error when trying to import jpgs to photo library

Question

error when trying to import jpgs to photo library

A few years ago I brought my Mac in for service and foolishly didn't back everything up, thinking that the iCloud backup would be fine. When I got the machine back, everything was on iCloud EXCEPT all my photos from before 2012 were missing. I have an old Time Capsule which I haven't been using for many years, but it was regularly backing things up until around 2012 or so, so I plugged it in and found the photos and dragged them onto the desktop of my Mac mini (M1). But when I try to import them to the Photo library, I get the message "This item cannot be added to your Photo library because it may be in an unrecognizable file format or the file may not contain valid data." I tried dragging them into the library and also using the Import function.

The photos are all jpgs. I tried many of them from as far back as 2001 and as recent as 2012, and they all produce the same error. I can open them using Preview just fine.

A few other bits of detail: the older photos are from a digital camera, the later ones are from iPhones (probably like iPhone 6 or whatever was current in 2011 and 2012). When I try to rotate the photos in Preview, it tells me the photos are "locked" and I can't change them.

Any thoughts?

Mac mini

Posted on Apr 17, 2025 8:19 AM

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Answer 1

Apr 17, 2025 10:43 AM in response to milogoestocollege

If you can load a picture in Preview, can you Export it? You could export the picture as jpg, as heic, or as TIFF, and see if that can be loaded into Photos. Once you have a method that works, we might have an idea of a batch process. How many pictures are there?

Can you view them in QuickLook in Finder? Just hit the spacebar? If QuickLook works, then you could select a bunch, right-click for the menu, choose Quick Actions, and Convert Image.

Be sure you have backups before possibly corrupting the pictures!

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Answer 2

Apr 18, 2025 11:01 AM in response to milogoestocollege

If you don't mind the expense, I and others here use GraphicConverter ($40) for this sort of thing. This app has been useful since, maybe, 1990, and it gets better all the time. As its name implies, it started out as a way to convert picture formats-- it does a lot more, now, including being a full featured editor. I use it about every day. GraphicConverter has a browser format, where you can filter and choose a bunch of pictures, and a Convert & Modify command that will produce whatever format you need. It can also batch modify pictures in multiple ways.

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Answer 3

Apr 18, 2025 7:18 AM in response to Richard.Taylor

Some success here! I was able to export a photo from Preview into JPEG and then drag the JPEG into the Photos library, so that works.

I also am able to view them in QuickLook, but when I tried to Convert Image to JPEG I get a popup that says, "The input of the shortcut could not be processed." I also get a popup saying that it's estimating the amount of time remaining, but it just sits there estimating until I click okay on the error popup, then the estimating window goes away.

I then opened a batch of five photos in Preview and selected them all and clicked export, and they dutifully became JPEGS and I was able to then move them into the Photo library. So that is awesome, and at least I have a plan for getting them all over, even though, as you inferred, it is going to be a long process because there are hundreds of photos and they're all separated into separate folders (based on the date they were added to the original iPhoto library, I think).

If you have other thoughts on batching to save time, I would appreciate it, but in the meanwhile, thank you!

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