I get some version of the missing photo question a lot for Lifehackersweekly tech Q&A column.
This week, Lifehacker readerJanisewrites:
How I hope you’ve got the option to help!
I couldnt determine the import size but it was huge.
I then copied the library to my Drobo with the intent to delete the massive file from my MAC.
I did not get around to deleting because I first wanted to check the photos.
This past weekend I noticed for the first time that many of my photos were missing.
Another mystery is that some of the photos do show up in Albums, shared and otherwise?
I keep looking for a tech appointment but businesses in my area arent fully operational yet.
I am pretty desperate to spend the $125/hr in the first place.
Put it on your Drobo, at minimum, and dont touch it.
Id then do a more drastic step.
First check your Recently Deleted folder to ensure theres nothing in there that you accidentally removed.)
From there, quit Photos.
(Had you only access to that hardware, this might be a little easier.)
Hold down theOptionkey and launch Photos again.
Itspossibleyou might have a second library on your Mac that houses different photos than your first.
Im not convinced this is whats happening, but its worth checking, at least.
If that didnt turn up any results, lets have another go.
Hold downCommand + Optionand relaunch Photos, which will now give you the opportunity to repair your library.
Finally, you’re free to go inspect the library files on your Mac itself.
Scan around the various folders (especially Originals), and youmightbe able to turn up your missing pictures.
And if thats the case, I think your mission now expands to frantic recovery.
Some older gear backup?
You mentioned that some of your old photos still show up in various albums and shared albums.
The former would have definitely been covered by the exporting we did earlier.
You should also be able to save photos from shared folders to your machine.
I recommend doing that, and then backing them up to multiple locations using the techniques I previously mentioned.
First, Id back up every photo on my gear (and any other devices) to the cloud.
Im not a Google loyalist, but its photos tool is incredibly useful and free for just this purpose.
Next, Id use the Macs Image Capture app to rip everything off my gadget.
Dont waste cash on data recovery
Finally, I wanted to quickly address one point.
Im not sure you gotta spend $125/hr for some fancy data recovery expert to find your photos.
At least, I think youd notice if you nuked multiple years worth of shots.
(Its not instantaneous, after all.)
Did I miss anything, astute Lifehacker readers?
