Summary: Your Photo Library won’t open, freezes, the pictures have turned corrupt, or you’re facing other problems with your Photos Library. Learn how to repair corrupt Photo Library on Mac. Check out the best software that quickly repairs corrupted Photo Library pictures and brings them back to their original form.
‘My Photos Library is stuck.’
‘I can’t open photos on my Mac.’
‘I can’t backup or import files from Photo Library.’
‘Photos Library pictures are corrupted’
These are some of the common complaints by Photos app users. What could be a more terrible sight than to find that your Photos Library pictures on Mac are inaccessible, missing, shows Photo Library error code 36, or thumbnails as grey triangle, etc.? You have stored thousands of pictures in your library over the time. You captured beautiful moments with your loved ones and the loss of those precious moments is shattering.
But wait. Don’t be so disheartened.
You can recover your treasured photos. There are effective solutions to repair Photo Library on Mac and the images that have turned corrupt. But before getting on to the repair approaches, make sure you backup your library even if you use iCloud Photo Library. You can use Time Machine or other external drives for the purpose.
Contents
Apple’s built-in Photo Library Repair tool and rebuild utility can fix issues with the Photo Library. However, the repair and rebuild tools don’t fix severely corrupt photos. The easy and established way to repair your corrupt photos in Photo Library is to employ a professional Photo Repair software that supports macOS.
If you are an organized person who regularly updates the backup, then recover lost photos from Time Machine.
Approach 1: Recover photos from Time Machine backup
Approach 2: Repair corrupted photos of Photo Library
Approach 3: Update your macOS
Approach 4: Repair Photos App with Disk Utility
Approach 5: Recover with Apple Photos Library Repair tool
Approach 6: Rebuild Photos Library
You can recover missing or corrupt photos from Photo Library using Time Machine back-up. This resolves the issue only if you have recently updated your backup.
a. Connect Time Machine backup drive to your Mac.
b. Click Time Machine in the Dock.
c. Select the Time Machine backup date that you want to restore. Navigate to the backup of your photo library, and select it. Click Restore. The process may take time depending on the size of your Photo Library.
d. Next open Photos app, you should see all your pictures.
| Tip- Tip: Never store your Photos Library on a network share. Your app will run poorly. It can also lead to data corruption and photos loss. |
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Your photos in the Photo Library might be corrupt or broken but you do not have any clue about the kind of corruption in the file. It is advisable to choose an advanced photo repair software capable of repairing all kinds corruption like header, JPEG data, invalid file structure, or unknown JPEG marker, etc. in one go.
One such software which efficiently repairs all kinds of corruption is Stellar Repair for Photo for Mac. The photo repair tool is the preferred application by Mac users given its high success rate and hassle-free repair process.
a. Run Stellar Repair for Photo on Mac.
b.Select Add File.Add complete Photo Library folder or only the selected files you want to repair.
c.Click on
d.After the repair process ends, Preview the repaired photo before saving. Next, click on Save Repaired Files.
Since Photos App is part of macOS, many issues related to the app can be resolved by updating the macOS.
Now try to access your Photos Library again.
Disk Utility feature on Mac can fix issues such as, ‘Photos app quits unexpectedly’, ‘a file is corrupted’, or ‘a volume not working properly’.
Remember, Disk Utility doesn’t detect or repair all problems in the disk. It’s kind of initial checker and first aid for your disk.
a. Open the Disk Utility app on your Mac.
b. Choose View > Show All Devices.
c. Select a disk or volume, then click the First Aid button.
d. Click Run to initiate the repair process. Next, click Continue.
If Disk Utility doesn’t fix your Photos Library problem, or you get a message that the First Aid process failed, back up your data and move to the next method to repair corrupt Photos Library.
Apple’s Photos Library repair tool detects any discrepancy in the library’s database and repairs the same. Depending on the number and size of your library photos, and the network speed, the process might take some time. For instance, a 150GB photo library may take about 24 hours. So you need to be patient to get it finished. Although a long shot but it’s worth a try. When the process completes, you can access your photos in the Photo Library.
Note: Many Apple users complained that the Photo Library Repair tool just worked temporarily for them as the images revert to their original corrupt state. For some users, it did not work at all. It is advisable that before repairing the damaged Photo Library, ensure you are using the updated version of macOS.
a. Close Photos by selecting Photos > Quit Photos.
b. Press Option-Command and double-click the Photos icon in the Applications folder or in the Dock.
c. Repair Library window opens. Click Repair. You will see the progress bar as the process begins.
Note: After the Photo Library repair process finishes, the images in the iCloud Photo Library are automatically updated, if you have synced Photos Library with iCloud. Also, using the Apple Photo Library Repair Tool might stop the photos sync with iCloud. You can check the same by clicking on the Photos > Preferences > iCloud once the repair process is completed.
It is possible that Photos app has attempted to repair but stopped in the middle, or after the repair your Photo Library problem remains. Although it’s difficult to gauge the definite reason in such cases, you can check out some probable causes and their remedies:
If you are using older iPhoto app on your Mac, try its Photos Library First Aid tool. It lets you repair as well as rebuild the photos library database. The tool provides the below 4 options and only 1 option can be selected at a time. Choose any as per your problem case:
a. Close Photos app by selecting Photos > Quit Photos.
b.Open the Applications folder. Find iPhoto app. Now hold down the Option and Command keyand click on iPhotos app. Continue holding the keys until iPhoto loads and you see the dialog box of Photo Library First Aid.
c.Check in Repair Permissions option. You can choose the other option, depending on the issue you’re facing
d. Click Repair.
Each of the repair and rebuild process will take different amount of time. Rebuilding thumbnails and database will take longer than repair process. Once the process completes, your iPhoto Library should work smoothly.
Occasional hiccups with Photo Library app is not new for Mac users. Missing or corrupt images, errors, failed imports, Photos app crash, system hang issue on opening Photos app etc., are common problems. These problems indicate that your Photos app is corrupt and needs repair or rebuild. Use the above methods to repair photos app on Mac. For corrupt photos in the Photos app or iPhoto, get fast, and hassle-free optimum repair software, Stellar Repair for Photo. You can also take free trial of the software. It lets you preview the repaired pictures from Photos app.
Sumona is a tech blogger, avid photographer, & technogeek with vast experience in writing about media file recovery tips and tutorials. She has over 10 years of experience in media file recovery/media file repair technology. She is passionate about Photography, Creative Designing, Music, and Exploring lesser-known destinations.
I have a Photos Library saved on an external drive. I now understood that I should not have done that. My complete Photos library is broken and repairing will go over 100%, it just keeps on running. Would this software maybe be able to fix it? Then I’m happy to download and pay 🙂
Hi Ingrid,
Yes, Stellar Photo Recovery can recover photos and videos from external drive.