Before following any of these steps, it's a good idea to create a backup of your photo library, even if you use iCloud Photos. You can use Time Machine, use a third-party backup solution or copy the library to an external drive. By default, your photo library is stored in the Pictures folder within your home folder.
Aug 11, 2017 The Photos app will now attempt to repair your library, and display a bar to indicate its progress. This process can take a really long time depending on the number and size of the photos in your library, so be patient and let it finish. Once the repair process is complete, you’ll be dropped back into your Photos library. When I try to close Photos for OS X, it closes down, but a message appears on my screen that says 'Closing the library' and will stay on overnight. The Photos program in the Dock shows that it is still 'open' and won't close or Quit unless i Force Quit. Mar 21, 2017 The next time you launch the Photos app, it will complain about needing a Library. To add your previous photos, do this. – Right-click (control-click) the Photos Library.photoslibrary-old, and choose 'Show package contents'. Then navigate to Masters year month etc. To find the photos.
Photos is part of the Mac operating system. You can avoid or fix many issues by running the most up-to-date version of macOS.Learn more about updating the software on your Mac.
If you use RAW images in Photos, find out more about the digital camera RAW formats supported by iOS, iPadOS and macOS.
You might see an alert message when you first open Photos or migrate an existing iPhoto or Aperture library. Learn what to do if Photos can’t copy or create a library.
Use the Media Browser to make images from your photo library available in other apps, such as Pages and iMovie. The Media Browser shows only the contents of the Photos library designated as the System Photo Library. If you have more than one Photos library – and the one you're using isn't set as the System Photo Library – the Media Browser won't show its contents.
Follow these steps to designate the current library as the System Photo Library:
If you're experiencing other issues – such as missing or blank photo thumbnails, unexpected behaviour or if Photos won’t open – try to see if it's an issue with your library by following these steps.
Create a new Photos library and see if your issues persist:
To return to your main Photos library, quit Photos. Then open it again while holding the Option key, select your main library, and click Choose Library.
Alternatively, you can open Photos in another user account on your Mac and note whether Photos opens successfully.
If Photos opens with the new library, or in a different user account, it might mean there's an issue with your library. Follow the steps to use the Photos library repair tool on your main Photos library.
Follow these steps to use the Photos library repair tool:
You might be asked to type in your user account password to authorize the library repair.
The repair tool analyzes the the library's database and repairs any inconsistencies it detects. Depending on the size of your library, this might take some time. When the process is completed, Photos opens the library.
If you repair a library that's automatically updated with iCloud Photos, the entire contents of the library re-updates with iCloud after the repair process completes.