Photos not importing in Mac OS sequoia Library

Updated to Sequoia this evening and have run into a problem in Photos. I am able to import photos from a flash drive into Photos but the photos ONLY appear in the import file - not the Photo Library. See screen shots.


I have restarted the computer several times and rebuilt the Photos Library (Comm Option when opening). Nothing works.


Anyone with ideas?

iMac 24″, macOS 15.0

Posted on Sep 29, 2024 6:19 PM

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Posted on Nov 2, 2024 12:52 AM

mine won't even import. I connect my phone and it is visible in the side bar, I can see the photos on it, photo's even recognises which photos were previously imported, but it doesn't matter if I select just one, or multiple photos/videos, the moment I click the button to start importing it, the screen immediately switches to the last import overview and nothing gets downloaded/imported at all, no matter how long I wait. They don't show up there or as part of my library...

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Nov 2, 2024 12:52 AM in response to kchmielu

mine won't even import. I connect my phone and it is visible in the side bar, I can see the photos on it, photo's even recognises which photos were previously imported, but it doesn't matter if I select just one, or multiple photos/videos, the moment I click the button to start importing it, the screen immediately switches to the last import overview and nothing gets downloaded/imported at all, no matter how long I wait. They don't show up there or as part of my library...

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Nov 2, 2024 4:03 AM in response to K2K Koos

Hi all, I found another thread here on the forum and it has something to do the way the drive is formatted. I forgot to mention that my photo library (and other media files) are stored on an external HD to save space on the internal drive. Turns out that the latest versions of Mac OS don't like drive that are formatted in ways that makes them compatible with Windows machines (which in the real world, you may occasionally encounter ), so if the drive is formatted in exFAT for example, it can cause issues like this. I'm now in the process of copying all my files onto another drive, then reformatting the media drive APFS format, copying everything back, reload the library from there and try again...... wish me luck...

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Nov 2, 2024 1:20 AM in response to K2K Koos

Please check the status line in Photos below the "All Photos" view. Does it say "Restoring from iCloud" or similar, as shown in the first screenshot below the OP? Then the Photos Library cannot be updated properly for Sequoia. It may be on an unsupported volume or in a synced folder, like the Desktop or Documents, or contain media that cannot be processed. Check the location of your library, like Matti Haveri recommended (Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support), and check, what the status line is telling you (Check the status of your library in Photos for macOS - Apple Support)


When I am seeing an endless "Restoring" for days for my iCloud Photos Library, I am starting over with a new, empty photos library in my Pictures folder and let the photos download from iCloud to this library. It is the fastest and easiest way to rebuild a Photos Library and to ensure that only items compatible with iCloud and the current version of Photos are in this library. I am keeping a copy of the old library on an external drive, so I can recover items that are missing from the new library, because they might not have been uploaded to iCloud. Also the projects are not syncing with iCloud and I may need to look up missing face names.

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Feb 6, 2025 3:56 AM in response to K2K Koos

That is right. A Photos Library needs to be on a volume formatted MacOS Extended (Journaled) or APFS, or the Photos Library may become damaged, when you use it on an incorrectly formatted drive. See: Move your Photos library to save space on your Mac - Apple Support

It has always been this way, but the previous versions of Photos have not checked the format of the drive and let us store the library in a place, where it has not been save. This has changed in Sequoia. Photos is now checking and preventing us from putting the Photos Library at risk.


To exchange images with friend and family, you could partition your external drive and have also an exFAT partition on the drive, where you can store copies of your photos for sharing.


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Oct 5, 2024 7:22 AM in response to timmilner

timmilner wrote: … the photos ONLY appear in the import file - not the Photo Library.

When you open the Info Window for a picture, do you see a date and time that makes sense? Imports shows pictures arranged by the date of import, but Library shows them in the order they were taken, so if the date is crazy for some reason, they may be in crazy places in the Library.

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Nov 14, 2024 1:07 PM in response to discusduo

Using Mac M1 Sequoia 15.1 and iPhone 15 with OS 18.1. After loading Sequoia 1.5.1, update went through a rebuild of photo libraries both on home drive and external SSD. All seems normal working with the libraries. My Photos library of choice is on an external SSD due to its size. When trying to import new photos from the iPhone, Sequoia sees the photos on the phone and ones already imported. When selecting new photos to import, nothing imports, but system doesn't hang. Tried to import by cable, airdrop, and from downloaded photos within a folder. Yes they download from the iPhone to a folder. All of the above is working as normal with the external photo library on an SSD. Solution was to re-start Photos and re-select Photos on the home drive to test the iPhone import. It worked. Re-selected the external Photos library and tried to import again from the iPhone. It also worked. All photos are downloading from the iPhone and sorted to my external drive as normal. Airdrop is also working importing to my external Photos library again as are photos within a folder on the desktop. The problem from Sequoia 15.1 1Nov install until 14Nov was concerning. Hope this helps someone....

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Dec 29, 2024 5:34 AM in response to timmilner

I have checked with several file formats (exFat, Mac OS Extended, ...), even on internal or external storage source. Double checked security settings (is automator able to access the source).

Every time the same issue --> so it seems to be a bug.


Is there the possibility to register a bug in the backlog of the developers?

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Dec 29, 2024 2:09 PM in response to holger124

Holger124, if you have not done so, you should try working with front-line Apple Support staff to determine why it is not working on your system before reporting a bug (which would likely have more a widespread effect). You can reach them through the "Support" link in the lower left corner of this page.

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Feb 6, 2025 2:49 AM in response to K2K Koos

I can now confirm that the reformatted external drive to APFS format, and storing the library there has solved the issue and will allow importing from phone again. Still something Apple needs to improve. There is no way you can take your external drive to friends or family that own Windows equipment and share photos with them from there.. really , really annoying.

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Feb 6, 2025 6:57 AM in response to K2K Koos

K2K Koos wrote: …Still something Apple needs to improve. There is no way you can take your external drive to friends or family that own Windows equipment and share photos with them from there.. really , really annoying.

Perhaps you have misunderstood. The Photos Library needs to be on an appropriately Mac formatted drive. The Photos Library is a database that can only be interpreted by the Photos app. It's true that a Windows machine won't be able to read such a drive, but Windows couldn't read the database no matter what drive it was on. There's nothing at all lost by not being able to introduce your Mac Photos Library to Windows. But Windows can look at jpgs.


So, when you export picture jpgs from Photos, those will work on any drive that's readable by any machine. Export the pictures, put them on cheap ExFAT flash drive, stash that in your pocket, and you can show them to anyone.


In the same vein, Windows can't read a Mac Notes file either, even though Notes is less picky about drive formats. But if you export a note as PDF, then it can be read anywhere. Mac apps work only on Macs; Windows apps work only on Windows. Nothing new here.

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Photos not importing in Mac OS sequoia Library

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