JennyL
Level 1 (4 points)
Photos for Mac

Q: Photos 2 now shows a ? and no image after Sierra.

The change from El Capitan to Sierra went very smoothly and all seemed well. Then this morning I opened Photos 2 to show a friend a childhood image and disaster! Literally dozens of my photos no longer show, and in their place is a box with a ?.

 

If you have found a reason for this and even better, a workaround, I would really appreciate hearing about it. The good news, if there is any, is that I backed up my hard drive to an external drive before migrating to Sierra.

Many thanks,

Tony

Posted on Oct 9, 2016 12:06 PM

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JennyL

Q: Photos 2 now shows a ? and no image after Sierra.

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  • Helpful answers

  • by Old Toad,Helpful

    Old Toad Old Toad Oct 10, 2016 7:57 AM in response to JennyL
    Level 10 (141,798 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 10, 2016 7:57 AM in response to JennyL

    Are you able to double click on one of the thumbnails and view the image in full size? 

     

    If so then select one of the thumbnails and rotate it in one direction and then back again.  Doest that rebuild the thumbnail? 

     

    If it's successful you can do the whole library, a group at a time, to rebuild the thumbnails. I wouldn't try the entire library at one time.  Best to do batches of a couple hundred at a time.  Be sure to have a backup of the library before attempting that. 

    OTsig.png

  • by JennyL,

    JennyL JennyL Oct 10, 2016 7:58 AM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 10, 2016 7:58 AM in response to Old Toad

    No joy . . .  double click and I get a blank! Ah well, thankfully I have them backed-up. But I wonder what happened with the switch to Sierra.

    Jenny

  • by Old Toad,

    Old Toad Old Toad Oct 10, 2016 9:54 AM in response to JennyL
    Level 10 (141,798 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 10, 2016 9:54 AM in response to JennyL

    Was your iPhoto library a managed or referenced library? 

    iP95-6-ref-man.jpg

     

    If referenced then that may be the reason for the current issue.

  • by JennyL,

    JennyL JennyL Oct 10, 2016 11:14 AM in response to Old Toad
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 10, 2016 11:14 AM in response to Old Toad

    WOW!

    I have never seen that page. Where do I find that one?  As you will see below, my photos are in the Photos Library . . . Library Location > us > Pictures > Photos Library. Of course my partner thinks I messed it up!

    Jenny

     

    Screen Shot 2016-10-10 at 2.06.07 PM.jpg

     

    You are obviously working at a level way beyond my current expertise level so any help is really appreciated. By the way, this is how my images show in Photos 2 since switching to Sierra.

     

    Screen Shot 2016-10-10 at 2.07.26 PM.jpg

  • by Old Toad,Helpful

    Old Toad Old Toad Oct 10, 2016 11:26 AM in response to JennyL
    Level 10 (141,798 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 10, 2016 11:26 AM in response to JennyL

    My screenshot was from iPhoto.  If the iPhoto library was a referenced library you would have problems with your Photos library when it was migrated.  But if you were using Photos with El Capitan and had no issues then it's a different problem. 

     

    Try repairing the library according to the instructions in this Apple document: Repair Your Library.

    Warning: If you use iCloud Photo Library with Photos, this action will cause Photos to upload all your pictures again (from Fix missing or incorrect thumbnails in Photos - Apple Support).