Videos Corrupted in Photos.app on macOS Mojave 10.14

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Videos Corrupted in Photos.app on macOS Mojave 10.14

I just discovered that dozens of videos in my Photos Library seem to be corrupted. I'm running macOS Mojave 10.14 and Photos.app Version 4.0 (3401.5.160).

When I double-click on certain videos in my Library, this error message comes up:

However, the Photo Library is clearly retaining some data on the video, including its thumbnail and file properties:

When I try to copy the video onto my desktop, I get this error message:

I did an Option+Command+Open to Repair the Photo Library but that didn't fix anything.

I also searched "On My Mac" via Spotlight for several of the file names, but the corrupted files didn't appear.

Any idea what Photos.app did to my videos?

iMac with Retina 5K display, macOS Mojave (10.14)

Posted on Oct 8, 2018 12:55 AM

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Answer 1

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Fusion Factor Author

Level 2

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Oct 8, 2018 11:11 AM in response to Old Toad

Update: As it turns out, the videos that were missing are sitting in my Google Photos Trash Bin!!! Appalling, I had no idea Google Backup was moving files to trash without my permission, and removing the originals from the Photo Library while it was at it! I won't be using Google Backup & Sync going forward, and instead just using the Google Photos app on my phone to backup as necessary.

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Answer 2

léonie

Level 10

200,573 points

Oct 8, 2018 3:24 AM in response to Fusion Factor

Did you try to export the edited version of the video or the original? Try to export the video with "File > Export > Export unmodified original", if you have not done so: This will tell you, if Photos can find the original video at all. Then try to play the video in QUickTIme Player.

Where is your Photos Library stored? Photos has problems to play videos, if the Photos Library is on an external drive with an unsupported file system format. For example, videos may not play, if the format of the drive with the library is case sensitive, or if the drive has been used by Time Machine. Could an external drive be the problem?

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Answer 3

léonie

Level 10

200,573 points

Oct 8, 2018 7:59 AM in response to Fusion Factor

Look directly in the library for the missing videos. If you are not using iCloud Photo Library, the videos should be inside the Masters folder of your Photos Library.

Select your Photos Library in the Finder.
Ctrl-click or right-click it.
You will see a contextual menu pop up. Select "Show Package Contents".
In the Finder window, that will open, select and open the folder Masters.
Now enter the key combination ⌘F to start a search.
Set the search rule to "Kind is Film (or Movie)" and the search scope to "Masters".

This should list all videos in your library. Select them and copy them out of the library. Then test them in QuickTime player.

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Answer 4

léonie

Level 10

200,573 points

Oct 8, 2018 8:37 AM in response to Fusion Factor

Have you ever used iCloud Photo Library? iCloud may remove the high resolution original to save storage. Then we have to take care to download all items from iCloud before disabling it.

Another reason for a video not playing may be missing resource forks. QuickTime videos may have been saved without the high resolution video component embedded and will only play, if you try to play them on the computer, where the video resource is still stored.

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Answer 5

Old Toad

Level 10

215,502 points

Oct 8, 2018 10:49 AM in response to Fusion Factor

I hope that the Google backup isn't your only backup of your library. That's because the Google servers are not compatible with the eco-structure of a Photos library with its hard links, etc. and cannot restore a working library. You'll be able to restore the master image files but not a working library.

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Answer 6

Old Toad

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Oct 8, 2018 10:42 AM in response to Fusion Factor

Have you ever run any "cleaning" or "optimizing" apps on your Mac or library?

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Answer 7

Fusion Factor Author

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229 points

Oct 8, 2018 7:43 AM in response to léonie

Hi Léonie, thanks for the interesting ideas.

File > Export > Export unmodified original results in the same error: "This file xxxxxx.MOV couldn't be opened because there is no such file"
My Photos Library is stored at \Users\Name\Photos on my Macintosh HD, so there's no external drive causing the issue here

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Answer 8

Fusion Factor Author

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Oct 8, 2018 8:25 AM in response to léonie

This search yields results for the functioning videos in my library, but the corrupted ones mentioned above are not found.

I'm not sure where the files could have gone. I have never altered the Photos Library package, and have been building this Library since 2010.

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Answer 9

Fusion Factor Author

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229 points

Oct 8, 2018 8:42 AM in response to léonie

All great suggestions again. However I’ve never used iCloud Photos — I’ve always preferred the full resolution version stored directly to the computer and synced back to my iPhone via iTunes. And I doubt it’s a resource issue, as videos of the exact same file type / properties are working just fine.

I’m concerned the files may be lost forever, as even my backup drive mirrors what the Library has saved, which in this case is missing files. ☹

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Answer 10

Fusion Factor Author

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229 points

Oct 8, 2018 10:44 AM in response to Old Toad

No cleaning / optimizing apps.

The only thing that interacts with my Photo Library is Google Backup & Sync, but that should just be a mirror-image copy operation without tampering any files.

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