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Help! I cannot open old photos library from external hard drive (backup). I am attempting to open from the external hard drive and onto my macbook pro 2018 operating on el Capitan. Here is a screenshot of the error. Unfortunately, this is my only attempt to recover my wedding photos from just 6 years ago...
MacBook Pro
It looks like you did not recover the Photos Library from your backup but an old version of the Photos.app.Your screenshot is showing that you have selected a Photos.app, that is sitting on your Desktop. The icon of the Photos.app is a circle of colors, looking like a flower.
If you moved the app from your backup drive to the Desktop, it will not work. The Photos.app is a part of the system and you can only run the version of Photos, that is installed by the current system in your Applications folder.
The Photos.app does not contain your photos. You have to find the Photos Library on your backup volume. The icon of the Photos Library is a fan of three pictures. Look in the backup of your Pictures folder for the Photos Library.
If you find a Photos Library library on your backup volume, launch the Photos.app by holding down the options key ⌥ and clicking the Photos.app in the Applications folder.
When the library chooser appears, select the recovered Photos Library.
It looks like you did not recover the Photos Library from your backup but an old version of the Photos.app.Your screenshot is showing that you have selected a Photos.app, that is sitting on your Desktop. The icon of the Photos.app is a circle of colors, looking like a flower.
If you moved the app from your backup drive to the Desktop, it will not work. The Photos.app is a part of the system and you can only run the version of Photos, that is installed by the current system in your Applications folder.
The Photos.app does not contain your photos. You have to find the Photos Library on your backup volume. The icon of the Photos Library is a fan of three pictures. Look in the backup of your Pictures folder for the Photos Library.
If you find a Photos Library library on your backup volume, launch the Photos.app by holding down the options key ⌥ and clicking the Photos.app in the Applications folder.
When the library chooser appears, select the recovered Photos Library.
You say you're trying to open an old Library on the external drive, but the error message relates to opening the Photos app. Are you trying to open a Photos app on the external drive?
Tell us what files you're trying to open on the external drive, how it is formatted and how it's connected to the MB Pro.
I suggest that before you do anything else you duplicate the external drive to create a further backup in case the original gets damaged while you're working on it.
Stephen
Cannot open old photos library from external hard drive (backup)
