If you are looking to recover missing or lost photos on Mac after the update, then you have landed on the right page. Although upgrading macOS to Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, or Catalina improves Mac performance, data loss may be one of its downsides if no backup has taken.
- Photo corruption or loss occurs a lot, despite our efforts to avoid such situations. If you are looking for solutions like how to fix or recover corrupted photos on Mac, including JPEG images, this article will be helpful to you, we have 7 options to fix your corrupted or repair damaged photos on Mac, with or without photo library repair.
- Because the migrated library takes little additional space, you don't need to delete the original library. So don't do it, even if you're tempted to. You can still use your original photo library with iPhoto (version 9.6.1, as of this writing) and Aperture (version 3.6) after you've migrated it to Photos.
The latest macOS Catalina comes with superior features compared to the previous macOS like Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, etc. If you have lost photos after upgrading your macOS from Mojave, Sierra, or High Sierra to Catalina or otherwise then, scroll down to recover your lost photos, videos, or any other media files on Mac after update.
Recover Lost Photos on Mac After Updating to BigSur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, or Sierra | 3 Successful Methods
High Sierra should not take up your entire Mac’s SSD. If you use Time Machine or another backup tool, you can downgrade to Sierra using these backups. You will lose whatever new data is on your Mac since your update to High Sierra, so backup those files individually to a thumb drive or Dropbox, Google Drive, etc. In iOS 10, tap a person in the People album, tap Select in the upper right, select a single photo in the Photos list, tap the Share button, and then tap Set Key Face. In macOS Sierra, double-click.
(Note: You can also make use of the below methods to recover lost photos on your Mac due to various data loss scenarios like accidental deletion, emptying Mac trash, etc.)
| 1. How to recover iPhoto pictures missing after Mac upgrade using iPhoto Library? |
| 2. How to Recover iPhoto Pictures Missing After Upgrade to Sierra, Mojave, or Catalina using Time Machine Backup? |
| 3. How to Recover lost photos on Mac after updating to Catalina, High Sierra, or any macOS using Remo Recover Mac software? |
1. How Do I Recover Photos From iPhoto Library After Mac Update?
An iPhoto library is a package that contains all your photos on Mac arranged into a separate location. Follow the steps to know how you can recover lost iPhoto pictures after upgrade to Catalina, Mojave, or High Sierra, etc.
Home > Users > Username > Pictures > Click iPhoto Library > Now Right-click iPhoto Library to select Show Package Contents > Open Masters or Originals folder > Now, locate and recover photos on Mac after update.
In case, if you have failed to locate or recover lost photos on iPhoto Library then, move on to the next method to recover them using Time Machine Backup, or else you can directly make use of the Remo Mac photo recovery tool to easily restore more than 300 file formats including photos and videos of various format such as JPEG, PNG, PSD, JPG, GIF, TIFF, RAW images, MOV, MP4, AVI, etc. lost after updating macOS to Catalina, High Sierra, Mojave, Sierra, or any other macOS.
2. How to Recover Lost Photos on Mac After Catalina Update Using Time Machine Backup?
If you have turned on Time Machine before deleting or losing files, it automatically takes a backup of all your files on Mac. During data loss scenarios like photos lost after Mac update, you can take the help of Time Machine Backup to easily recover deleted, lost or missing files, photos, videos, applications, etc. Follow the below-mentioned steps to recover lost photos on Mac after update.
(Note: The same steps can be utilized to recover iPhoto pictures lost after upgrading to Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, or Catalina.)
Go to Apple menu > click System Preferences > Then, click Time Machine > Now, tick the checkbox Show Time Machine on the menu bar
- Connect your Time Machine Backup drive to the Mac on which you have lost photos after macOS up-gradation and click the Time Machine Backup icon on the menu bar.
- Select the Enter Time Machine Backup option to recover deleted photos on Mac.
- Now you can either select the specific date on which you lost your photos after updating to the latest macOS or you can go back in time such as hourly, daily, or weekly by clicking on the upper arrow to recover iPhoto pictures.
