Cannot use Photo Library as System Photo Library

[fenixcor]

hello! first time posting here and im only here because this is driving me nuts. for whatever reason, no app installed on my macbook running sonoma 14.2.1 can access the photos library. my icloud was full and i didnt want to pay for the extra storage so i imported all of my photos using the Photos app. i can see them in the library but i have no way to access the photos otherwise. i tried some googling and the best i could find was to go to photos > settings and enable "use as system photo library" but this option is grayed out. i tried rebuilding and checking the settings and its the same thing: still grayed out. i went ahead and paid 99 cents to apple to see if enabling icloud would change anything and so far it has not.

tldr: can't access pictures from any app other than photos, cant set to use as system photo library, did the rebuild, and paid for cloud storage. still doesnt work.

edit: i thought about trying to copy the files from the photos folder using the terminal but i couldnt find the folder where the pictures are stored and its been a few years since i used terminal so im rusty.

 

[Mike Boreham]

i tried some googling and the best i could find was to go to photos > settings and enable "use as system photo library" but this option is grayed out.

In my experience it is greyed out because it already is the System Photos Library.

Not sure I fully understand your problem. Once photos have been imported to Photos Library, then the only way you can access them is from the Photos app. They do exist in the Photos lib but not in a usable structure. How are you hoping to access the photos? There are some third party apps which can access the Photos Lib…is that what isn’t working?

 

[Mike Boreham]

In my experience it is greyed out because it already is the System Photos Library.

You can confirm this by launching Photos app while holding down option key. A window opens showing all the Photos libs on the system, with the System Photos Lib identified.

 

[fenixcor]

In my experience it is greyed out because it already is the System Photos Library.

Not sure I fully understand your problem. Once photos have been imported to Photos Library, then the only way you can access them is from the Photos app. They do exist in the Photos lib but not in a usable structure. How are you hoping to access the photos? There are some third party apps which can access the Photos Lib…is that what isn’t working?

after i thought about it, i think youre right about it already being a system library. i used the option click, created a new folder and had the option to make it the system library, so that part is solved.

like, i want to post a pic to facebook or twitter or discord. whether safari, chrome, or an app, i cannot access the pictures in my system library. i think i can upload screenshots bc theyre on my desktop. this is what it looks like whenever i want to upload a picture somewhere.

i also cant move any photos to a different location. the only thing i can do is copy icloud link, send in text or mail, or set it as wallpaper.

edit: i can drag an image from the photos app to the desktop and possibly folders in finder but thats kind of ridiculous. it makes no sense why none of the apps see my photo library.

 

[fenixcor]

In my experience it is greyed out because it already is the System Photos Library.

Not sure I fully understand your problem. Once photos have been imported to Photos Library, then the only way you can access them is from the Photos app. They do exist in the Photos lib but not in a usable structure. How are you hoping to access the photos? There are some third party apps which can access the Photos Lib…is that what isn’t working?

ok I went ahead and reset my Mac and its working now. I guess this can be closed now. Thanks for the help!

 

[jjdodders]

I've been frustrated by this problem for ages now. What was the solution? What did you do to reset your Mac? Did you wipe it completely and restore from a backup?

Any time I want to share a photo, either online, or in messages or WhatsApp, there is no photos picker in the Finder window, and it just shows me all photos in one big list without me being able to browse albums or tags that I've set up in photos. Is that intentional or is there a bug here?

 

[Mike Boreham]

I've been frustrated by this problem for ages now. What was the solution? What did you do to reset your Mac? Did you wipe it completely and restore from a backup?

Any time I want to share a photo, either online, or in messages or WhatsApp, there is no photos picker in the Finder window, and it just shows me all photos in one big list without me being able to browse albums or tags that I've set up in photos. Is that intentional or is there a bug here?

Is your Photos Library definitely set as the System Library in Photos > Prefs > General tab? As above, if it is greyed out that is because it already is.

Or you can open Photos holding the option key and it will show you all the Photos libs on the computer including externals. It will show which is the System Library.

 

[jjdodders]

Is your Photos Library definitely set as the System Library in Photos > Prefs > General tab? As above, if it is greyed out that is because it already is.

Or you can open Photos holding the option key and it will show you all the Photos libs on the computer including externals. It will show which is the System Library.

Yeah I checked that and it’s the system photos library already.

 

[eRondeau]

I suspect you're a recent switcher from Windows. On Windows PC's everyone is given direct access to the full file directory structure at their own peril. It's normal to "drill down" and open/edit/delete at the file level. MacOS is different... MacOS expects you to use the Photos app as the centre of everything you do with your photo library. But you should be able to Share, Copy, Paste, and Drag-and-Drop within it easily. If all else fails, find the photo you want to post within Photos then drag-and-drop it onto your Desktop then post it from the Desktop. FYI this is done to reduce the chances of users screwing something up at the file level and losing stuff. iTunes/Music and iMovie work the same way. Finally, advanced users know how to bypass all these safety features and hack around inside the Photos app's protected package -- again at their own peril. I trust Apple to keep my photos/music/movies safe and I've never had a problem in 20+ years.