Child Item

Photo Library not reachable on MacOS after Dropbox sync

I recently synced dropbox for MacOS and now my Photos Library is no longer working. I preferred Dropbox over iCloud for a few reasons, but using the Photos Library on my MacBook is essential for me.

The only solution I can think of is to disable Dropbox and return to iCloud so I can have Photo Library functioning properly again. Have any other Mac users found a solution to this problem?

Thanks in advance!

Find more posts tagged with

Desktop

Sync

Mac

Insightful

Closed - Partially Delivered

Accepted answers

All comments

Jay

Hi @Heather11, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

It sounds like you might have upgraded to the new Dropbox desktop application for Mac OS. You can confirm this by checking the location of the Dropbox folder and seeing if it's in CloudStorage.

Due to the change, Apple no longer allows Photos Library to be stored over cloud-storage services. It would need to be moved to a local folder on your machine.

If you have any further queries, feel free to message back.

Heather11

Hi Jay - thanks for your response. How do I move Photos Library to a local folder on my machine? Perhaps this question is better posed to Apple support?

Can you clarify - in order to restore Photos Library to its previous functionality, it seems I would have to uninstall Dropbox - is that the only solution you are aware of?

Thanks again!

Jay

Is the Photos library missing entirely, or is the app itself saying that it can't be stored where it is, and needs to be moved? This thread might have information helpful to you.

Heather11

Hi Jay,

Photos Library is still there, but it is not working properly - it is no longer syncing with my iPhone. The Photos Library icon has a grey cloud with a line through it. When I click on the Photos Library icon, it says:

"The library could not be opened. Photos Library 2.photoslibrary is in Dropbox, and needs to be moved to a folder on your Mac to open". I don't understand how to move it a folder on my Mac to open it.

Hannah

Sorry to jump in here, @Heather11, but have you reached out to Apple's support, to see if they can give you further info?

Heather11

Hi Hannah - thanks for the question! Yes, I have reached out to Apple Support. They say since it's an issue with Dropbox/a third party app, they cannot solve the problem. They did give me some options to try and I still need to run those: 1) Turning off the Dropbox app and then trying to re-load Photos Library, 2) Delete the old Photos Library and create a new one 3) Uninstall Dropbox and use iCloud.

Has anyone with a MacBook running Ventura tried any of these options yet?

Jay

Since the photo library needs to be moved, have you physically tried dragging the library to a folder outside of Dropbox?

Lb00

I’m having a similar problem. Once Dropbox took my photo library my photos app on the mac stopped working. I’ve spent three hours with three different apple support techs and everything we try comes back to Dropbox being the problem. How can I stop Dropbox from syncing my photos? I want to just leave them on the computer.

Jay

Hi @Lb00, did you try the steps in my previous post above to see if this helps?

Lb00

I just spent two hours on the phone with apple support in one ear and Dropbox chat on my screen. (Previously I had spent four hours with two different apple support people trying to figure out why photos wouldn’t open). But this support person figured out that problem was Dropbox. When Dropbox backs up photos, then the photos app won’t open. I wasn’t able to disable the Dropbox backup because (apparently) I clicked on an email giving Dropbox permission to back up my system while I was on a computer at work (not my home computer). I have a temporary fix for the moment until I can disentangle myself from Dropbox back ups totally. (We put the photo library in Movies).

MatiasL

Hello,

I Have the same problem, Dropbox moved all the local Mac folders and I can't open the Photos Library. I will uninstall dropbox and maybe leave like that