MacOS – iCloud Photo Library stopped syncing

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My iCloud Photo Library was working great, but I ran out of space and it stopped syncing. Now I’ve bought more space and restarted my devices, but it is still not syncing.

How can I get it to start syncing again? I vaguely remember this happening before and having to do something like deleting all photos from my iPad and doing something on my Mac.

Update: I have tried rebooting into safe mode and it still doesn’t sync.

iCloud Photos Preferences

I am running OS X Yosemite.

Best Answer

The surest way to resolve this is to create a fresh Photos Library by following these steps:

  1. ⌘ cmd-Q out of Photos.
  2. Go into  → System Preferences → iCloud → Photos Options… and uncheck iCloud Photo Library. iCloud Photos Options
  3. Reboot if you want to be safe, though it shouldn’t be necessary.
  4. Launch Photos with ⌥ opt-click.
  5. Click Create New… and name your new Photos Library. Create New Photos Library
  6. Go into Photos → Preferences → General and click Use as System Photo Library. Use as System Photo Library
  7. Go into Photos → Preferences → iCloud and check iCloud Photo Library.
  8. Wait for your photos to be redownloaded from iCloud.

If you’d rather try to keep your existing Photos Library, follow these steps instead:

  1. ⌘ cmd-Q out of Photos.
  2. Create a backup of your Photos Library.photoslibrary file.
  3. Launch Photos with ⌘ cmd-⌥ opt-click.
  4. Click Repair. Repair Photos Library dialogue box
  5. Wait for macOS to repair your Photos Library. A full sync should take place once the repair has completed.

Some screenshots courtesy of OS X Daily.

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