- Select the photos which you want to get back, and click the Restore button to recover lost photos from Time Machine Backup after updating macOS to Catalina, High Sierra, Sierra, etc.
Note: If you haven’t scheduled Time Machine backup before upgrading to Catalina or any other macOS, then you cannot restore lost photos on Mac using this method.
In such cases, utilize Remo Recover Mac which is one of the best data recovery software for Mac to easily recover lost photos on Mac after updating to Catalina, Mojave, Sierra, High Sierra, etc.
3. How to Recover Lost Photos on Mac After Updating to Catalina/ Sierra/ Mojave/ High Sierra?
Remo Recover Mac software is a specially designed tool to recover deleted or lost data such as photos, videos, documents, audio files, etc. lost due to various reasons like photos lost after Mac update, improper macOS reinstallation, formatted Mac without backup, external hard drives not showing on Mac, SSD, USB drive, etc. Download Now!
Step 1: Launch Remo Recover Mac software on your Mac, and select Recover Volumes/ Drives option to recover lost photos after Mac update to Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, or Sierra.
Step 2: Now,click on the Volumes Recovery option, and then select the disk on which you have lost photos after Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, or any other macOS update and click Next.
Step 3: Select the Advance Scan option and wait till the data recovery process completes to preview the recovered photos lost after Mac update for free.
Step 4: Finally, select the lost files or photos which you want to recover, and click Save button to restore them to the desired location of your choice.
Supported Photo formats (lost or deleted) that can be easily recovered using Remo Recover Mac tool are as follows:
- Photo formats: JPEG, JPG, JFIF, JPEG 2000, TIFF, TIF, PNG, BMP, GIF, PSD, WebP, Exif, PPM, PGM, PBM, PNM, HEIF, BAT, etc.
- Raw image formats: CR2, CRW, NEF, ARW, SR2, ORF, MRW, 3FR, RAW, X3F, PEF, DNG, RAF, KDC, K25, DCR, R3D, CAP, EIP, EIP, PTX, JPEF, 3FR, PXN, etc.
Why Remo Recover Mac to recover lost photos after Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, or Catalina update?
Apple Photos Stuck Updating Library
- A user-friendly tool to restore deleted or lost photos, videos, raw-images, or any other files from MacBook Air, MacBook, MacBook Pro, Mac Mini, iMac, iMac Pro, etc.
- Remo Recover software easily restores more than 300 file formats not only from Mac but also from external hard drives, SSDs, memory cards, USB drives, etc. under various scenarios like accidental deletion, formatting, unrecognized or corrupt drives, files lost after emptying Mac Trash, etc.
- Recovered photos or files can be easily sorted based on the file type view (.png, .jpg, etc), data view (photos folder, videos folder) date, size, etc.
- Remo Recover Mac is a prominent tool to recover missing files after Mac update to Catalina and other latest macOS versions like Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, etc. with ease.
- Supports data recovery from various file systems including exFAT, AFPS, etc.
Some common reasons for missing photos after macOS update
- Mac computer crashes while upgrading to Catalina, High Sierra or any other macOS version can lead to photo loss.
- Unreliable or improper methods utilized for updating Mac.
- Sudden interruptions like Mac shutdowns or restarts while upgrading to Sierra, High Sierra, Mojave, or Catalina.
Note: It is always recommended to take a backup of your important photos or files before upgrading Mac to avoid photo loss situations.
How to backup files using Time Machine Backup to avoid photo loss or deletion after Mac update?
The very first thing to do before performing any operations on Mac like installing macOS Catalina, formatting Mac, reinstalling macOS, etc. is to take a Time Machine backup of all your important files and photos to avoid data loss. Follow the steps given below to take a backup of all your photos or files before updating your Mac.
- Connect an external storage drive like SSD or external HDD to your Mac.
- Now, Mac will ask whether you want your external drive to be used as a backup drive with Time Machine.
