my photo "library could not be opened"
Suddenly my photo library could not be opened. I see some answers to the question but they are many years old. So's my Mac - it's from 2015. Can you help?
MacBook Air 13″, macOS 12.6
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Well, your OS is newer, at least! First, let's get this out of the way: How is your library stored? Is it on an external drive? If so, it might be the formatting of the drive. To get full functionality (and to avoid damaging the Photos Library) an external drive must be formatted in either APFS format or Mac OS Extended (Journaled) format. Additionally, the drive can not have had Time Machine on it since it was formatted.
Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support
So, if it's not the format of the drive, the first things to try are these:
- Restart the computer (of course)
- Rebuild your Photos Library--close Photos and re-launch by option-command-clicking the app icon.
- Make a new user and see if the same problem recurs with it
- 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.
- Start in Safe Mode (different for different computers) This bypasses certain potentially disruptive processes.
Start up your Mac in safe mode - Apple Support
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 is also diagnostic.
Let us know what happens...