Photos library compatibility and silent upgrade

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Level 1

8 points

Photos library compatibility and silent upgrade

Hi there, I have a Photos library on external drive that I manage using my iMac (Mojave).

While travelling and away from the iMac I needed to open the library, so I tried with my Macbook Pro (Catalina). As soon as the app started it suddenly began some kind of conversion on the Photos library without asking for any confirmation or permission. I immediately closed the Photos app as I didn't want any conversion to happen.

However once back home I discover that the library is somehow not compatible with the Mojave version of Photos anymore!

Not concerned about the data, I know the files can be retrieved in many ways like copying from within the library folders or iCloud sync (which I don't want to use), but I have ~200GB of data with lots of metadata in albums, events, ... which of course I don't want to rebuild manually.

This is so frustrating, is there any way to recover the library and retain the metadata?

Posted on Aug 20, 2021 1:02 AM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

TonyCollinet

Level 7

23,954 points

Aug 20, 2021 4:42 AM in response to morekid

Hopefully you have a backup - if not, learn from this, and set up a robust backup process (Timemachine is good)

Your only option at this point is to allow your macbook to upgrade the library, then downgrade it again using a sync with iCloud as described here. You'll need to pay for a month of enough space to store your whole library - if you don't already:

https://discussions.apple.com/docs/DOC-250000297

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Answer 2

morekid Author

Level 1

8 points

Aug 20, 2021 6:43 AM in response to TonyCollinet

Thanks, if the iCloud sync will retain the albums info then this is definitely a viable option.

In the meantime I've solved the issue by retrieving the latest time machine backup I had for the library (as you also suggest) and rebuild the most recent albums manually in there, copying the files from the updated library to the backup one. Not fun but it works.

A few gotchas for anyone ending up here in search of a solution:

The folder structure of the Catalina library is different from the one on Mojave, it is simply numbered with no dates.
The amount of media items visible in the Photos app don't necessarily match the files in the library folders. Probably due to live photos and similar smarter media.
When opening a new library with Photos, remember to set "Use as System Photo Library" in the prefs, this is going to make the library available for syncing photos on your iPhone via iTunes, otherwise the option for syncing photos won't be there at all.

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Photos library compatibility and silent upgrade

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