Apple Photos Library - 200K Photos Gone

[purdnost]

I’ve been importing thousands of photos and videos into a new Photos library on my HDD. Due to slowness, I decided to move the library to a SSD.

I stopped the transfer of any media, then attempted to eject the HDD. It wouldn’t eject, so I force ejected it through macOS. I plugged it back in and ran a disk utility first aid repair on the disk to see if that would help with the slowness.

When I opened up the library, it contained only about 20K photos (that I had imported that morning), and the Originals folder was empty (0 KB).

Strangely, the library was referencing the original files at the source of the imports.

So, I am running a library repair, which is currently in th restoring phase. I’m hoping this will recover everything to the originals folder, but I’m not sure.

When I look at the HDD properties, I can see data is being written, and my only concern there is that this could potentially be overwriting data that I would otherwise be recovering using data recovery software.

Should I let the recovery finish in hopes that my library will be restored, or is it likely that I will need to do a data recovery?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Well, at this point you should certainly let recovery finish. And while you’re waiting, decide on & implement a backup strategy to avoid this in the future.

 

[purdnost]

Well, at this point you should certainly let recovery finish. And while you’re waiting, decide on & implement a backup strategy to avoid this in the future.

Yep, 100% making a backup. Photos application restore is at 13%. Still nothing in the “originals” folder. Worried about that. If the restore is working, shouldn’t photos be appearing in that folder?

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Yep, 100% making a backup. Photos application restore is at 13%. Still nothing in the “originals” folder. Worried about that. If the restore is working, shouldn’t photos be appearing in that folder?

Dunno… not to be harsh about it, but I back up my stuff 😉 so I’ve never had to go through this process. I wouldn’t make any assumptions about the end result, from what you’re seeing at 13% in.

 

[Fishrrman]

Force-ejecting USB drives can create unexpected problems.
As you have discovered.
Directories can be damaged -- or lost.

I suggest you let the "repair" process finish.

Then... try this:
1. power down (all the way off)
2. DISCONNECT the USB drive with the photos
3. power up the Mac and get to the finder.
4. RE-CONNECT the USB drive
5. Does it mount right up on the desktop? Or... no?
6. If it does not, just... wait a while
7. Give it about 30 minutes. The finder may try to fix directory problems with the drive, then mount it.

If nothing seems to be helping, you might try either Data Rescue or Disk Drill.
Both are "data recovery" apps that can often resurrect lost files.
You WILL have to pay for the service.
You WILL need another external drive on which to recover the lost files.

Finally, this is what "backups" are for.
Do you have one?

 

[ChristianMorris]

I’ve been importing thousands of photos and videos into a new Photos library on my HDD. Due to slowness, I decided to move the library to a SSD.

I stopped the transfer of any media, then attempted to eject the HDD. It wouldn’t eject, so I force ejected it through macOS. I plugged it back in and ran a disk utility first aid repair on the disk to see if that would help with the slowness.

When I opened up the library, it contained only about 20K photos (that I had imported that morning), and the Originals folder was empty (0 KB).

Strangely, the library was referencing the original files at the source of the imports.

So, I am running a library repair, which is currently in th restoring phase. I’m hoping this will recover everything to the originals folder, but I’m not sure.

When I look at the HDD properties, I can see data is being written, and my only concern there is that this could potentially be overwriting data that I would otherwise be recovering using data recovery software.

Should I let the recovery finish in hopes that my library will be restored, or is it likely that I will need to do a data recovery?

I can tell you that it is generally a good idea to let the library repair finish, as this may help to restore your library. If the repair does not work, you may need to use data recovery software to try to recover the lost files. It's important to note that using data recovery software can be risky and may cause further damage to your files, so it's best to use it only as a last resort. You may want to consult with a data recovery specialist to see what your options are.