macOS photos: recover missing file

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Level 1

8 points

macOS photos: recover missing file

Hello,

here's the deal: I click on a specific picture in my Photos library and then File -> Consolidate. Photos then tells me that the original file points to an external folder, to which I do not have access anymore*.

I managed to retain a low res version of the picture by copying it to the clipboard and then pasting on Finder. When I re-import this file to Photos however it looks much more pixelated than the original (which actually looks high res).

Surely Photos stores a version of the picture with reasonable resolution, since it shows up pretty nicely** in the Photos library, the only problem being that I don't know how to locate the file corresponding to that version of the picture. My question is: any insights on how I could find this file?

*not entirely relevant for the question, but actually Photos seems to have messed up somehow, as I do have access to the external folder it points to, only the file is not there (nor anywhere in the .photoslibrary path)

**it even retains metadata like camera config and location

Best,

E.

Posted on Mar 6, 2018 8:29 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

léonie

Level 10

197,273 points

Mar 6, 2018 12:39 PM in response to eduardohorta

My Photos Library is syncing with iCloud Photo Library, so it is probably different from yours.

But there are quite a few preview images in the folder

~/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/proxies/derivatives/8d/00/8dc0/stale_largepv_8d c0.jpg

You will recognize these previews by the text "largepv" in the filename.

But it is hard to tell, which original image they belong to. The name format is not readable for humans.

To search for these, select the resources folder in the Finder, then use a search with ⌘F and filter it by "Kind: Image" and Name contains "large":

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

197,273 points

Mar 6, 2018 11:45 AM in response to eduardohorta

The easiest way to find the locations of the previews is PowerPhotos. The free trial version will you allow to reveal the modified versions (if they exist) and the originals in the Finder.

You will find many previews of the edited versions here:

~/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/media/version/

For example, when browsing my Photos Library in PowerPhotos, I can ctrl-click one of the photos in list view or grid view and I can reveal the image files or select the the photo in Photos to edit it:

In Photos 3.0 I am mostly seeing edited versions for the externally edited photos. Some are quite large:

If you navigate in your Photos Library to ~/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/media/version/

and then enter ⌘F to open a search panel, you can get a list of all edited versions and sort it by size. Just click + and add a rule "Kind: Image"

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Answer 3

LarryHN

Level 10

106,123 points

Mar 6, 2018 8:55 AM in response to eduardohorta

Photos does not have a second copy of the high resolution photo - if you delete the original then it is gone, the low resolution preview in Photos is only useful as a low resolution preview, not as a high resolution original

and I suggest that you reconsider using a referenced library - there are many reasons not to use referenced libraries including losing your originals due to user error - :Disadvantages of a Referenced Library in Photos

LN

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Answer 4

eduardohorta Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 6, 2018 9:08 AM in response to LarryHN

Thank you for your answer.

I understand that a second copy of the original file is not stored, but anyway the version that shows up inside the Photos app has decent resolution (better quality than the copy->paste version). My question was where does Photos store this version that appears inside the app (maybe it stores several thumbnails/previews?).

As for using referenced library, it was not the case: Photos was set from day 1 to copy everything to its library on import (the default behavior). I had a problem with my MacBookPro and restored the library from an external HD, after which some of my files were missing: the images still show up with decent resolution inside Photos, but the original files are gone.

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Answer 5

LarryHN

Level 10

106,123 points

Mar 6, 2018 11:45 AM in response to eduardohorta

You can (be VERY careful as any change of any sort can destroy the library) go into the library (right click on the library and show package contents) to the previews folder and copy the photo(s) you want to the desktop and ten import to Photos

LN

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Answer 6

eduardohorta Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 6, 2018 10:45 AM in response to LarryHN

I can't seem to find any Preview folder inside the .photoslibrary folder. Is there a standard path to its location? I'm using Photos v. 3.0 (3251.12.190).

Here's the folder structure up to 3rd level (output of tree -d -L 3)

.

