imported photos won't upload to iCloud

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Level 1

35 points

imported photos won't upload to iCloud

I imported png images to Photos on my MacBook Pro. ( macOS 10.15.7). they won't upload to the cloud. I imported into an existing album. I though I did something wrong , so I went back and tried again and figured it would flag duplicates. but it did not. now I have a set In 'all photos' and a duplicate set in the specific album. I'm connected to iCloud. I can log in. I have rebooted in safe mode. in photos it says updating ( but it is not ). it said updating last night. [ ivy, if I take a photo on my iPhone, it updates to the cloud fine, but it's not showing up on my Mac. if used to work just fine??]

Help, !!

I want together my imported photos into the cloud, so they will sync to my iPhone 11pro

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 10.15

Posted on Jun 26, 2022 10:55 AM

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Answer 1

wheel64 Author

Level 1

35 points

Jun 26, 2022 02:35 PM in response to wheel64

thank you for the suggestions. here are my comments:

Yes there are duplicates. I see two copies of the same photo in the "all photos". see attached screen shot of 'photos'.
The photo's did not sync all day Saturday and overnight sunday morning. it sometime says "updating " at the bottom, and sometimes not. Currently at 5 pm it says updating, but when i check icloud, I don't see anything.
I did not try the 'Safe mode " boot until sunday afternoon.
smart album with "photos not uploaded" is empty.
I have taken a couple photos from my iphone. they are updated to icloud just fine, but don't show up on my laptop.
my photo library is in the default location in the Picture folder.

i'm open for other suggestions. I will let it set overnight, and I can't work on it again until monday night.

thank you for these suggestions.

screen capture: All photos. note the duplicate images. !!

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Answer 2

Jun 26, 2022 11:30 AM in response to wheel64

Hi

First - the photos in all photos and the album are not duplicates, they are the same ones. An album is effectivley just a list of items to show from all photos.

Now - it sounds like photos is not syncing in either direction. I suspect going to safe mode has triggered a full re-sync. What does the sync status say at the bottom of the all photos view?

Where is your library stored - if on an external drive, what is the format?

Create a smart album with the condition "photo - is unable to upload to iCloud" Does it show anything?

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Answer 3

Jun 27, 2022 01:08 AM in response to wheel64

Agreed - if you have two of the same image showing in all photos, then they are duplicates. This will happen unless the photos/files you are importing are identical in every respect (file type, size, metadata etc). Only Identical files are recognised as duplicates and not imported a second time.

Next - if it says updating (or anything other than "updated just now"), the sync is ongoing.

It is an extremely slow process, and can appear to stop for long periods while your local library is compared with the iCloud library.

It will also be restarted from the beginning if you turn off icloud and turn it on again (or sign in/out of your apple ID, or move the library, or change the system library etc.) so don't do this.

For reference, my 50Gb 5000 item library took a full 48 hours. How large is your library?

It also may not sync if you are connected to a phone hotspot, or if you are running third party security software. Disable or better uninstall this if you are. It may also stop if there are items in your library unable to upload to iCloud (hence the smart album - but you seem to be OK there)

Leave your mac on 24/7 connected to power and with the photos app open.

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Answer 4

léonie

Level 10

199,927 points

Jun 27, 2022 02:00 AM in response to wheel64

Have you compared the Info of the apparent duplicates in "All Photos" ? Are they having the same filenames, the same dimensions in width &height, the same file type (Heic, JPEG, etc)? Or are some of the attributes different? If there s a difference, what is different?

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imported photos won't upload to iCloud

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