Photos not syncing from new MacBook Pro to iPhone

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Photos not syncing from new MacBook Pro to iPhone

I am using all up-to-date software (iPhone 11.2.6; MacBook Pro 10.13.3 High Sierra) but photos are no longer syncing from my MacBook to my iPhone via iTunes. I am repeating a sequence that's worked in the past and is exactly as described in Apple Support -- connect phone, click on phone icon on laptop's iTunes, see the folder I want and select it, click Sync, but the photos do no longer come across to Photos on the phone. I like to keep a selected set of photos on my phone. What do I need to do to get them there? Is this a result of upgrading my iPhone recently??? Any ideas what's going on and how to fix or get around it?

(Note: I am not trying to do any of this via iCloud nor do I wish to.)

Thanks for any help anyone can provide.

MacBook Pro with Retina display, macOS High Sierra (10.13.3)

Posted on Mar 8, 2018 11:07 AM

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Answer 1

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Demo

Level 10

166,500 points

Mar 8, 2018 3:01 PM in response to MacRutchik

If you were having a storage space issue, you should get a message to that effect, so I don’t think that’s it. The fact that the videos copy over but the photos don’t, indicates to me that there is a photo or photos creating problems, but that’s just my best guess.

Can you try creating another folder with just the photos in it and try syncing that one? I assume that you are trying to keep these all in the same folder, but if that fails, we can probably safely assume that there is a photo or photos causing the issue and you would have to sort that out another way,

Have you been able to sync this folder of photos before? Are you syncing from a master pictures folder rather than using iPhoto or the Photos app on the Mac? I don’t know if that will tell us anything, I’m just curious right now.

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Answer 2

Demo

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166,500 points

Mar 8, 2018 2:24 PM in response to MacRutchik

Have you tried selecting another folder of photos to see if those will sync? Exactly what happens when you go through all of those syncing steps? Do you see anything in the iTunes progress bar at the top of the screen? Does it say Copying photos?

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Answer 3

MacRutchik Author

Level 1

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Mar 8, 2018 2:34 PM in response to Demo

Thanks very much, Demo...ALMOST there! If I point to a different folder, it works. When I point back to folder I want, I do see it copying now (I didn't before), but it doesn't create an "album" (which it did do when I pointed to a different folder. Nothing I can see that's very different between the two folders. Bizarrely enough, the videos from the folder I want did copy over, but not the photos!

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Answer 4

MacRutchik Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 8, 2018 3:08 PM in response to Demo

Thanks for your help, Demo. I suspect you're right -- that there's a picture it doesn't like. (And, yes, there is sufficient storage available.) I'll try some triage with the pix to see if I can isolate the problem.

I was able to sync this photo previously, but two things are different. I renamed the folder and am pointing to the newly renamed on, of course. And added some photos. I'll let you know if I can isolate the problem.

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Answer 5

MacRutchik Author

Level 1

9 points

Mar 8, 2018 3:26 PM in response to Demo

Well, that finally did it. In the end, there wasn't any picture clogging up the works. But I set up a new folder for the pictures I wanted to copy to the phone, moved a sub-set of the original folder I'd put them in to a new folder and voila! I now have everything in the new folder. Maybe it didn't like the name of the folder (Favorites to iPhone; I named the new one "_Favorites"). Who knows! It's silly how much time I've spent on this today, but, in the end, it looks like I've got a way of syncing the photos on my computer that I want on my phone.

Thanks for your help, it's much appreciated!

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