├── Apple\ TV\ Photo\ Cache

├── Attachments

│ ├── %

│ │ ├── %2

│ │ └── %h

│ ├── 0

│ │ ├── 05

│ │ ├── 07

│ │ ├── 0p

│ │ └── 0t

│ ├── 1

│ │ ├── 1c

│ │ └── 1q

│ ├── 2

│ │ ├── 29

│ │ └── 2t

│ ├── 3

│ │ ├── 3d

│ │ ├── 3g

│ │ └── 3u

│ ├── 4

│ │ └── 45

│ ├── 5

│ │ └── 55

│ ├── 6

│ │ └── 6n

│ ├── 7

│ │ ├── 7l

│ │ └── 7o

│ ├── 8

│ │ └── 8p

│ ├── b

│ │ ├── b4

│ │ ├── bd

│ │ ├── bg

│ │ └── bk

│ ├── c

│ │ ├── c5

│ │ ├── cg

│ │ ├── cw

│ │ └── cz

│ ├── d

│ │ ├── da

│ │ ├── di

│ │ └── du

│ ├── f

│ │ └── f9

│ ├── g

│ │ ├── gd

│ │ ├── gg

│ │ ├── gj

│ │ └── gq

│ ├── h

│ │ └── hj

│ ├── i

│ │ ├── ia

│ │ └── if

│ ├── j

│ │ ├── jh

│ │ └── jo

│ ├── k

│ │ ├── kg

│ │ └── kh

│ ├── l

│ │ ├── l+

│ │ ├── l0

│ │ └── lr

│ ├── m

│ │ ├── m0

│ │ ├── mc

│ │ ├── mi

│ │ └── mv

│ ├── n

│ │ ├── n5

│ │ ├── nl

│ │ └── nx

│ ├── o

│ │ ├── od

│ │ └── om

│ ├── p

│ │ ├── p+

│ │ ├── pf

│ │ └── py

│ ├── q

│ │ └── q7

│ ├── r

│ │ ├── r0

│ │ ├── r7

│ │ ├── ra

│ │ └── rt

│ ├── s

│ │ ├── s2

│ │ └── sy

│ ├── t

│ │ ├── tl

│ │ └── ts

│ ├── u

│ │ ├── u%

│ │ └── uj

│ ├── v

│ │ ├── v2

│ │ ├── vf

│ │ ├── vk

│ │ └── vp

│ ├── w

│ │ ├── w0

│ │ ├── w6

│ │ ├── wb

│ │ ├── we

│ │ └── wr

│ ├── x

│ │ └── xk

│ ├── y

│ │ ├── y4

│ │ ├── y6

│ │ ├── yg

│ │ ├── yh

│ │ └── yv

│ └── z

│ ├── z%

│ └── zp

├── Masks

├── Masters

│ ├── 2012

│ │ ├── 01

│ │ ├── 09

│ │ ├── 10

│ │ ├── 11

│ │ └── 12

│ ├── 2013

│ │ ├── 01

│ │ ├── 02

│ │ ├── 03

│ │ ├── 04

│ │ ├── 05

│ │ ├── 06

│ │ ├── 07

│ │ ├── 08

│ │ ├── 09

│ │ ├── 10

│ │ ├── 11

│ │ └── 12

│ ├── 2014

│ │ ├── 01

│ │ ├── 02

│ │ ├── 03

│ │ ├── 04

│ │ ├── 05

│ │ ├── 06

│ │ ├── 07

│ │ ├── 08

│ │ ├── 09

│ │ ├── 10

│ │ ├── 11

│ │ └── 12

│ ├── 2015

│ │ ├── 01

│ │ ├── 02

│ │ ├── 03

│ │ ├── 04

│ │ ├── 05

│ │ ├── 06

│ │ ├── 07

│ │ ├── 08

│ │ ├── 09

│ │ ├── 10

│ │ ├── 11

│ │ └── 12

│ ├── 2016

│ │ ├── 01

│ │ ├── 02

│ │ ├── 03

│ │ ├── 04

│ │ ├── 05

│ │ ├── 06

│ │ ├── 07

│ │ ├── 08

│ │ ├── 09

│ │ ├── 10

│ │ ├── 11

│ │ └── 12

│ └── 2017

│ ├── 01

│ ├── 02

│ ├── 03

│ ├── 04

│ ├── 05

│ ├── 06

│ ├── 07

│ ├── 08

│ ├── 09

│ ├── 10

│ └── 11

├── Plugins

├── database

├── private

│ ├── com.apple.CloudPhotosConfiguration

│ ├── com.apple.MediaLibraryService

│ ├── com.apple.Notes

│ ├── com.apple.PhotoIngestService

│ ├── com.apple.Photos

│ │ ├── exporter

│ │ └── faces

│ ├── com.apple.Safari

│ ├── com.apple.WebKit.Plugin.64

│ ├── com.apple.cloudphotosd

│ ├── com.apple.mail

│ ├── com.apple.mediaanalysisd

│ │ └── MediaAnalysis

│ ├── com.apple.photoanalysisd

│ │ ├── GraphService

│ │ └── VisionService

│ ├── com.apple.photomodel

│ ├── com.apple.photomoments

│ ├── com.apple.systempreferences

│ ├── mbfloagent

│ ├── mbpluginhost

│ └── org.mozilla.firefox

└── resources

├── media

│ ├── face

│ ├── master

│ ├── t

│ └── version

├── moments

├── projects

├── proxies

│ └── derivatives

├── recovery

│ ├── RKAdjustmentData

│ ├── RKAdminData

│ ├── RKAlbum

│ ├── RKAlbumVersion

│ ├── RKAttachment

│ ├── RKBookmark

│ ├── RKCloudResource

│ ├── RKCustomSortOrder

│ ├── RKFace

│ ├── RKFaceCrop

│ ├── RKFaceGroup

│ ├── RKFacePrint

│ ├── RKFolder

│ ├── RKImageMask

│ ├── RKImageProxyState

│ ├── RKImportGroup

│ ├── RKKeyword

│ ├── RKKeywordForVersion

│ ├── RKMaster

│ ├── RKMemory

│ ├── RKMemoryCuratedVersion

│ ├── RKMemoryExtendedCuratedVersion

│ ├── RKMemoryMovieVersion

│ ├── RKMemoryRepresentativeVersion

│ ├── RKModelResource

│ ├── RKPerson

│ ├── RKPersonInvalidMergeCandidatePerson

│ ├── RKPersonMergeCandidatePerson

│ ├── RKPersonRejectedFace

│ ├── RKPersonRejectedFaceNeedingFaceCrop

│ ├── RKPlace

│ ├── RKPlaceForVersion

│ ├── RKSceneInVersion

│ ├── RKVersion

│ ├── RKVersionAnalysisState

│ └── RKVolume

└── segments

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Answer 7

eduardohorta Author

Level 1

8 points

Mar 6, 2018 11:54 AM in response to léonie

The path ~/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/resources/media/version/ really contains only edited photos. I wonder if there is a similar path where all the previews are stored?

Also, PowerPhotos loads my library just fine, but it doesn't show the photo which I'm talking about!

In summary, this is my impression so far: the images which are displayed inside Photos are not (necessarily) pointing to the original file; Photos has access to a high res, EXIF included, version of my photo, which it displays seamlessly while I'm navigating the app. It only complains about the missing file when I try to consolidate it. Moreover, the version which is displayed is not immediately available to other apps which "understand" Photos' folder structure; for instance PowerPhotos has no idea that my missing image exists!

What a mystery!

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