Photos app keeps crashing on desktop

Can you tell us a bit more?

• Are you indeed using macOS 12 Monterey?
• Are you using iCloud Photos to synchronize your devices? If so
• …Do you have “Optimize Storage” checked in Photos’ Settings
• …Do you have more than 10% free storage on your iCloud account?
• Where does your Mac's Photos Library reside-- in the Pictures folder of your internal drive, or on an external drive? or on a network? on iCloud drive? A Library must be on an APFS format or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) formatted drive connected directly to the Mac. It can't be on a drive that is networked, clouded, NASed, etc. 
• What is your storage on this Mac? At System Settings>General>iStorage, what does yours say? Do you have more than 10% free storage on your Mac?
• Has this problem always existed, or did it just start? Can you think of anything that changed that might affect your device?

Photos crashes on me every once in a while, but it's not really interfering. But if it were happening often, I'd try these steps:

• Restart the computer (of course)
• Re-start in Safe Mode. This bypasses certain potentially disruptive processes, and it often helps. Safe Mode is different for different computers, so see this: 

           Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support 

• Use another library if you have one, or make a small test Library with a few pictures in it and see if the same thing happens. You can create a new Library by closing Photos and then option-clicking on the Photos icon.
• Make a new user and see if the same problem recurs with it.  This is a bit harder, because a new user can't access a different user's stuff. You would need to move your Library out of your own user's folder up to the general "Users" folder. 
• Rebuild your Photos Library--close Photos and re-launch by option-command-clicking the app icon. You didn't say if you use iCloud Photos. If so, it’s possible that this will cause a re-sync that lasts long enough to make you nervous.

The idea is to find out if the problem is with the Library, with your account, or with caches and login items, and stuff like that. One of these steps may fix the problem, but their failure to work also helps figure out what's happening.

Let us know what happens…

When you get around to looking for a new Mac consider the following: a 10 Core Mac Mini M4 with 16 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD ($1084) with a 32" LG 4k monitor ($331) from Amazon.com)  is $1415 which is $541 less than a similarly configured new 24" iMac ($1956)  re 07/2025. Keep your keyboard and mouse from your current Mac for use with the Mini. 

I got the above Mini with a 32" LG 4K monitor w/speakers for only $60 more than the 27" (didn't know the Mini had a speaker).  There are many monitors available in 27" size on up for $100 to $500 depending on what features you want.  The monitor prices are before tariffs.

Just some food for thought.

ceramix wrote: … have a backup in iCloud.

Please keep in mind that iCloud Photos is not a full backup of Photos. iCloud's purpose is to make your pictures available on your other devices, not to act as a backup! iCloud copies mistakes as quickly as it copies pictures. In fact, most mistakes can be copied more quickly-- an instruction to delete a precious picture is faster than adding a new photo! So you need an external hard drive to use Time Machine as a true backup.

Just so you're aware of the size differences between the 32" LG and an 27" iMac:

The 32" screen is 2 ½ wider and it's base is 10" wider than an iMac.

If you'd like the bigger screen there are other monitors that have smaller bases. I really like the larger real estate of the 32".

That's great! I always try a safe-start before I panic.