- Check or select the Encrypt Backup Disk option to make your backup drive protected with a password.
- Click on the Use as Backup Disk option.
Watch This Video Tutorial to Recover Missing iPhoto Pictures After Mac Update using Remo Recover Mac
You may have upgraded your Mac from macOS 10.15 Catalina to macOS 11 Big Sur, or finally decide to update from a previous version (such as Mojave, or High Sierra) to Catalina, especially when both Big Sur and Catalina offer awesome features and increased performance.
However, unexpected errors may occur after Big Sur or Catalina update, the commonest one is that your photos in iPhoto or Photos app lost/disappeared from MacBook, or photos missing because the originals cannot be found on your Mac. Don’t be panic, we have 4 solutions for you to recover your lost photos or disappeared even missing Mac photos and photo albums.
Before Recovery, Check Your Pictures Folder First
People are accustomed to updating Mac to a new system by clicking on the 'Update All' option in the App Store, which will also automatically update other apps like Photos. In a sudden, you noticed that the photos lost or disappeared from your mac, but in fact, they are not gone. So, before any steps for photo recovery on mac, you should check your pictures folder to make sure if your photos are still there. Just click on Apple Menu>Go>Go to Folder>Input “~/Pictures/”>Go, check the Pictures folder or other folders you may use to save photos on your mac.
Fast Way to Recover Lost Photos on Mac After Update
The fastest and most straightforward way to recover lost or disappeared photos on Mac after update is using a piece of data recovery tool, it saves your time and even brings some valuable data back to your MacBook Pro or Air. Cisdem Data Recovery for Mac— the best method for recovering lost images, videos, songs, etc. from both the internal Mac hard drive and external storage devices. It supports an extensive number of formats and drive types. If your pictures missing after upgrade to Big Sur or Catalina in the absence of a time machine backup, you can recover them using this software.
Why Cisdem Data Recovery for Mac?
- Restore files lost due to deletion, formatting, system crash, power off
- Recover data from both internal and external hard drive
- 5 scanning modes: Basic, Trash, Formatted Drive, External Devices, Advanced
- Restore 200+ file formats: video, audio, image, document, etc.
- Preview files before recovery
- High recovery rate
Easy Steps to Recover Lost Photos on Mac After OS Update
Step 1Install the program
Download and install the free trial of Cisdem Photo Recovery on your Mac, and then run it.
Step 2Choose a recovery solution for lost photos
There are 5 recovery solutions. Choose one of them that suite your needs. I recommend Basic Data Recovery mode (fast and effective but not detect all the items) or Advanced Data Recovery mode (deeply scan your drive but take longer time).
Step 3Select the hard disk drive
Choose the drive from where you want to recover lost or deleted photos after macOS Big Sur or Catalina update and click Scan button at the top right.
Step 4Waiting for scanning lost photos on mac
Cisdem Photo Recovery for Mac will start scanning for the recoverable files, and sort it by file types, Meanwhile, the scanning results will be presented in the right panel in real-time.
Step 5Preview and recover lost photos on mac
Preview the scanning results, choose photos we want to recover, and then click 'Recover'.
With this, the procedure to recover lost images after upgrading to macOS Big Sur or Catalina is completed successfully.
Recover Lost Photos after Mac Update from Recently Deleted
If your Mac photos albums disappeared after macOS Big Sur or Catalina update, have a look at the 'Recently Deleted' album in Photos or iPhoto app.
- Open Photos or iPhoto app.
- Click the “Recently Deleted” tab from the left side.
- Choose the thumbnails of your lost photos.
- Click on the “Recover” button on the upper-right corner to restore missing files after Mac update.
Matters need attention:
- The photos items in the “Recently Deleted” album only give you 30-day grace period before getting rid of them to the ground.
- Enable iCloud and get your photos backed up on iCloud as well.
