Photos app uploading more photos than I have in my library

Question

Photos app uploading more photos than I have in my library

I'm looking for help. I have just (painfully, due to my slow internet) uploaded about 40 photos from my iPad into iCloud photos. Once home I did some basic editing, on the iMac, and expected to have to wait for some more uploading. Sure enough, initially it said 'Uploading 13 Items'. Unfortunately, after a few minutes this changed to 'Uploading 6380 Items' (and the progress bar doesn't seem to be going anywhere fast). What is odd is that I only have 5346 photos in my Library and have nothing in the Trash Album. I have tried repairing the Photos database (launching with Option and Command held down) - the same thing happens. My other devices and the iCloud website all show the 5346 photos I'm expecting, just without the last few edits. Any help would be appreciated - particularly as the 5000 photos in my library, when I "upgraded" to Photos from Aperture took 3 weeks to upload!

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), 27" Late 2012

Posted on Jul 31, 2016 1:31 AM

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Answer 1

léonie

Level 10

200,645 points

Jul 31, 2016 2:32 AM in response to Stephen Connor

I have tried repairing the Photos database (launching with Option and Command held down) - the same thing happens.

Be frugal with repairing. Every time you repair the library, the upload to iCloud will start again.

What is odd is that I only have 5346 photos in my Library and have nothing in the Trash Album.

Do you have videos in addition to the photos? These will show as "items" when uploading.

While still using Aperture, did you reject photos? The rejected photos will be hidden in Photos and do not show in the Photos view. Have you checked the Hidden album?

Also, did you shoot RAW&JPEG pairs? They will be stacked in Photos and count as one photo, but when uploading will count as two.

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Answer 2

Jul 31, 2016 2:32 AM in response to léonie

I do have some jpeg/RAW pairs, which might explain the extra numbers. The initial problem started before I did the repair. Thanks for the warning though. I don;t suppose there is anything I can do now?

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

200,645 points

Jul 31, 2016 2:50 PM in response to Stephen Connor

Just let it upload. The additional upload after you signed out of iCloud and back again, after you moved the library, or repaired it is essentially just uploading to compare your library to the version in iCloud and to merge new or edited photos into the library. It is scanning for duplicates while uploading and trying to resolve conflicts. It is frequently faster than the initial upload.

See:

Why is iCloud uploading my entire iCloud Photo library again after I moved its location?

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Answer 4

Jul 31, 2016 2:52 PM in response to léonie

Thanks. You are right. Despite no progress at all in the three or four hours I watched it yesterday, it has completed overnight. Definitely faster than the 3 weeks it initially took!

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