Missing file in Photos

I have the same problem, only sometimes when I go to find that missing photo and point it to the correct folder on my external drive, it just doesn't work. The thumbnail is still blank.

Having migrated from Aperture recently Im pretty darn annoyed at Photos.

Why can't then just have a lot of the same functionality the aperture had? - specifically 'reconnect files'? Tuck it away under advanced tools or something.. I have about 2TB of phots and I simply can't fix the thousands that are not connecting properly.

Nightmare

There is no way that Photos is intended as a replacement for Aperture. You don't replace a $80 app with a freebie. Where Photos is weakest is exactly at the point of managing referenced libraries. Frankly, using Photos for a referenced library is simply storing up issues for the future.

My best advice: use a different, more powerful app to manage your photographs. There are plenty out there.

Well, to be fair, Photos WAS the replacement for Aperture wasn't it? Whether we liked it or not... (we didn't).

So.. expecting them to keep some of the useful functionality which they already coded and included in a different package doesn't seem entirely unreasonable.

As for alternatives, I suppose my only choice is Lightroom isn't it? Are there any others you would recommend?

Well, to be fair, Photos WAS the replacement for Aperture wasn't it?

No it wasn't. It was a replacement for iPhoto. As I said, you don't replace an $80 app with a freebie. Apple simply got out of the market for pro- or serious hobbyist photo software. Just because Photos is now Apple's only photo manager doesn't mean it's a replacement for the far more capable one. At the time Photos was released I got marketing bumf as an iPhoto user extolling the virtues of Photos and how it was an enhancement on iPhoto. However, the material I received as an Aperture user was much more along the lines of 'sorry, but this is what we have now...' Even the most recent material from Apple, at the launch of Catalina tells you how to migrate to Photos but, tellingly, also suggests Lightroom as an alternative. Imagine that? Apple suggesting Adobe's app.

No Lightroom is not your only choice but it is the one most people end up with. It's very accessible, is now much more powerful than Aperture and there is a wealth of supporting websites and videos to help you learn it all over the web. Check out YouTube, for instance.

Other alternatives, depending on your usage and requirements:

CaptureOne is an excellent raw developer, but a bit weak on the library side.

OnOne Photo Raw had a few rough edges but is getting there. It is a mixture of file browser/library application

Mylio is an excellent app, especially if you have multiple devices, and has a very good library

PhotoSupreme and NeoFinder are both essentially cataloguing tools, and you'd need an editor in association with them.

Luminar is getting a lot of hype these days. I'm not sure it deserves the attention it gets. It's library element is poor

DxO PhotoLab is an excellent raw developer. Makes no promises as Library tool.

There are others. All have a trial period, so check them out.

The external hard drive is in the format it should work with Photos no problem, at least it was working fine with Mojave.

What format is that?

SpiceWeasel wrote:

Well, to be fair, Photos WAS the replacement for Aperture wasn't it?

No. Photos replaced iPhoto.

I'm very pleased that worked for you. Sadly it does nothing for me. :/

Just.. nothing. Like nothing happens. Thumbnail/preview just stays blank.

Thanks for the suggestions, I had heard of two or three of them but you mentioned some new ones there so I'll start doing some research.