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Error message "Photos cannot find the System Photo Library.photoslibrary. You can open another library and set it as the System Photo Library in Preferences. Button choices of QUIT or OPEN OTHER...
Photos app worked fine last time I used it 2 days ago. How do I restore? Already tried option/command when opening Photos to get REPAIR option, but REPAIR did not work.
MacBook Pro 13″, macOS 10.15
Ok, trick is to find the problem file...
I suspect move these files to the desktop for now...
~/Library/Containers/com.apple.Photos/Data/Library/Preferences/com.apple.Photos.plist
~/Library/Application Support/com.apple.sharedfilelist/com.apple.LSSharedFileList.ApplicationRecentDocuments/com.apple.photos.sfl2
~ tilde indicates hidden Home Library.
Apple hid the Users' Library folders...
Method 1:
Method 2:
4 Select Library from the Go menu (while holding down Option) to access the hidden folder.
~/Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary/private/com.apple.photoanalysisd/GraphService/PhotosGraph/photosgraph.graphdb-wal
Safe Boot from the HD, (holding Shift key down at startup), does the problem occur in Safe Mode?
Safe mode attempts to repair Disks & clears lots of caches, so if Safe Mode works try again in regular boot.
To find out if it's system wide or user specific, try this...
Open System Preferences>Users & Groups, unlock the lock, click on the little plus icon, make a new admin account, log out & into the new account.
Does it work in the new account?
Opened Library folder, but there is no folder in there labeled Pictures under either old or new admin names.
Under the new login name, there is a Pictures/Photos Library.photoslibrary. The old login has a Pictures folder, but it’s empty.
Is this while still logged in as new admin, or go back to original login?
Photos started to open, then got original error message.
After further research, the folder is missing in old login. How do I get it back? Everything I see says reinstall the OS.
Same symptoms / problems when booting in Safe Mode. Safe Mode no help.
Yes, the app opened. Obviously there are no photos to check, but it opened. That’s more than it was doing before. Now what do I do?
Ok got those two moved to desktop.
thanks for your patience. Now what?
Hmmm, the old account, then try Photos again.
I'm guessing a Reinstall is a good thing to try.
OK, here it goes
All done, everything works! Thanks for your help and patience!
Great to hear, thanks for the report! :)
Error message trying to open Photos app
