Unable to export photos on 2021 Macbook

I edit my photos in the Photo app and wish to move the edited version to my desktop for uploading online. It usually works fine, but lately I can't move any photos out of Photo--the progress indicator shows the export stops at 16% every time. I have plenty of hard drive space and have restarted my machine and run a repair on my Photos app to no avail.

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 14.7

Posted on Oct 3, 2025 3:52 PM

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Posted on Oct 8, 2025 10:30 AM

As a test: Create a new library and import some images into it. See if the problem is repeated there/ If it is then we know the issue is systemic, if it's not then we know the issue is local to that library.


Do you have an up-to-date back up?

8 replies

Oct 7, 2025 1:20 PM in response to Yer_Man

No error messages. The library is stored on the internal hd. I can view the images fine in Photos.


Drag-and-drop exporting just randomly started working again yesterday, but it's quit again today. When I try to restart Photos lately, it asks me if I want to interrupt the exports (which aren't actually progressing); then I usually have to force quit.

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Unable to export photos on 2021 Macbook

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