Cannot access Photos Library, cannot repair Photos Library, cannot find Masters in Photos Library Contents

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Level 1

8 points

Cannot access Photos Library, cannot repair Photos Library, cannot find Masters in Photos Library Contents

Hi all,

For some reason I cannot access my Photos Library. Upon opening the Photos app, a message appears saying "The library could not be opened. The library "Photos Library" could not be recognized."

When I try to use the repair tool, it fails at 5% and the same error message above appears.

I read a post about how to potentially solve this issue by moving all the photos from the Masters folder in the Photos Library to a new folder and creating a new library, but I cannot find the Masters folder in my Photos Library Contents! All I have is an Originals folder with photos. My oldest backup also doesn't include those masters. See below.

I recently reinstalled the Mojave operating system, after I had "upgraded" to Catalina, because I am a Pro Tools user (Catalina's 64bit exclusivity causes compatibility issues with Pro Tools). Not sure if that's important but just thought I should mention it.

Somebody please help...

Posted on May 23, 2020 2:46 PM

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Answer 1

Top-ranking reply

Rysz

Level 8

44,421 points

May 24, 2020 9:15 AM in response to mark00sh

Have a suggestion. I have never tried doing this with a Catalina-to-Mojave transfer and have no easy way to test, so I can’t guarantee it will work. I know it works with Catalina-to-Catalina transfer. MAKE A BACKUP OF THE CURRENT LIBRARY FIRST.

Launch Photos app with the Option key pressed down;
On the dialogue that appears, click on Create New;
On the next screen add a suffix to the new Photos Library name, so you can easily tell it apart from other libraries;
Drag the “Originals” folder from the current library package onto the empty screen of the newly-created library.

Images should start appearing in the Photos window. If there are issues with any individual files, you’ll get a “Cannot Import x Items” list.

Easier than manually dragging and testing one item at a time...

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Answer 2

Rysz

Level 8

44,421 points

May 23, 2020 2:59 PM in response to mark00sh

Originals = Masters.

When you opened your photos library in Catalina, the library was converted to Photos v. 5.0 format. That’s why you can’t now open it with the Photos version that is installed with Mojave.

Make a backup of the current library, then retrieve the most-recent library backup that was made under Mojave. You’ll still need to find and transfer whatever new images were added since that backup was made.

Do you have iCloud Photos Library enabled? It would make going back much easier...

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Answer 3

Rysz

Level 8

44,421 points

May 24, 2020 8:41 AM in response to mark00sh

How about iCloud Photos Library being enabled?

Other than a manual transfer, it might be worth your time to check out the PowerPhotos app. It’s designed to manage multiple libraries and to merge libraries. Usually, it’s merging an older library with a newer one, but it might work in reverse, too. Please contact the developer to confirm - it’s a $30 app.

https://www.fatcatsoftware.com/powerphotos/

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