload to iCloud Photo Library.

As long as not all photos have been uploaded to iCloud, no new photos will download.

The download should start once all photos have been uploaded.

Do you have any photos in a different format - pdfs. TIFFs, BMPs, or similar, that cannot be processed by Photos?

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Answer 2

jagosse Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 6, 2016 8:52 AM in response to léonie

Hmmm. I'm not certain if I have any corrupted and/or photos in a format that Photos cannot process. I don't use third party editors (which seem to maybe cause those issues). How would I go about determining if I have any photos that might be an issue?

Thanks so much for the help.

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Answer 3

jagosse Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 6, 2016 9:06 AM in response to jagosse

I just 'repaired' the Photos library. It has now started the whole "uploading x gb of x gb" process again. Looks like it will be another 5 days before I can tell if that solved the issue. In the meantime, if you happen to know of any other way for me to know if I have corrupted photos, I'd appreciate the help.

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Answer 4

léonie

Level 10

200,699 points

Jul 6, 2016 9:42 AM in response to jagosse

I just 'repaired' the Photos library. It has now started the whole "uploading x gb of x gb" process again.

Repairing will fix corrupted database files in your Photos library, and it will fix wrong permissions, but it will not get rid of unreadable image files, but it is worth a try. The drawback is, that the complete library will be uploaded again and merged into the existing library.

Does your Photos Library contain many named faces, that you need to preserve, and projects like books and calendars?

If not, then you could simply

make a backup copy of your current library on an external drive,
delete the current library from your system drive,
create a new, empty library, make it your System Photo Library and enable it for iCloud Photo Library,
then wait for the library to download from iCloud.

By downloading from iCloud you will avoid the seven items that could not upload, and it will be slightly faster than uploading again, because the library does not need to be merged into an existing iCloud Library.

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Answer 5

jagosse Author

Level 1

8 points

Jul 6, 2016 11:47 AM in response to léonie

No faces, calendars or books. But I have spent time tagging all the photos. Any idea if the tags will be preserved? Either way, its worth a shot. Thanks much for the advice.

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