Recover Photos Disappeared from Mac via Photo Library Repair
Photo library is the database where all photo files, thumbnails, metadata info, etc. stored. If you find the library folder but see no photos in it, then it may get corrupted. But luckily, both iPhoto and Photos app allow users to Repair your photo library when photos or photo albums lost for no reason, become unreadable or just missing.
1. Before doing Library First Aid, it's always a good idea to backup your hard drive firstly with either Time Machine or another method;
2. You may need to wait a few minutes or several hours for Photos to fix. In my case, while doing Library First Aid I can still use my Mac though it is a little sluggish during the process.
#1 Restore iPhoto Pictures Disappeared after Mac Upgrade
- First, turn on iPhoto’s “First Aid” mode. Before opening iPhoto app, hold down the Option and Command keys on your keyboard. Then launch Photos (need to press the two keys at the same time).
- In a few seconds, you will see a window like below, choose one basing on following knowledge.
Repair Permissions---This is probably the best option to start with. If you lost photos after updating Mac to Catalina, Repair Permissions mode may fix the problem. And, in my case, my lost Photos came back to life after the “Repair Database” step.
Rebuild Thumbnails---Resolve an issue where the thumbnail image disappears or is corrupted. It will help you get back those images again.
Repair Database---If your photos stored in another folder or corrupted, you can choose this option to repair your Photos library accordingly.
Rebuild Database---If nothing else works, try Rebuild Database mode out. It may take a long time, as it will completely rebuild your database, overwriting the existing one.
#2 Restore Photo Pictures Disappeared after Mac Upgrade
- Quit Photos app if it’s launched.
- Press the keys- Option and Command while you re-open Photos.
- In the pop-up Repair Library dialog, click on “Repair” to recover lost photos on mac after update. (Account and password may be needed for authorizing the Library Repair.)
- Wait for the Repair process to finish, then your photo library will be opened automatically and now you can check your photos.
The process might stop syncing photos with iCloud. So it’d better to check it by navigating to Photos > Preferences > iCloud once the process is finished.
Mac Photos Stuck Updating Library
Restore Photos after Mac Update with Time Machine
Still not able to recover iPhoto or Photo library after Big Sur or Catalina within the app, now take a crack at Time Machine restore, if you have enabled and set up the Time Machine backup.
How to Recover Lost Photos on Mac after Update with Time Machine
- If the iPhoto or Photos is open, choose iPhoto/ Photos > Quit Photos.
- Click Apple menu > choose System Preferences and > click on Time Machine.
- In the Time Machine menu, select Enter Time Machine, and it will take you to Time Machine on Mac.
- Time Machine will show you all available backups. Click the date of your last backup and select the lost photos that you want to restore and you can also press the space bar to preview the photo.
- Click the Restore button and the image file will be restored to the original location on Mac. Depending on the size of your file, it may take some time for your library to be restored.
Restore Missing Photos after Mac Update to Big Sur or Catalina
Sometimes, we don't get a correct setting for our Photos app, like we leave “Copy items to the Photo library” unchecked, so when we view our photos in Photos but later moved the photos to an external hard drive after Mac update, once we want to check the photos again, they became “missing” on your Mac since the original ones are not found. In this case, we need to restore these missing photos by Consolidate.
- Launch Photos app, go to Preferences>General, check the box before “Copy items to the Photos library”;
- Click on one of the “missing” photos, and continue with Find Original;
- Then navigate to the drive or folder where you stored the original photos;
- Then select all these original photos, go to File>Consolidate, now all the photos won't be referenced and saved in an external hard drive, they are moved to your photo library.
Final Words
Photos sometimes mean the whole world to us and we can’t afford to lose them. But chances are that they can be deleted or missing during the process of Mac upgrading. So, It is necessary to back up the entire Mac drive before upgrading to Big Sur or Catalina. You can back up them to multiple devices or using cloud service such as Google Drive, Dropbox, etc.
Once data loss occurs, just stay calm, and follow the methods above to recover lost photos on Mac after update. The most helpful and all-in-one solution I think is to install a Mac photo recovery software or service.