Sweetldykt
Level 1 (4 points)
Photos for Mac

Q: iphone photos not seen or uploaded to photos app

A few days ago I upgraded to Sierra.  Before then I had always manually transferred my iPhone 6 photos to iPhoto.  After upgrading (now I have Photos instead of iPhoto), I noticed that MANY (I mean hundreds) of my iphone photos (which are still on my phone - I'm guessing in photostream) are no longer on my computer.  They are just gone.  I've tried connecting the phone and uploading them again, but the photos app on my Mac DOES NOT SEE them.  Even in the "Previously uploaded photos" section, there is NOTHING, even though I have hundreds of previously uploaded photos still on my iphone!   I've tried searching for them by number on my hard drive.  They are nowhere. 

 

All the photos ARE on iCloud.  But I want them on my hard drive - with the ability to move them to my external hard drive and/or back them up externally with time machine. 

 

How can I get my photos (I have a brand new baby!) from my iphone to my Macbook if the photos app won't/can't see them?  I've gone into iCloud to download them, but this is taking FOREVER because my computer is now running SO SLOW it's barely useable (which is another problem...).  Plus, like I said, it's HUNDREDS of photos - if it were just a few I wouldn't mind, but it's a ton. 

 

I should note that my OLDER photos from iPhoto ARE now on photos.  Many did make the transfer.  I just can't see why the last 6 weeks or so of photos are missing.  It seems as though the photos went directly from my iphone to iCloud without being uploaded to my computer, but I KNOW I uploaded them!  Even if I didn't, why can't I upload them now??

 

Can it be that the photos are still transferring from iphone to photos?  How can I know this?  I've tried opening iPhoto but there's a big black X through the app and it won't open any more. 

 

please help!  Thank you in advance!

MacBook Pro, iOS 10

Posted on Oct 16, 2016 11:55 AM

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Sweetldykt

Q: iphone photos not seen or uploaded to photos app

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  • Helpful answers

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Oct 16, 2016 3:58 PM in response to Sweetldykt
    Level 10 (85,648 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 16, 2016 3:58 PM in response to Sweetldykt

    It sounds like you are using iCLoud Photo LIbrary but we need details

     

    If you are using ICPL then the initial upload can be very slow and resource intensive and downloads occur after the load is complete

     

    what are your iCloud setting on teh Mac and the IOS devices and what is the ICPL status on each device?

     

    LN

  • by Sweetldykt,

    Sweetldykt Sweetldykt Oct 17, 2016 1:29 AM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 17, 2016 1:29 AM in response to LarryHN

    Hello LN,

     

    Thanks for your response. 

     

    I am using ICPL and I see that the upload from my Mac to iCloud is taking place - This is what my Mac says: Screen Shot 2016-10-17 at 10.20.03 AM.png

    And my iphone settings are:

     

    iCloud photo library ON

    Download and keep originals - checked. (before I had "Optimise iPhone storage" checked, but I thought maybe this was why I wasn't able to get my original photos to my computer)

    Upload to My Photo Stream ON

    iCloud Photo Sharing ON

     

    Before this week, I did NOT have "Upload to my Photo Stream" checked on my iphone, because I wanted to do it manually and not have it automatically dump the photos somewhere on my computer where I couldn't organize them the way I wanted.

     

    Is it possible that since my computer is now sending ALL of my photos to iCloud (slowly but surely...), that the photos that ARE in iCloud but AREN'T on my computer will also be sent back to my computer?  So everything is synced?  Or does it ONLY go 1-way (from Computer to iCloud...)?

     

    Thank you again!  Any help or advice is very appreciated.

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Oct 17, 2016 7:25 AM in response to Sweetldykt
    Level 10 (85,648 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 17, 2016 7:25 AM in response to Sweetldykt

    Is it possible that since my computer is now sending ALL of my photos to iCloud (slowly but surely...), that the photos that ARE in iCloud but AREN'T on my computer will also be sent back to my computer?

     

     

    Yes as I posted

     

    If you are using ICPL then the initial upload can be very slow and resource intensive and downloads occur after the load is complete

    and yes everything is synced - once all uploads are complete every change made on any device (addition, deletion or edit) will be made on all devices

     

    And generally it is better not to check MyPhotoStream if you are using ICPL - I've not seen it but some people have ofjnd that it can cause dupication of some photos

     

    LN

  • by Sweetldykt,

    Sweetldykt Sweetldykt Oct 18, 2016 12:12 PM in response to LarryHN
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 18, 2016 12:12 PM in response to LarryHN

    Thank you again, LN.

     

    The initial upload is still running and not making any progress whatsoever, which makes me think it's stalled out.  My computer is still pretty much unusable, as any and every keystroke takes forever. 

     

    I've searched for any other possible photo solutions but I guess I'll just wait it out and hope for the best.  I understand that after everything is uploaded and synced, that any changes made after that point will be made on all devices.  I guess I'm just not clear on it syncing photos which were taken in the past, because as of now, the time frame from early September to early October just isn't visible.  The photos/videos I've made in the past few days ARE syncing to all devices.  It's just about a month of things that have disappeared from my computer and aren't at all visible to my Mac, even though they are on iCloud. 

     

    But thank you again for your time and help.  I'll wait out the upload and pray they show up after the fact. 

     

    All the best from Berlin,

     

    KB

  • by LarryHN,

    LarryHN LarryHN Oct 18, 2016 2:13 PM in response to Sweetldykt
    Level 10 (85,648 points)
    Photos for Mac
    Oct 18, 2016 2:13 PM in response to Sweetldykt

    You can pause the ICPL upload for one day if it is interfering with your work without causing issues and un-pause it when you are leaving the computer idle (awake and powered)

     

    LN